$700B would be biggest bailout since Great Depression

[struggle4progress]

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writers

Published: Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 11:04 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 5:36 p.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration asked Congress on Saturday for the power to buy $700 billion in toxic assets clogging the financial system and threatening the economy as negotiations began on the largest bailout since the Great Depression ...

Besides mortgage help and executive compensation limits, Democrats are considering attaching middle-class assistance to the legislation despite a request from Bush to avoid adding items that could delay action. An expansion of jobless benefits was one possibility.

Bush sidestepped questions about the chances of adding such items, saying that now was not the time for posturing. "I think most leaders would understand we need to get this done quickly, and you know, the cleaner the better," he said about legislation being drafted ...

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20080920/NEWS/809200289