United States House rejects $700-billion Wall Street bailout Bill, shaky markets plunge

In a moment of historic drama in the US Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted today to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry. The vote against the measure was 228 to 205. Supporters vowed to try to bring the rescue package up for consideration again as soon as possible. Stock markets plunged sharply at midday as it appeared that the measure would go down to defeat.

The Dow, which had been trading down about 300 points for most of the afternoon, fell to a 600-point deficit before recovering slightly. The index was down more than 550 points as lawmakers scrambled, but failed, to round up votes to pass the package.

House leaders kept the voting period open for some 40 minutes past the allotted time, trying to convert “no” votes to “yes” votes by pointing to damage being done to the markets, but to no avail.

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