AP - Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd says the United States may be "days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system" and Congress is working quickly to prevent that.

AP - Sen. Edward Kennedy has added a new high-tech wrinkle to his push for national health care legislation: videoconferencing.

AP - Ignoring a presidential veto threat, the House on Thursday approved measures aimed at curbing speculation in oil and other commodity markets. It said federal regulators now don't have the tools or manpower to track trading abuses.

Reuters - The meltdown on Wall Street rattling investors big and small is the centerpiece of a new election-year blame game in the Democratic-led U.S. Congress and in the race for the White House.

AP - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said she expects a challenging debate next month when she faces a Democratic opponent who was elected to the Senate when she was 8 years old.

AP - Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne pledged on Thursday to squelch the "ethics storm" exposed by investigators who said agency workers rigged bids, accepted gifts and had sex with energy company officials doing business with the government.

AP - Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska can probe the mental health of the government's star witness in next week's corruption trial against the longtime Alaska icon, a federal judge ruled Thursday.