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The White House said Thursday morning that President Bush and GOP nominee John McCain might be on a different page about how close the administration and Congress are to reaching a deal on a Wall Street bailout. "It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the administration's proposal to meet the crisis," McCain said in New York City. "I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time." Sen. McCain’s (Ariz.) comment came hours before he was to meet at the White House with Bush, congressional leaders and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). White House press secretary Dana Perino, responding to the Arizona senator’s remarks, said there might be a “difference of opinion,” but the White House feels it has made “progress every day, and we are closer today than we were yesterday.” “Maybe he has information that I don't have that makes him think the deal is almost dead,” Perino said, adding that she had not seen McCain's remarks. The spokeswoman welcomed the two candidates to the White House, and continued to hail what the president views as a bipartisan effort to solve the financial crisis. Perino said the president was grateful that the candidates said they want to take politics out of the equation, and stated that, if their presence can "help us finalize the situation, then that's all for the better." Perino added that the White House feels like it is "closing in" on a solution, but it was too early in the day to speculate as to whether a solution might come before or after the afternoon meeting. |
