| | Reports: Deal reached on economic bailout
 Word emerged Thursday afternoon that Congress had reached a deal on a $700 billion economic bailout packaged the Bush administration and Wall Street says is necessary to prevent an economic collapse.
However, the leading Republican in the House denied there was a deal, and the McCain campaign issued a statement saying, "There's no deal until there's a deal."
The Associated Press reports:
Emerging from a two-hour negotiating session, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said, "We are very confident that we can act expeditiously."
"I now expect that we will indeed have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate (and) be signed by the president," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah.
The bipartisan consensus on the general direction of the legislation was reported just hours before President Bush was to host presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain and congressional leaders at the White House for discussions on how to clear obstacles to the unpopular rescue plan.
Key lawmakers said at midday that few difficulties actually remained. The full story is available here.
As soon as stories of a deal emerged, House Republican leader John Boehner released a statement saying his party had not yet agreed to any specifics, MSNBC reported.
Indications began to emerge earlier in the day that a deal was on the horizon. Obama and McCain were scheduled to sit down with Bush this afternoon at 4 p.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters the White House has agreed to key principles Democrats want included in the massive bailout bill, which is expected to exceed some 700 billion dollars.
The White House meanwhile praised "significant progress" in difficult talks with lawmakers on the rescue package and held out hope for a breakthrough deal on Thursday.
"We're reaching a consensus and we're going to try to drive that to a conclusion today," spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters hours before unprecedented crisis talks at the White House expected at 1800 GMT.
Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, said Democrats had insisted on four principles in reaching a deal: "forbearance, oversight, equity, and executive pay."
The four issues have been sticking points in efforts to hammer out a deal, with Democrats insisting that that any bailout include "forbearance" or leniency in the terms of repayment for mortgage holders.
Democrats also have insisted that the government and public are entitled to "equity" in the company, entitling them to a share of any profits generated.
They also are calling for limits in the pay of finance company executives, whose compensation packages often total many millions of dollars. And they said that any deal must include strict oversight by federal regulators.
"We couldn't bring a bill without those provisions. There are other provisions that we haven't reached. It's not that it's disagreement, it's just what form will it take in the legislation," Pelosi stressed.
Pelosi promised a "very lean but important stimulus package."
"It would be hard to explain to public why we have to have a 700-billlion dollar rescue and not address stimulus," she said.
Still, the top Republican in the House, Minority Leader John Boehner, denied that a deal had been clinched.
"There is no bipartisan deal at this time. There may be a deal among some Democrats, but House Republicans are not a part of it," he told reporters.
Wall Street stocks raced higher Thursday, boosted by optimism that Congress was nearing a deal on a massive rescue plan for the troubled financial sector.
Traders focused on the news from Washington, largely brushing off weak data on manufactured durable goods orders and a profit warning from General Electric.
After a mixed session on Wednesday for the market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 185.90 points (1.72 percent) to 11,011.07 and the Nasdaq composite added 31.12 points (1.44 percent) to 2,186.80 at 1510 GMT.
Also in New York, John McCain voiced confidence a deal on a Wall Street bailout could be sealed before markets open Monday, saying his 'old navy pilot' instincts told him to suspend his White House bid amid the crisis.
The Republican presidential candidate said he could not stay on the campaign trail as normal while the future of the US economy was at stake, before heading back to Washington for the White House summit.
Aides to Obama, in Clearwater, Florida, cast doubt on McCain's motives for suspending his campaign when a financial crisis deal appeared to be near.
"All of a sudden, now that we're on the verge of making a deal, John McCain drops himself in to make a deal," Democrat Barney Frank, the House financial services leader, told ABC television.
With wire reports
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