Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Uncertain  —  WASHINGTON — The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation.  It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas …

Bailout Agreement Unraveling?  —  During the White House meeting, it appears that Sen. John McCain had an agenda.  He brought up alternative proposals, surprising and angering Democrats.  He did not, according to someone briefed on the meeting, provide specifics.

McCain to do round of network interviews tonight  —  John McCain will appear on all three network newscasts tonight, a top aide said.  —  McCain is at the White House meeting with President Bush, Barack Obama and congressional leaders now and will tape interviews with NBC, ABC and CBS after the West Wing session.

What Happened In The Cabinet Room...  Though Sen. Chris Dodd implied that Sen. McCain sandbagged the rest of the negotiators by bringing up alternative proposals, McCain himself did not bring up those proposals, according to four independent sources briefed by four different principals inside the meeting …

House GOP: We have leverage on bailout  —  House Republicans say they have significant leverage on the revamped bailout package, claiming that Democrats will scramble for votes unless they make changes to it.  —  Republicans in the lower chamber are balking at the bailout package …

Deal would phase in bailout funds  —  The leaders of House and Senate banking committees reached a bipartisan agreement Thursday on the framework for legislation authorizing Treasury's ambitious $700 billion rescue plan for the financial markets.  —  The final language of the bill must still …

As deal drifts, House GOP releases alternative  —  House Republicans were left out of the morning deal making on the bailout and are already being blamed for derailing the bailout negotiation.  —  So now they've released their own set of “principles” in the 11th hour, relying on mortgage insurance …

STRANGE DAYS  —  It is no small irony that after years of being at odds with the right wing of his own party, John McCain is staking his campaign for the presidency on it.  —  During the late afternoon meeting at the White House (a meeting which was McCain's idea), McCain sat silently …

Wall Street bailout plan breaks down  —  Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson left a late-night session at the Capitol Thursday without a deal on the bailout plan the White House says is needed to prevent economic disaster.  —  Four of the five parties involved in the deal — House Democrats …

Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets  —  Washington Mutual, the giant lender that came to symbolize the excesses of the mortgage boom, was seized by federal regulators on Thursday night, in what is by far the largest bank failure in American history.