All but one of South Carolina's Congressional members ultimately decided to back a $700 billion bailout of the U.S. Financial markets that blossomed from a threepage bill into a 400-plus page behemoth that included a plethora of other provisions and tax breaks.

While many of the tax breaks included in the massive plan had existed previously and were merely extended by the new legislation, some were completely new — like a measure to exempt wooden practice arrows from a 39 cent per arrow federal excise tax. While miniscule in comparison to the overall bailout package, this measure is expected to save wooden practice arrow makers about $2 million, according to the Associated Press.

Still, most of the South Carolina's lawmakers felt the new legislation hit is mark.

"The proposal put forth by the administration earlier was unacceptable," Congressman Gresham Barrett, R-3rd, said from the floor of the U.S. House on Friday. "No accountability, no government oversight, too much burden on the American taxpayer, but politics is the art of the possible."

Barrett was the lone dissenter among South Carolina's six representatives in the U.S. House last Monday when he helped shoot down an earlier version of the bailout package. A new bailout package was approved by the U.S. Senate late Wednesday and the U.S. House changed course Friday in approving the new package. Barrett was among 25 Republicans and 33 Democrats in the U.S. House who changed their vote to support the new package on Friday.

Overall, the bailout package — approved 263-171 by the House and 74-25 by the Senate — aims to relieve a credit crisis on Wall Street by allowing the government to purchase bad loans from banks, credit unions and insurance companies. Credit problems stemming from a collapse in the housing market and a rise in mortgage foreclosures already have led to several bank failures and planned takeovers of struggling lenders.

By removing the bad debt from the lenders' books, it's expected that the banking system will be shored up and that banks will begin to lend more freely again.

Local observers say Cherokee County has not been immune to the impacts, as things like home loans have been much tougher to get of late. One local business owner said he wasn't able to get a loan to remodel his business.

"It's tough out there," Barrett said on the House floor. "I talked to my moms, I've talked to my pops, I've talked to my corporations. No matter what we do or what we pass, there's still tough times out there. People are hurting, people are mad. I'm mad."

Concerns about the bailout plan persist, Barrett concluded, "But we have to act, and we have to act now. If we don't solve these problems, not just these problems but Medicare and Social Security ... if this house doesn't lead, America will fail."

South Carolina's representatives in the U.S. Senate split on whether a $700 billion bailout was needed to rescue to the U.S. financial markets.

Sen. Lindsey Graham decided that waiting wasn't an option in throwing his support behind the bill, which passed 74-25.

"Over the past few days, I have heard from all corners of our state the dire consequences of congressional action," he said in a prepared statement about his support for the bailout. "Businesses — both big and small — are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain loans to meet operating expenses and fund expansions. Some of the oldest businesses in America stand on the brink and people will lose their jobs. Time is of the essence. We must act."

His Palmetto State colleague on the floor, Sen. Jim DeMint, was left hoping last Wednesday the U.S. House would reject the bailout a second time.

"I have friends and colleagues I respect deeply on all sides of this bailout issue," he said during a speech Wednesday on the Senate floor. "We all want to do what's right for America and I believe those who crafted this plan have pure and noble motives. They want this country to succeed. They want it to prosper. I just do not believe this bill gets the job done. In the long term, I'm convinced it will do more harm than good."

DeMint put the blame for the credit crisis squarely in the laps of Washington lawmakers, saying good-intentioned policies to foster home ownership and easy credit led to irresponsibility.

"All of our good intentions are blowing up in our face and we are asking the American people to bail us out," DeMint railed from the podium. "We have caused a terrible financial mess and we must honestly tell the American people that, whether we pass a bailout or not, there will likely be suffering and pain for our great country."

Graham labeled the bailout package a "first step — not the last — in cleaning up this financial mess."

In supporting the package, he said, "My primary concern has always been that with the failure of lending institutions credit would dry up. When that happens, reasonable rate loans to consumers and businesses become scarce. It takes a toll as South Carolinians increasingly find it harder to get a loan for a new car, expand a business, or attend college on student loans."

The package won't solve all problems, Graham said. "But without it, the American taxpayer will face even greater exposure."

The package approved by both sides of Congress, and subsequently signed into law by President Bush, included a number of additional provisions, like the extension of tax breaks that either expired or were set to expire and some relief for the growing number of taxpayers impacted by the Alternative Minimum Tax, an alternate form of taxation that initially was designed to make sure the wealthy didn't escape taxation but has since ensnared more middle class families.

Provisions added on to the bailout package included:

— The extension of an expired tax break that gives Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands a rebate on excise taxes on rum to help finance infrastructure projects.

— The extension of tax credits for certain corporations involved in the economic development of American Samoa.

— The extension for oneyear of special tax rule on the depreciation of assets at NASCAR and other motorsports facilities that's expected to save race tracks an estimated $148 million.

— The package also established a new tax credit ranging from $2,500 to $7,500 for the purchasers of plug-in electric vehicles.

Some of the more costly ads-ons to the bailout package included $1.3 billion to erase the debt of the black lung disability trust fund and $3.3 billion to extend two programs that fund rural schools and communities relying on declining income from logging on federal land.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)