Oct. 1--By a vote of 228 against to 205 for, the U.S. House voted down the massive $700 billion bailout that was intended to relieve credit pressures and get the nation's economy re-started.

Rep. Robin Hayes on Monday voted against the $700 billion bailout legislation. Hayes cited a lack of U.S. taxpayer protections and foreign banks and investment firms being eligible for US tax dollars.

"I truly believe we have a credit crisis that is negatively impacting our economy," said Hayes.

"But one of the questions of concern I raised last week was eligibility, and this bill expands eligibility beyond where I think it should be.

"The initial draft of the proposal that came from the Treasury was fundamentally limited to U.S. financial institutions. However, during the course of negotiations, this changed, and now foreign banks and financial companies are just as eligible to receive U.S. taxpayer dollars as an American company."

Section 112 of this legislation contains the following provision: To the extent that such foreign financial authorities or banks hold troubled assets as a result of extending financing to financial institutions that have failed or defaulted on such financing, such troubled assets qualify for purchase under section 101.

With the news from Capitol Hill, Wall Street took another huge hit, falling 778 points, the most ever for a day, topping the 721-point drop following Sept. 11, 2001.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that Charlotte-based Wachovia Bank was bought out by Citigroup, Inc., based in New York City.

Citigroup Inc., operating as Citi, is a major American financial services company based in New York City. Citigroup was formed from the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group on April 7, 1998. The company employs approximately 358,000 staff around the world, and holds more than 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries. It is the world's largest bank by revenues as of 2008.

Citigroup will acquire all banking operations of Wachovia Corporation, via an all-stock transaction, with the aid of FDIC loss limitations.

According to the FDIC, the Wachovia Corporation "did not fail" and will continue to operate as a separate, publicly-traded company as the owner of Wachovia Securities, A.G. Edwards and Evergreen Investments.

Commenting on Monday's happenings, Bank of Stanly Chairman Roger Dick said: "I'm glad to see Congress decided to take time to make sure the bailout legislation is a good bill. I think we've got a few days to get it right.