US President George W Bush said yesterday he would meet with top advisers and work with lawmakers to tackle the US financial crisis "head on" after lawmakers rejected an emergency bailout plan.
"I was disappointed in the vote with the United States Congress on the economic rescue plan. We've put forth a plan that was big because we've got a big problem," Bush said as he met with Ukraine President Viktor Yushchenko.
"I'm going to be talking to my economic advisers after my meeting here with the president, and we'll be working with members of Congress, leaders of Congress on the way forward," said the US president.
Minutes before he spoke, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a key architect of the plan to pump up to $700 billion into saving troubled Wall Street firms, marched into the West Wing.
"Our strategy is to continue to address this economic situation head on, and we'll be working to develop a strategy that will enable us to continue to move forward," said Bush, who had predicted lawmakers would approve the package.
Instead, sworn Republican foes of the government's intervention and rebel Democrats combined to doom the bill — thrashed out in talks between the White House and congressional leaders — by 228 votes to 205.
Shares on Wall Street tumbled by nearly 700 points as the bill appeared headed to defeat, recovered, and then tumbled again. Twenty minutes before the end of trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 640 points.