BREAKING NEWS: Congress close to bailout deal

By Michael J.W. Stickings

So there's a deal... almost.

CNN:

Congressional negotiators "made great progress" toward reaching a deal on the White House's proposed $700 billion bailout of the financial system, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Pelosi, flanked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other congressional leaders, made the announcement at 12:30 a.m. Sunday after a long evening of talks on Capitol Hill.

Their goal has been to craft and announce a final deal on legislation by Sunday in time for the start of financial markets around the world.

Reid said he expected a deal to be finalized by Sunday afternoon.

House Republicans have not yet signed on the newest plan, but their negotiator, Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, said he would present it to the GOP caucus Sunday morning after it is written on paper.

I'll wait to comment until I see the specifics. I'm generally opposed to the bailout plan, but I do hope Barney Frank is right: "I do think we have reached as good a product as you can in this democracy given all the interests." And by that I mean I hope the "as good a product as you can" isn't just, for all intents and purposes, a blank cheque for Bush, Paulson, and the Wall Street oligarchs.

(More at the Politico: A "tentative agreement" is in place.)

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One quick note from Think Progress: "After declaring he'd return to Washington to help with the bailout negotiations immediately after last night's debate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) never went to Capitol Hill today. In fact, McCain stayed largely holed up in his Arlington apartment, leaving only to go to his campaign headquarters just around the block."

So much for the great John McCain, the maverick leader Washington just can't do without. So much for his desperate, arrogant, and utterly self-serving political stunt.

What a transparent farce it all was.