The House of Representatives has rejected the Paulson-Bernanke bailout package 228-votes to 205. The rejection came from both sides of the aisle as Democrats and Republicans refused to put the American Taxpayer on the line for the proposed $700 billion. About two thirds of Bush's Republican Representatives rejected the proposed bailout package.

Wall Street predictably responded in seconds as the Dow Jones Industrial average plummeted over 777 points or nearly 7% and the tech heavy NASDQ down 9%, or 199 points.

The news of the bailout veto in Washington DC combined with the collapse of Wachovia, the 4th largest US bank sent reverberations around the globe.

Wachovia with over $600 billion in cash deposits and 4,300 branches hasn't exactly helped matters. The bank was seized by the FDIC and then was shuffled over to Citi Group for $2.1 billion. Citigroup will over operations at quite a cost: $53 billion in debt and absorbing $42 billion in Wachovia's losses with the added bonus of the Federal Reserve guaranteeing any remaining losses. That means the FDIC has already bailed out another failed bank. On the upside Citigroup will issue $12 Billion in preferred stock and warrants to the FDIC.

Both Citigroup and Wells Fargo were scrutinizing Wachovia's books over the weekend with Citigroup coming out ahead, but based on the House veto on the $700 billion bank bailout perhaps Citi, already in trouble with its own mortgage mess, may have bitten off more than it can chew.

I want to post this blog, but the market still keeps dropping, thankfully, at least there is a closing bell. Now my 401(k) is now a 201(k) if there is such a thing... anyone want it?? Time to stock up on some Top Ramen soup. It will be just like being back in college, except I'm no longer 19!