KTKA

As the House of Representatives voted against the $700 billion dollar economic bailout plan...

"The yeas are 205. The nays are 228. The motion does not pass."

Wall Street was stunned. The Dow initially plummeted nearly 700 points. It's a bill no one wanted to embrace, but many in Congress viewed as a necessary evil.

"So I ask all of you, both sides of the aisle, what's in the best interest of our country? Not what's in the best interest of our party, not what's in the best interest of our own re-election, what's in the best interest of our country? Vote yes," House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner said.

Lawmakers worked through the weekend on a compromise that would have allowed Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson authority to purchase assets with taxpayer dollars. An overwhelming majority of House Republicans, 66 per cent,voted against the Bush-Administration-backed bill, and the White House said it was very disappointed by the failure.

Despite strong reservations by members of both parties- lawmakers promised to keep working on another compromise.

"The legislation has failed. The crisis has not gone away. We must work together in a bi-partisan way," House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi said.

President Bush is meeting with his economic team to determine the next step, and Treasury Secretary Paulson promised to use all available tools to protect the markets.

And the House is forgoing an election-year recess and will reconvene Thursday to get back to work on a rescue plan.