U.S. Congress votes down $700 billion bail-out

PanARMENIAN.Net - The $700 billion financial rescue package designed to rescue the US economy and stabilize global stock markets was rejected by an extraordinary alliance of conservative Republicans and Left-wing Democrats, the Daily Telegraph reports.



The vote has forced George W Bush and Congressional leaders back to the drawing board in an attempt to revive the bill.



Many Republicans viewed the bill as "socialism" for its unprecedented use of taxpayer dollars to help the private sector, while Democrats resented the fact that the bill did not contain more provisions to help struggling homeowners.



Both sides had received complaints from their constituents in the lead up to the vote.



It was defeated by 225 votes to 208. Amid dramatic scenes on the floor of the House of Representatives, party whips tried to twist the arms' of naysayers in the short time allowed under the rules to change their votes. But their efforts failed and the bill will have to be reintroduced in a different form.



As soon as the vote was over many representatives started leaving Washington for the Jewish holiday, a holiday in Congress, meaning it was unlikely a new vote would be held before Thursday.



Tony Fratto, the White House spokesman, said that the crisis the legislation aimed to fix had not gone away. "The president will be meeting with this team and trying to work out the next step to take."