House Republicans are blaming Speaker Nancy Pelosi's speech (above) as one of the reasons the historic Wall Street bailout failed when put to a vote this afternoon. Speaking just before the vote was called, Pelosi sounded a lot like one of the 95 Democrats who ended up voting against the bill, rightly referring to the $700 billion figure as "staggering" and "alarming," predictably laying blame for the crisis at the feet of Republican leaders and their "anything goes economic policy," and strangely pondering how the crisis was able to "sneak up on us so silently, almost on little cat's feet." Not quite the call of duty some House Democrats might have liked to hear from their leader as they stood on the precipice of casting a seriously crappy vote only five weeks before an election, for sure, but we're inclined to think that her short little speech had less influence on her colleagues than things like polls and, you know, the fact that it was a $700 BILLION TAXPAYER BAILOUT.