Treasury Dept. Moves To Implement Rescue Plan

WASHINGTON -- After staggering losses last week, Wall Street rebounded Monday the Dow closed up more than 900 points.

The Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman sat down with the CEO's of the nation's five largest banks Monday. They worked to finalize the details of the plan.

The Treasury Department said it has teams working around the clock to establish a framework for the rescue plan and is tapping seasoned financial veterans to launch it.

"We are moving quickly but methodically and I am confident we are building the foundation for strong, decisive and effective program," Neel Kashkari said.

The $700 billion plan is aimed at easing the credit freeze by buying up bad assets and giving the government partial ownership of troubled banks. On Monday, several European countries pledged to bolster funding to their financial institutions and President George W. Bush said the U.S. will work closely with other nations to coordinate the response.

"These are tough times for our economies yet we can be confident that we can work our way thru these challenges," Bush said.

Meantime on Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders met with some of the nation's top economists to discuss what should be included in a proposed second economic stimulus package.

"As we tighten our belts, as we go into survival mode -- which we must do to strengthen our economy -- we have to make some decisions that I think the American people see in a fresh new perspective," Rep. Nancy Pelosi said.

House Republicans have come up with their own plan. The Republican Leader said none of the Democrats' ideas will stabilize the economy.

Hearings begin next week on the House side, and lawmakers may be called back into session, after the election, to vote on the legislation.

Pelosi said tax rebates will be among the options considered, but she said the priorities for the legislation include infrastructure spending, creating jobs, and extending unemployment benefits.

The Republicans' plan includes corporate and investment tax cuts, more energy exploration, and federally insuring all bank accounts.

The Treasury Department has picked an outside firm to help run the financial rescue program and tapped Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to head up an oversight board.