Financial Bailout Talks Head Into Weekend

Progress Reported As Key Democrat Sees Deal By Sunday; Republicans Not As Optimistic

(CBS/AP)  The Bush administration and Congress anxiously revived negotiations Friday on a $700 billion financial bailout, one day after the largest bank collapse in U.S. history provided a brutal reminder of the risks of failure. Democrats talked optimistically of agreement by the end of the weekend.

"I'm convinced that by Sunday we will have an agreement that people can understand on this bill," predicted Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a key Democrat in eight days of up-and-down talks designed to stave off an economic disaster.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added that "progress is being made," although the day came and went without senior lawmakers from both parties sitting down together.

Neither she nor Frank divulged details at a late-afternoon news conference in the Capitol, though there was word of one fresh Democratic concession.

Pelosi told fellow Democrats during a closed-door meeting that the idea of letting judges rewrite mortgages to help bankrupt homeowners avoid foreclosure won't be a part of the emergency legislation. That provision, pushed by several Democrats, would be a deal-breaker for Republicans whose votes are needed to pass the measure, she said, according to lawmakers at the meeting.

Democrats and Bush administration officials also said they were willing to include House Republicans' idea of having the government insure distressed mortgages - but only as an option, rather than a replacement for the administration's more sweeping approach.

All sides continue to warn of severe economic aftershocks if Congress fails to pass a bailout bill, but the deal hinges on whether the President Bush can turn back a revolt by members of his own party, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

Democratic and Republican staff aides met into the night on Capitol Hill. They were going line by line through legislative proposals in an attempt to clear the way for lawmakers to bargain over the weekend even as presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama agreed during their presidential debate Friday night that Congress must act soon.

Asked directly whether he intends to vote for a rescue plan taking shape in Congress, McCain said, "I hope so. ... sure."

"We haven't seen the language yet," Obama said. "I do think there is constructive work being done."

Meanwhile, new details emerged of a remarkably tumultuous White House meeting on Thursday. With the session breaking up in disarray, according to two participants, President Bush issued an appeal, saying, "Can't we just all go out and say things are OK?" The group around the table, congressional leaders as well as McCain and Obama, spurned the presidential request for a publicly united front.

Earlier in the White House meeting, Democrats peppered House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio with questions about the details of an alternative he was backing. "I don't know what the hell they are," Bush said at one point," recalled one person who was in the room. All the participants spoke on condition of anonymity, saying the meeting was private.

Bush sought to coax the talks back to life on Friday, prodding lawmakers in a morning appearance to "rise to the occasion" - and quickly.

In a sign of progress, House Republicans dispatched their second-ranking leader, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, to join the talks after their objections to an emerging compromise had brought negotiations to a standstill the day before. They demanded "serious consideration" for their plan.

"We want to see a deal happen - there's no doubt about it," said Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.

The legislation the administration is promoting would allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other sour assets held by investors, most of them financial companies. That should make those companies more inclined to lend and lift a major weight off the national economy that is already sputtering.

But a significant number of lawmakers, including many House conservatives, say they're against such heavy federal intervention. Under the GOP plan, the government would insure the distressed securities rather than buy them. Tax breaks would provide additional incentives to invest.

"I think what we're expecting in these negotiations is looking for ways to really protect taxpayers and to make sure that Wall Street pays its fair share of this problem," House Minority Leader John Boehner told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric. "I just don't think it's fair to take $700 billion of taxpayer funds, put them on the line without Wall Street also stepping up to me solve this problem."

Key Democrats were just as adamant about not giving the president too much latitude in negotiations.

"I can only tell you what we're being told by others, that if we don't step up, these problems we're seeing in our economy could go far worse," Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee told Couric. "I'm not going to give this president as blank check for $700 billion without some conditionality on it. I won't do that and I don't think my colleagues will either."

The crisis was hardly limited to the U.S.

Bush held a lengthy Oval Office meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown that focused on how the problems were spreading, then said, "I told him the plan is big enough to make a difference, and I believe it will be passed."

Presidential politics weighed heavily and unpredictably on the election-season effort to stave off a full-blown economic crisis.

After announcing earlier in the week he would suspend his campaign and return to the capital until there was an agreement, Republican McCain abruptly reversed course and departed for Friday night's debate with Democratic rival Obama.

[pianoman42]

A vicious example of the way to hell being paved with good intentions. The poor deserve good housing therefore they will get good housing therefore the subprime market therefore the collapse of AIG therefore the ''bailout'' of $2,300 from everyone. This ''bailout'' is a hope and a prayer. Hope it works. A real bailout would cost $40,000 each. Unaffordable.

[gwjackie]

One thing about this the ceo''s that did this should not get anything. If you loan people money knowing that they can not pay this back as they should you are asking for this to happen. The realestate people caused most of this buy over priceing homes just to make more money. This is going to cost everone in the longrun maby having a home they owe 300.000 yhat may now only be worth 200.000 when this all shakes out.

[Renegade.Rivers]

By allowing, nay demanding that government take control of every facet of our lives, and allowing government free rein to rule over us in ways that our government was never meant to rule over us, we have allowed our rights and freedoms to be taken from us as well. Until we as Americans are willing to realize that government alone cannot solve all of our problems, and that we as citizens must take some responsibility, and demand the right to solve some of the problems we are facing, we will never be the country that our forefathers envisioned. Until we become a country that lends a helping hand to those less fortunate than we are without expecting the government to do it for us, and until we let our dollars and cents actually create businesses, and services that are really in our best interest instead of allowing them to run ram shod over us with out a whimper or any protest, we are going to keep getting what we now have. As long as we continue to elect leaders that take the side of the large corporations, and allow these same entities to fund and support these candidates to the tune of billions of dollars, while we as citizens stand by and allow it to happen, we are going to continue to get what we pay for and allow. Because at the end of the day when its all said and done, and the chips are counted, we really have no one to blame but ourselves for allowing it to happen.

[Renegade.Rivers]

This is not to say that there are not areas that government should be involved in, but at the same time, we can''t have both a cradle to grave caretaker that deals with and solves every problem that exist within the family and community, while the average citizen is allowed to take no responsibility and suffer no consequences for the bad decisions that they make and allow to be made for them in their own lives, and in the framework of the companies, and corporations that they own and control, and at the same time expect government to run either smoothly,or efficiently.

Cont.

[Renegade.Rivers]

This is exactly what or forefathers were so fearful of, and so often spoke against. The once popular adage that "the best government was the government that governed least," has long ago been left behind. We have become a society that expects, nay demands that government cure every one of our social ills, rather than expecting each man, woman, and child to take some responsibility, and have the wherewithal to solve some of the problems that exist on their own. Americans have become a nation of pantywaist, and irresponsible imbeciles, who are no longer expected to solve any of the problems that they encounter without the government holding their hand.

Instead of government being able to devote the time necessary to solve the problems that they should be solving, we have come to expect it to care for us, and baby us from the crib to the grave. With ever added control and regulation that is enacted, we create a new level of bureaucracy that in the long run creates more problems than it solves.

Cont.

[Renegade.Rivers]

What seems to me to be evident is that we have allowed the federal government to become so large that is no longer effective at anything beyond costing the American taxpayers trillions of dollars, and bouncing us from one crisis to another. Instead of allowing the state and local governments to take on the responsibilities that they could handle much better, at much cheaper cost, and with much more efficiency, we have allowed our leaders to put all of the control, and hence all of the failure within the beltways of Washington. Instead of trimming the federal government and eliminating the bureaucracy that defines our federal government, we have instead added level after level of bureaucracy onto a federal government that is already bursting at the seams with bureaucracy, and it is not working.

Every time there is a problem, whether it be at a local, state or federal level, we add a new level of bureaucracy to handle the problem instead of using agencies already in place to solve the problem, we have come to a point where we no longer know what agency and level of government actually has the controls and the powers to deal with the problem. Hence what we have is a situation where our government at all levels has become gridlocked.

Cont.

[Renegade.Rivers]

Whose Really to Blame

The further that this whole crisis goes, the more we come to realize that there is something that smells awful in Washington, and it isn''t the garbage. Over the past eight years, one crisis after another in America has become so common place that we have become a crisis driven society. We have been bouncing from crisis to crisis here in the United States faster than a super ball bounces on a hot concrete drive. It would take me a week to mention them all, but what has become clear is that our government, and the various departments that should be protecting us from these crisis is failing miserably. We can hardly think of any department within the federal government that has not had its share of turmoil, and scandal. What should be plainly evident to every American is that our government is failing miserably at both protecting us, and doing the job that it is there to do. These crisis, in reality are the fault of both parties, and their origins can be traced from one administration to another as far back as we want to look. Anyone that believes that our government is not failing miserably, must either be wearing blinders, or hiding in a closet.

Cont.

[txpatriot4us]

Why is CBS BLOCKING POSTS?

[txpatriot4us]

THE DEMOCRATS WERE GOING TO GET MY SUPPORT, THAT IS NOW IN SERIOUS DOUBT! AS A REPUBLICAN THAT IS DISGUSTED WITH BUSH AND COMPANY I WAS READY TO SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATS IN EVERY RACE.IF THEY ABET THIS THEFT OF THE TREASURY I WILL URGE EVERYONE I KNOW TO LOOK AT THE VOTING RECORDS AND EXPOSE THOSE THAT VOTED FOR THIS THEFT. I WILL URGE EVERYONE I KNOW TO VOTE AGAINST THEM REGARDLESS OF WHICH PARTY THEY REPRESENT. DEMOCRAT THAT VOTED FOR IT = a VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN.IF BOTH VOTED FOR IT I''LL URGE A VOTE FOR THE INDEPENDANT CANDIDATES. I HAVE 2 THOUSAND FAMILIES IN MY CHURCH AND I DO NOT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, I WILL CROSS THAT LINE. I AM AN AMERICAN AND A MINISTER.MAY GOD HELP US.

[txpatriot4us]

THE DEMOCRATS WERE GOING TO GET MY SUPPORT, THAT IS NOW IN SERIOUS DOUBT! AS A REPUBLICAN THAT IS DISGUSTED WITH BUSH AND COMPANY I WAS READY TO SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATS IN EVERY RACE.IF THEY ABET THIS THEFT OF THE TREASURY I WILL URGE EVERYONE I KNOW TO LOOK AT THE VOTING RECORDS AND EXPOSE THOSE THAT VOTED FOR THIS THEFT. I WILL URGE EVERYONE I KNOW TO VOTE AGAINST THEM REGARDLESS OF WHICH PARTY THEY REPRESENT. DEMOCRAT THAT VOTED FOR IT = a VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN.IF BOTH VOTED FOR IT I''LL URGE A VOTE FOR THE INDEPENDANT CANDIDATES. I HAVE 2 THOUSAND FAMILIES IN MY CHURCH AND I DO NOT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, I WILL CROSS THAT LINE. I AM AN AMERICAN AND A MINISTER.MAY GOD HELP US.

[txpatriot4us]

THE DEMOCRATS WERE GOING TO GET MY SUPPORT, THAT IS NOW IN SERIOUS DOUBT! AS A REPUBLICAN THAT IS DISGUSTED WITH BUSH AND COMPANY I WAS READY TO SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATS IN EVERY RACE.IF THEY ABET THIS THEFT OF THE TREASURY I WILL URGE EVERYONE I KNOW TO LOOK AT THE VOTING RECORDS AND EXPOSE THOSE THAT VOTED FOR THIS THEFT. I WILL URGE EVERYONE I KNOW TO VOTE AGAINST THEM REGARDLESS OF WHICH PARTY THEY REPRESENT. DEMOCRAT THAT VOTED FOR IT = a VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN.IF BOTH VOTED FOR IT I''LL URGE A VOTE FOR THE INDEPENDANT CANDIDATES. I HAVE 2 THOUSAND FAMILIES IN MY CHURCH AND I DO NOT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, I WILL CROSS THAT LINE. I AM AN AMERICAN AND A MINISTER.MAY GOD HELP US.

[payasyougo]

The video is just under 10 minutes. It''s full of facts derived from various news articles you can find each one doing a google search. It shows who the people were behind this housing debacle. The proof is doing your own research once you learn about the "Community Reinvestment Act", specifically, who is responsible, when, and why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o&eurl=http://blogsforjohnmccain.com/

Take the time to watch and you will want to flush everyone in congress from their housing legislation to the "farm bill".

[leftyintexas]

You republicons don''t seriously believe you that your party is going to win in November after the way YOU s-crewed this country for eight miserable years, do you??? You and your party are just a bad joke.

[demwatcher]

"McBush/ Mooseburger 2008, because things could be worse if we try!

Posted by Simon9999 at 08:33 PM : Sep 26, 2008"

And they have tried - it''s called Obama/Biden.

[wardoglrs]

Join in the fed.


http://www.endthefed.us/

[lanawonders]

NO...Bailout

[bozworth4]

Divide 700 billion between the taxpayers, legal citizens, and working class people. Watch these people spend and put people to work thes people then spend and put yet more to work. The economy grows without borrowing. Banks get real on interest rates, some quit because of no business, others loan wisely. But the taxpayers get more than crumbs of bread back for a true economic stimulus. Will never work though because the fat cats at the top don''t get a cut. The way It figures the amount of money returned to the people would allow houses without mortages and remodels and major purchases without finance. But then again the fat cats would be out of the rotation. Never work!! Just a thought?

[simon9999-2009]

McBush/ Mooseburger 2008, because things could be worse if we try!

[tibu987]

Call it anything you want, it is still a "bailout"

I oppose the bailout in any form.
Let the chips fall where they may.
A recession or depression will allow the country to regain its position with time and in better shape.
Put a freeze,lid on mortgage payments until it gets sorted out.
Many Wall Street and mortgage companies made hundreds of millions of dollars in their usurious positions and took obscene salaries and bonuses, some in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
I would not now like to see them rewarded for their avarice and mismanagement.

[tincup356]

can you say trust? no one in Washington can its sad when all they want to do is blame but never to all involved.they better quit worrying about a bailout and worry about vote out as this is clear proof theses people are not capable of honestly running our country and we don''t need them in office NOT representing us