AFP - Democrats in House of Representatives and Senate are upbeat that they can reach a deal with the White House on a bailout plan for troubled Wall Street, a top lawmaker has said.

AP - President Bush and the two men running to succeed him raised the political stakes dramatically Wednesday in the great bailout debate of 2008, effectively stamping a "too big to fail" sign on congressional efforts to pass a pre-election economic rescue plan.

AP - Connecticut Democrats, angry that Sen. Joe Lieberman is campaigning for the Republican presidential candidate and criticizing his own party's nominee, agreed Wednesday to circulate a resolution to censure the veteran politician but won't consider acting on it until after Election Day.

AP - President Bush is bringing presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain into negotiations on a $700 billion rescue of Wall Street as Democrats and Republicans near agreement on a bailout plan with more protections for taxpayers and new help for distressed homeowners.

AP - Opening arguments in Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial are scheduled to begin Thursday, but it remains unclear whether jurors will ever hear from the Senate's longest-serving Republican.

AP - Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.