U.S. lawmakers say they will continue to work over the coming days on a
plan to rescue the struggling financial services industry.
The Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi,
says negotiations over the details of the plan are making progress.
President George Bush is also optimistic that a deal will be reached.
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate mostly agree on the broad
principles of a proposal presented by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
The measure would cost up to 700-billion dollars and would allow the
government to buy up bad investments from troubled financial firms.
House Republicans strongly object to the cost of the bill, and argue
that taxpayer money should not be used to help big financial firms that
made bad investments. Public opinion polls show most Americans agree.
The bailout plan does have the support of British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown. Following his meeting with President Bush in Washington Friday,
Mr. Brown noted that the financial crisis has implications in other
parts of the world. He also suggested enacting tighter global banking
regulations.