Lawmakers Claim Progress In Bailout Talks

Congressional Leaders Hopeful Of Striking Deal Before World Markets Open

(CBS/AP)  Nervously eyeing the markets' next trading session, key lawmakers in both parties and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson worked late into the night Saturday trying to close an agreement on a multibillion-dollar government bailout of distressed financial companies.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters "quite a bit" of progress was being made on a deal that Congress could send to President Bush as early as Monday after votes in both houses.

A key sticking point was how to include a new government-sponsored program demanded by House Republicans as an alternative to devoting the entire $700 billion proposed by Bush on buying up devalued mortgage-backed securities and other toxic debt from banks and investors.

"We're making a lot of headway; I think it's possible to get this thing done tonight," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. "I can't guarantee it," Baucus quickly added.

The House was scheduled to convene at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday and members there were hoping they could vote on it by that evening and go home to campaign for re-election. The Senate isn't scheduled to go back into session until Monday morning.

Presidential politics again played a role in the bargaining. Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama called key negotiators and portrayed themselves as helping without getting directly involved in the talks.

Bush expressed confidence earlier Saturday that lawmakers soon would approve a rescue plan while acknowledging that many Americans are frustrated and angry at the amount of money taxpayers are being asked to put up for covering Wall Street firms' mistakes.

The president spoke with Paulson, McCain and other Republican lawmakers during the day, said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Under the plan being considered, the Treasury Department would buy deeply distressed mortgage-backed securities. The money should help troubled lenders make new loans. The government would later try to sell the discounted loan packages at the best possible price.

House Republicans were insisting that some of the money be available to insure, rather than buy, distressed mortgage-backed securities. Banks and investment firms holding such packages would pay the government for insurance against losses if the mortgages default.

Proponents say their idea would require less taxpayer spending. But the Treasury Department has said it would not pump enough money into the financial sector to make credit sufficiently available.

Another proposal would have the government receive stock warrants in return for the bailout relief, ensuring that proceeds from eventual sales of the discounted packages would return to the Treasury.

Negotiators were trying to settle on a means of limiting severance packages for executives of companies that benefit from the rescue plan.

They also discussed phasing in the program's costs. For example, after the first $350 billion or so is made available, Congress could try to block later amounts if it believed the program was not working. The president presumably could veto such a move, however, requiring extra large margins in the House and Senate to override.

House Republicans insisted on several changes to the administration's original proposal.

"We should not be bailing out Wall Street on the backs of American taxpayers," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters at midafternoon, when Paulson and key House and Senate members took over the negotiations from their aides.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said earlier that the goal was to come up with a final agreement before the Asian markets open Sunday night. "Everybody is waiting for this thing to tip a little bit too far," he said, so "we may not have another day."

The bailout is intended to rescue bankers from bad loans that threaten to derail the economy and plunge the country into a long depression. Some lawmakers likened the situation to a major car wreck that has backed up traffic - credit, in this case - for miles. The rescue is meant to remove the wreckage so credit can start moving to borrowers again, they said.

But there are at least a dozen sticking points, reports CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras. Key among them figuring out who would pay premiums to cover future losses - the banks or the taxpayers - and whether future profits from the bailout would go into a housing trust fund.

And while Republicans have problems with the proposals pitched by the White House and Senate leaders, Democrats say no package can move forward unless conservative Republicans provide substantial votes. Conservatives are pushing an alternative package of tax cuts and insurance that would not require taxpayers to foot the bill, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

Democrats and administration officials said they were willing to include House Republicans' idea of having the government insure distressed mortgage-backed securities - but only as an option, not a replacement for the broader idea of buying those toxic securities.

"There may be a way in which that could be accommodated as part of the toolbox" available to the Treasury Department, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. "As a practical matter, that can't be the engine that drives this bill," he said.

Negotiators also discussed phasing in the program's costs. For example, after the first $350 billion is made available, Congress could try to block later amounts, which could total an additional $350 billion, if it believed the program was not working. The president presumably could veto such a move, however, requiring extra large margins in the House and Senate to override.

The negotiations have agreed to limit compensation to executives of corporations that would be covered by the rescue plan but there was disagreement on how to do it and by how much.

Whatever emerges "is not the proposal that we got from Secretary Paulson," Reid said. But lawmakers said it would be much closer to Paulson's original plan than to the alternative offered by House Republicans several days ago.

McCain, who flew to Washington after Friday night's presidential debate in Mississippi, spent part of Saturday working the phones and "helping out as he can," aide Mark Salter said. But McCain did not enter the Capitol, where his colleagues were voting on a $634 billion spending bill that ended a ban on drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and sent billions of dollars to the military.

McCain supports such measures. But the vote would have been difficult for him because the bill also included more than 2,000 pet spending projects worth more than $6 billion. That is the kind of pork-barrel spending that McCain has pledged to end.

Obama campaigned in North Carolina and Virginia. Aides said he placed calls to Paulson, Reid and a key House member to keep tabs on the finance negotiations.

[tbuckl]

Thomas Jefferson was so right when he said the following, I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by all future generations, under the name of funding, is but swindling the state of being yet to come on a large scale. Now the American banking system and its Barbaric CEOs have taken the American people to the clearers. Thomas Jefferson correctly used the word SWINDLING when writing his thoughts about banks and aristocratic tyrants that would infect our soceity. He knew these aristocratic tyrants would infest our soceity just like they did so many centuries ago. I wish he had been wrong, because I am starting to think something else he said may also be true. "The tree of liberty must from time to time be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

[txgrouch2006]

TERM LIMITS FOR ALL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

[jt_lancer]

tapsettle - ''It is America''''s political class that, by embracing the dangerously simplistic ideology of deregulation, has responsibility for the present mess.''

It''s not deregulation that caused the mess. Nothing was deregulated. It''s government regulation and political manipulation of the markets that caused the mess.

For starters, Fannie and Freddie (government sponsored enterprises whose loans are ''insured'' by taxpayers) were mandated to make riskier loans to lower income families in order to ''boost'' home ownership in America.

Secondly, the Fed sharply reduced interest rates after 9/11 and kept them artificially low for an extended period, creating a huge amount of credit for the markets to absorb. This triggered a surge in real estate investing (people flipping homes, etc).

Furthermore, it is estimated that applicants for no doc loans LIED about their income 70% of the time. A recpie for disaster.

[bstambo]

Pay them with credit
Take out a loan,
The IRS doesn%u2019t care
Their hearts colder than stone

I have to decide
What to buy at the store,
Medicine, clothes or food
Which do we need more?

My mortgage has defaulted
The bank is a%u2019knocking,
The end of my rope
My world is rocking.

The Feds are all gathering
The Congress is too,
To help out the rich
As they are prone to do.

They need to save Wall Street
They need to save face,
They need billions of dollars
To come from someplace.

They tout of a plan
To keep the economy afloat,
To look good in the eyes
Of the people who vote.

But the real plan is
And always will be,
To reach in our pockets
To pay their big fee.

Pay credit with credit
The answer is plain,
The problem%u2019s on hold
And nothing is gained.

But I live on Main Street
And I%u2019m dying too,
But no one is listening
What will I do?

I have nothing left
But have done nothing wrong,
But I pay the price
Of a government gone wrong.

At the end of my rope
I have nothing more,
I appeal to Congress
I take the floor.

I get their attention
I stand up and SHOUT,
Mr. President, Congress
COME BAIL ME OUT!

[bstambo]

This is what I think of the whole disaster....wouldn''t fit on one comment, so please read both together....

Middle Class Blues

My life wasn%u2019t that bad
Or so I believed,
The bills were all paid
But I was deceived.

My job left for India
Without me of course,
Now I%u2019m no longer part
Of the US workforce.

My child is sick
But my insurance went too,
I can%u2019t afford Cobra
My options are few.

The job market is empty
The positions are few,
No one is hiring
My savings won%u2019t do.

So much for the extras
And money to bank,
The Oil Man%u2019s greedy,
Now it%u2019s all in the tank.

Wall Street is tumbling
My investments have dwindled,
And I can%u2019t help but think
That I%u2019ve somehow been swindled.

My car payments have lapsed
The Repo Man came fast,
And now I don%u2019t worry
How to pay for the gas.

My bank has collapsed
more jobs have been lost,
But the grand CEO
Has not paid the cost.

My taxes are due
This year higher than last,
I can%u2019t pay them all
The due date has passed.

(continued on next comment)

[livewire190]

I am writing this message to inform people of the injustice being perpretrated by Fox News against Barack Obama. For the past two weeks there has been nothing but negative reporting against senator Obama by the Fox News network, which is unfair to listeners and the candidate. This networks seemingly biased opinions are not of interest to us viewers. My concern is that negative reporting like this will influence voters that are undecided of which candidate best express their wishes. I depend on these news stations for fair, accurate and just reporting regardless of the outcome whether it be a debate or any other current event and if that cant be accomplished I feel that it is grounds for that station (Fox News network) to be boycotted until they learn and understand that those types of injustices will not be tolerated. If anyone else can relate to the unfair reporting of Fox News I suggest that you join us in a boycott of this news station. PASS THIS MESSAGE ALONG.




------------------------
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Posted by dicktracy200 at 04:06 AM : Sep 28, 2008

Know what I was just thinking the same way lately. I''''ve already expected it from people like Hannity and the like but its like lately they turned up the heat. I''''ve tried to give them a chance but they blew it for me mabey about a week ago. I will to be Boycotting.

[vivekgee]

Now we will have a party in the stock and oil markets on monday and yes, the bill will be paid by the american tax payers. The crude will get more costlier. Americans will again foot the bill.

Bloody vampires.

[tapsettle]

The root cause of the crisis is the busting of the housing bubble.
-----
Posted by testerling

"The populist rant about greedy banks that is being loudly ventilated in Congress is a distraction from the true causes of the crisis. The dire condition of America''s financial markets is the result of American banks operating in a free-for-all environment that these same American legislators created. It is America''s political class that, by embracing the dangerously simplistic ideology of deregulation, has responsibility for the present mess."

John Gray, The Observer.

[riddelup]

A bailout does not resolve the underlying cause of the current crisis. The root cause of the crisis is the busting of the housing bubble. The bailout only tackles the symptoms of the crisis and it only addresses the symptoms of one sector. This sector my be the loudest in the history of government. It has spread so much of it''s wealth around the government that many of our otherwise erstwhile representatives have misinterpreted their mandate. The cost of housing has been run up by those who profit or wish to profit from it''s engorged state. The fact is we cannot afford the prices of houses regardless the complicated structure ,deferred principle,or manipulated payments. The government should attend to the needs of the voter and address the problem. The bailout will enable the banks to deffer the consequences of their actions and give those who are responsible for their own demise a chance to withdraw their profits from the system. The bailout will not solve the problem simply put because it does not address the problem. Because it does not address the problem the problem will remain. Affordable housing is the problem. Paying the wolves who fleeced the sheep is not the solution.

[trrrorislamj]

HAVE ANY MONEY LEFT???

MARXIST HUSSEIN PLANS TO GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THE WORLDS POOR,,,

GLOBAL POVERTY ACT

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=OBAMA+GLOBAL POVERTY ACT

YOU CAN KISS YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY GOOD BYE,,,

HUSSEIN SAYS THE WORLD POOR NEEDS IT MORE THAN YOU DO,,,

HUSSEIN PREFERS FOREIGNS OVER AMERICANS,,,

[tapsettle]

HUSSEINS OTHER RADICAL MARXIST HATE AMERICA ASSOCIATION
------
Posted by trrrorislamj

Still playing the fool I see. Shame as I think you could debate properly if you tried. Never mind, a fool it is then.

[trrrorislamj]

HUSSEIN PLANS TO STEAL THE ELECTION

WILL YOUR VOTE COUNT???

OR WILL ACORN VOTER FRAUD STEAL THE ELECTION???

HUSSEINS OTHER RADICAL MARXIST HATE AMERICA ASSOCIATION

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=OBAMA+ACORN VOTER FRAUD

The Acorn Indictments
A union-backed outfit faces charges of election fraud.
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009189


ACORN Workers Indicted For Alleged Voter Fraud
http://www.kmbc.com/politics/10214492/detail.html

Inside Obama''s Acorn
http://www.aina.org/news/20080529155204.htm

[book54552134]

After being forced to pay for an expensive & unnecessary war in Iraq, the overwhelming majority of the American people did not want the costs of this Trillion dollar banking bailout foisted upon them.

This is the result of the absolute & utter corruption endemic in the US government.

When one votes for the lesser of 2 evils, what one gets at the end of the day, is evil!

[tapsettle]

How symbolic yesterday that Chinese astronauts take a spacewalk while the US Treasury Secretary is on his knees.

[trrrorislamj]

Posted by Demongirl60 at 05:59 AM : Sep 28, 2008

NO BAILOUT FOR THE IRRESPONSIBLE FRINEDS OF THE DEMONIC-RATS!

FANNIE AND FREDDIE,,,

FANNIE AND FREDDIE OWN THE DEMONIC-RATS,,,

SAY NO TO MORE DEMONIC-RAT CORRUPTION,,,

[trrrorislamj]

Posted by gwjackie at 05:47 AM : Sep 28, 2008

UMMMM NANCY,,,

IT WAS THE DEMONIC-RATS THAT BLOCKED REGULATION OF YOUR FANNIE AND FREDDIE,,,

AND SUBPRIME LOANS,,,

DEMONIC-RATS REPRESENT MORE FAILED SOCIALISM / COMMUNISM POLICIES OF THE PAST,,,,

[gwjackie]

John McCain would take the american people to the pitts of HELL. He is stupid,stupid,stupid and Palin is dumb,dumb,dumb. A Republican is like a mushroom put them in a cave and feed them *******! and they still vote Republican. AND THINK IT WILL BE OK.

[gwjackie]

Lets not blame anyone but the Republicans and the deregulators that got us in this mess and who is asking for the money to bail the peices of shi! out BUSH YES MR.BUSH. He thought the 600.00 would keep it going till he got to the ranch and got in his hole.

[trrrorislamj]

Economists not keen on DEMONIC-RAT bailout

NO NO NO,,, GOD DAMNN THE DEMONIC-RATS,,,

DEMONIC-RAT CORRUPTION IS KILLING AMERICA,,,

MORE FAILED SOCIALIST/COMMUNIST POLICIES OF THE PAST,,,

Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACThttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=COMMUNITY+REINVESTMENT ACT
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT

Timeline shows Bush, McCain warning Dems of financial mess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM&feature=related

S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-190

http://www.opensecrets.org/

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS

Covering Your Fannie, Who Really Caused Our Economic Crisis?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiEWCnpNnBQ&feature=user

HUSSEIN AND THE DEMONIC-RATS ARE BAD FOR AMERICA,,,

[brownellkm]

let the economy work itself out! we need to level it out, the rich got rich the middle class got poor, people thought making money was easy, just buy a house, but some of us just go work every day, pay our bills, get smacked with late charges and high interest rates when we don''t pay ontime because we set up bill pay wrong, fight credit bureaus because our identities are stolen,no bail out, more Bush chicken little act. What can happen? maybe mayhem for awhile, but we are families, friends and neighbors, we will be back to those values if we do it ourselves.

The people who worked for those failed companies will be welcome in the workplace, except the egotists who collapsed their entities.

We have let a few people run this country private and public officials, we have sold our real estate to other countries, we owe more money than we can pay back, our kids are spoiled and lazy.

I would like to see everyone get up monday morning join hands around the country and vow to help each other. We waste so much and keep making excuses, remember Grandma saving the baggies and aluminum foil to reuse? We think recycle so we don''t have to wash it. every jar is a glass, every effort to help