The Washington Post, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times each
lead Congress' late-night progress toward agreement on an economic
bailout plan on Saturday. Yesterday's talks were propelled by the need
to act swiftly, and focused on adding strict oversight to the $700
billion as well as exploring new ways to pay for the measure that would
avoid sticking taxpayers with the bill."We're moving, we're moving," Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) told the WP after
last night's session, from which Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson
emerged around 12:30 a.m. (Both he and Sen. Nancy Pelosi called the
evening's work "great progress.") Congress did reach a tentative
agreement, the NYT's reports,
with congressional staff working around the clock to finalize language
that will hopefully be ready for a Monday vote. The new plan includes
some limits on executive pay and provides for strict oversight of the
rescue monies. Additionally, the LAT reports,
the updated accord is "expected to call for the money to be made
available in installments instead of one enormous lump sum." Democrats
and Republicans seem to both agree that the bailout should not take
place "on the backs of taxpayers," the WP reports, and even
the conservatives most strongly against it expect the "critical mass"
forming behind the current agreement to push it through Congress. To continue reading, click here.