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Obama, McCain to Attend White House Meeting On Wall Street Rescue Plan


U.S. President George Bush is meeting with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain at the White House today, Thursday to discuss a proposed 700-billion dollar rescue plan for the U.S. financial sector.

The rival presidential candidates have already issued a joint statement calling the plan "flawed" but also urging bipartisan cooperation to avoid economic "catastrophe" for the sake of the nation.

Key congressional leaders are also due to attend the White House meeting.

In Wednesday' night's nationally televised address, Mr. Bush urged lawmakers to pass the massive plan, warning that the U.S. economy faces a "long and painful" recession without immediate congressional action.

The bailout plan would allow the government to buy devalued assets from troubled financial firms. Those bad investments have made banks reluctant to lend money, and the lack of credit threatens to stall the economy.

The president said the stock market would drop more, home values would plummet, foreclosures would rise dramatically, more businesses would close and millions of Americans would lose their jobs.

Shortly after the president's speech, Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services committee, said Democratic lawmakers in both chambers have reached a deal on the measure. They will meet with their Republican counterparts this morning to discuss the plan.

Frank says the bill will include placing limits on compensation for top executives of investment firms that participate in the plan, independent oversight of the program, and a provision that would give the government an equity stake in some of the firms, so taxpayers can share in any future profits.

The Bush administration's top economic officials faced deep skepticism and sometimes hostile questions about the proposal during two days of congressional hearings that began Tuesday. Democrats, along with fiscal conservative lawmakers from the president's own Republican party, are worried it would only help big financiers, and expose American taxpayers to great financial risk.

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