After talks between Democrats and Republicans broke down on Thursday evening, lawmakers return to Capitol Hill for another round of discussion over the financial market rescue package.

Talks were going fine until Senator and Presidential candidate John McCain showed up, said House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank in an interview with CNN on Friday morning. "At this point, we have absolutely no participation or co-operation from House Republicans," Frank said.

On Thursday, House democrats announced that an agreement on the principles of the legislation had been agreed upon and that a final version of the bill was at hand, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hoping for a vote Friday and some Republican senators saying the bill would pass over the weekend.

However, after a meeting with President George W. Bush, Republican Senator Richard Shelby said an agreement had been made on the $700 billion bailout plan proposed by the U.S. Treasury.

"I don't think we have an agreement," Shelby told reporters. "We ought to look at alternatives" to the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Shelby said, adding that there are a lot of different opinions on the bailout plan.

Bush had called for a bipartisan meeting between both parties on Thursday to speed the passage of the bill.

In an interview with CNBC on Friday morning, Shelby said Paulson's plan is flawed and will not work.

In addition, the news comes just ahead of the first U.S. Presidential debate between candidates Barack Obama and John McCain in Mississippi on Friday evening, but McCain said he will remain in Washington until the details of the bailout package are hammered out.

U.S. President Bush is scheduled to address the public at 9:35 a.m. EDT on Friday morning.

By Erik Kevin Franco
©CEP News Ltd. 2008