$700 Billion Bailout Fails; Dow Jones Sees Record Point Drop, Politicians Start Pointing Fingers

What Happened? Did Anyone Win? Or Did We All Lose?

The day started with everyone watching Wall Street and Washington like some frenetic tennis match. And when the electrical system failed at the sounding bell - it did not ring - a superstitious person might have taken it as an omen of things to come.

But even before that, the president held a press conference where he asked Congress to quickly pass the upcoming $700 billion bailout. And although the vote was expected to be close, the legislation was expected to pass by a narrow margin.

But it was not to be.

The Stock Market Falls While Politicians Point Fingers

When the vote was taken, the measure failed. Almost two-thirds of the Republicans voted against the bill (133), while 140 Democrats voted for it. Only 65 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 95 Democrats voted against it.

The DOW-Jones Index on Wall Street, which had already fallen a few hundred points, plummeted.

In Washington, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-KY) immediately pointed the finger of blame at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), saying that a speech that she gave prior to the vote "poisoned" his fellow Republicans to the point that they backed away from the measure. (Speaker Pelosi had railed against the economic ineptitude of the Bush administration earlier in the day.) Barney Frank (D-MA) said in a press conference later that a couple of Republicans with their feelings hurt took it out on the country. He added that he would do everything in his power, including speaking "uncharacteristically nicely," to make them feel better about themselves if they would just change their vote.

President Bush, who was meeting with the president of Ukraine, said he was disappointed in the Congressional vote.