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The article reports that U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue said that at least an auto rescue package must be approved this year, and warned that the country will hit a brick wall if a larger economic stimulus is not enacted soon. Donohue said that his group is working with key officials at the White House and Treasury, as well as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and top Republicans in Congress, to try to stave off the automakers' collapse.

The article reports that the U.S. Senate will take up a $25 billion loan package for the Big Three automakers and Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to attach it to a $6 billion bill providing unemployment benefits. He has sent a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that he will push forward with the plan unless McConnell agrees to a larger economic stimulus plan. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said that the Senate lacks votes to pass it.

The article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush has defended his administration's interventions in the financial sector to deal with the credit crisis and argued that there was no other choice. Bush pledged that the government's intervention would be limited to only what is necessary and would be short-lived. He said that there will be no tax increases and he will make another pitch for approval of trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

The article reports on the attacks launched by political candidates from different parties in Kentucky against incumbents over their support for the $700 billion bailout bill for the struggling financial services industry. One of them is Bruce Lunsford, the Democratic opponent of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who began running advertisements that contend the U.S. "got into this mess" that caused the market meltdown because of career politicians like McConnell.

The article reports on the move of Representative Jean Schmidt to defend the $700 bailout bill she voted in the U.S. Schmidt, claims that the vote was originally against the bill due to the pressure. However, Schmidt decided to support it after realizing that something had to be done to shore up the financial and credit markets.

The article discusses the issues on passing financial rescue bill in the U.S. House Democrats slammed Lehman Brothers chief executive officer Richard Fuld and the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) loosening of investment banking regulations in what looks to be a politically charge effort to weigh accountability for financial crisis. House Republicans have criticized the hearings as efforts to frame the financial crisis to help Democrats in the November 2008 elections.

The article reports on the issues concerning the bailout plan in the U.S. It states that the bailout plan, which aims to address the country's financial crisis, has been used by several candidates to gain points in the Senate. Legislative candidates John Sununu and Jeanne Shaheen have held a news conference to talk about how they have solved such kind of crisis, while the other candidates have been using television (TV) ads to attack other candidates' knowledge about financial crisis management.

The article reports on the decline of power of advocacy groups to influence the bailout plan in the U.S. As talks on bailout plan to help the financial crisis in the country move so fast, the legislative advocates have been left powerless to address specific provisions in the proposals. John O'Neill, a lobbyist at Venable LLP and a former Senate Finance Committee aide, said that the talks on the plan put pressure to the advocates because it applies to the business community.

The article reports on the outcome of a White House meeting regarding the $700 billion financial rescue plan in the U.S. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain and the House Republican leaders were blamed by House Democrats for derailing action on the proposed $700 billion bailout. McCain's support to find better solution to the financial crisis has left the bailout talks in deadlock.

The article reports that U.S. President George W. Bush has tried to convince the American people and lawmakers that the government's proposed $700 billion rescue program is necessary to prevent economic worries from becoming full-fledged panic. Bush's comments came just hours after Arizona Republican Senator and presidential nominee John McCain startled backers and observers by saying he would suspend his presidential campaign and return to Washington to work on the economic puzzle.

The article focuses on the challenges in the way of the passage of the U.S. Treasury Department's proposed $700 billion bailout plan for the financial institutions in the U.S. The potential for a Republican Party senators' split on the bill raises problems for the administration of President George W. Bush, with many senators opposing the bill. Republican Senator Scott Garrett said that the precedent that might be set by the government's involvement in the rescue plan concerned him.

The article reports that negotiations on a multibillion-dollar U.S. federal program to purchase bad debt from struggling financial firms continued at a dizzying pace, with a consensus forming on limiting executive pay at firms that participate in the program. But a bid to require banks that take federal aid to accept a change in bankruptcy law by allowing judges to reduce the principal of the mortgage to a home's current market value faces an uphill battle with resistance even among Democrats.