Congress rushes to construct alternative bailout plan

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barrack Obama have separately voiced support of a plan that House Republicans pushed earlier which was to raise the federal deposit insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000. In raising the federal deposit insurance limit, the goal would be to alleviate the fears of Americans and reassure them that the legislation would support the faltering economy.

President Bush agreed with McCain and Obama, but added a strong statement from the White House demanding that "Congress must act." The President went on to say "I recognize this is a difficult vote for members of Congress, but the reality is we are in an urgent situation and the consequences will grow worse each day if we do not act."

Changes are being considered besides that of increasing the federal deposit insurance limit. Lawmakers have also discussed modifying the "mark to market" accounting rules, which require banks and other financial institutions to adjust the value of their assets to reflect current market prices, and some Democrats have suggested the extension of unemployment insurance and banning some forms of "short selling."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto recognized the possibility that there are plenty of good ideas to help the financial markets and stated "we’re going to look at all of those."