The latest from a Capitol Hill source who has proven to be entirely reliable:

“Negotiators took a break for dinner and are back at it now.  Some people think there could be an agreement tonight, others say sometime tomorrow. . . I’m told people were “befuddled” by the number of Democrats that showed up at the afternoon session. Paulson actually called Reid to ask why there were so many Senate Democrats in there instead of just Dodd and the other 3 principals. Amazingly, Reid told Paulson he couldn’t control them. Apparently this evening, the adults in the room got a little tired of the nonsense, and Dems and Republicans separated into two different rooms and are now conducting some shuttle diplomacy. Despite all this, people seem to believe progress is being made.”

This source made special mention of a particular Democrat who is being “unhelpful“: Senator Chuck Schumer.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: At about 10:00 p.m. I asked about the status of the so-called slush fund for ACORN. I was told by a GOP staffer: ”On ACORN, we’re pushing hard to get rid of it, but Dems are fighting back.” And are the discussions on executive compensation limits just for firms getting government relief ? That seems to be the idea. Back on Wednesday Senator Mitch McConnell said as much when he opined “If weak companies are seeking government assistance, the taxpayers should expect no less than a firm limit on what kind of executive compensation might be possible for those involved in these distressed companies.” I am advised that “nothing is set in stone” on these and other points and that negotiations go on. A good summary of the ACORN controversy is here.

UPDATE 2: A deal appears to be reached, subject to drafting. If it is as described here then the negotiatiors — including House Republicans – seem to have done a commendable job of adding some oversight procedures, beating back the Democrats’ fee/taxs proposals, and putting limits on executive comp (for participating firms only). If the ACORN slush fund got killed the Republicans did a commendable job. Now the battle for credit and blame will begin. McCain will certainly claim that the above-mentioned items coincide with the items he previously listed as needed for a deal.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 at 8:55 PM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.