The U.S. Senate is handing the House of Representatives a sweetened up version of the $700 billion financial bailout plan -- what

many Republican lawmakers have been viewing as a bitter pill to swallow.

The bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday night was supported by two-thirds of the senators who represent the ArkLaTex. Sens. Mary Landrieu and David Vitter of Louisiana both voted against the bill. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, and Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas all voted in favor of it.

When the Senate took up the bill that was rejected by the House on Monday, there was a push to add on legislative goodies to turn those negative votes in the House around.

The add-ons -- mostly tax measures -- include energy, business tax breaks, a one-year fix of the alternative minimum tax and tax

relief for victims of recent disasters. The bill, which is also a bailout for the financial industry, was aimed at preventing the economy from plunging into a recession.

Phone calls from constituents to lawmakers -- overwhelmingly against the bailout before -- are now more evenly divided. People's views have been shifting since stocks nose dived on Monday and they realized Wall Street's troubles could become their own.

The House is expected to vote on the Senate's bill on Friday.

From Staff and Associated Press reports