Lawmakers Say Deal on Bailout Reached

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Both political parties today announced that they had hammered out a deal for the government’s $700 million bailout of the American economy, the plan for which reportedly held compromises on both sides.

The deal hopefully means good news for the economy, but is also a surprising bipartisan effort from a notoriously contentious, divided Congress.

Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) told reporters, after emerging from a two-hour negotiating session, "I now expect that we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate, be signed by the President, and bring a sense of certainty to this crisis that is still roiling in the markets." Added Bennett, "That is our primary responsibility, and I think we are now prepared to meet it."

The bailout will involve four changes from the initial proposal presented by the Bush administration, which was opposed by lawmakers and constituents on all sides.

The changes include limiting the pay of top executives at floundering institutions, adding more oversight to the plan, adding help for troubled mortgage holders facing foreclosure, and give the federal Treasury the power to take a stake in failing financial firms.

Members of both parties who participated in the negotiations have said they feel heartened by the spirit of teamwork that prevailed during the talks. They also seemed to want to make it clear to the press that they didn’t need or appreciate the intervention of either presidential candidate, referring to Bush’s invitation to have both McCain and Obama participate in the negotiations.

"I appreciate very much my Republican colleagues who participated in the meeting and added tremendously," said Senator Bennett. "We focused on solving the problem, rather than posturing politically and it was one of the most productive sessions in that regard that I have participated in since I have been in the Senate."

The "political posturing" is said to be a reference to John McCain’s announcement that he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington in order to help solve the financial crisis. Other senators complained that the appearance by the candidates would only slow the progress of the "real work" being done, and that the "Presidential photo-op" would only serve as a distraction.

In fact, political pundits point out that the bipartisan effort was speeded along by the desire on both sides to appear to have solved the problem without help from either of the presidential candidates. President Bush’s meeting with McCain and Obama was set to occur just hours after the senators emerged from the meeting with the announcement that the plan had reached its final stages.

"We are prepared to act expeditiously on a plan with our colleagues that will allow us to send a very strong message to the markets," said Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn), one of the key players in the negotiations.

The Dow Jones rose sharply in response to the announcement that a deal had been reached.