The House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue package, ignoring urgent pleas from President Bush and bipartisan congressional leaders to quickly bail out the staggering financial industry.
The House vote shocked financial markets, which expected it to approve the Bush administration’s rescue plan. The Dow closed down 777 points — its biggest intraday point decline ever — a more than 9 percent decline. The Nasdaq plunged 9 percent and S & P; dropped more than 7.5 percent.
When the critical vote was tallied, too few members of the House were willing to support the unpopular measure with elections just five weeks away. Ample no votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle.
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