WASHINGTON (AP): Congress made significant progress on a financial bailout of Wall Street and the Senate's Democratic leader said Saturday he hoped to announce a deal by the end of the weekend.

President George W. Bush expressed confidence that lawmakers soon would pass a rescue plan before leaving Capitol Hill to campaign for re-election. He acknowledged that many Americans are frustrated by a situation that has led to a possible US$700 billion bailout and angered that they may have to cover Wall Street firms' mistakes.

The bailout is intended to rescue bankers from the bad loans that threaten to derail the US economy and plunge the country into a long depression. With talks set to resume, negotiators sought a deal before Asian markets open Monday.

"We hope sometime tomorrow evening we can announce that there has been some sort of agreement in principle so that the only thing that will have to be done is to write the legislation," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "It is still a long way from completing it, but we've made significant progress."

outstanding issues

Aides worked late into the night, he said, and there are "probably 15 issues still left outstanding that senators are going to have to get together and resolve".

Bush used his weekly radio address to appeal to lawmakers from both parties to work together on "an issue that transcends partisanship". He said he was confident "we will pass a bill to protect the financial security of every American very soon".

The president said he was aware that many of his radio listeners were upset. "You make sacrifices every day to meet your mortgage payments and keep up with your bills. When the government asks you to pay for mistakes on Wall Street, it does not seem fair," Bush said.

"And if it were possible to let every irresponsible firm on Wall Street fail without affecting you and your family, I would do it. But that is not possible," he added.

In a sign of movement Friday, House Republicans sent their number two leader, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, to join the talks after their objections to an emerging compromise had brought negotiations to a standstill.

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a key Democrat in eight days of up-and-down talks designed to stave off an economic disaster, said he was convinced that by Sunday there would be an agreement "that people can understand on this bill".

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

'We hope sometime tomorrow evening we can announce that there has been some sort of agreement in principle so that the only thing that will have to be done is to write the legislation.'

told fellow Democrats during a private meeting on Friday that the legislation would not let judges rewrite mortgages to help bankrupt homeowners avoid losing their homes through foreclosure. That provision amounted to a deal-breaker for Republicans, whose votes are needed to pass the measure, she said, according to lawmakers at the meeting.

insure distressed mortgages

Democrats and Bush administration officials said they were willing to include House Republicans' idea of having the government insure distressed mortgages - but only as an option, rather than a replacement for the administration's more sweeping approach.

At an early morning tree planting event at the White House on Saturday, Bush ignored a reporter's question about when a bailout deal could be reached. On Friday night, he called some lawmakers and discussed the rescue plan with some others at a National Book Festival gala he attended at the Library of Congress. The White House declined to disclose their names, saying the president was trying to have constructive discussions without publicly pressuring them.

New details emerged of a remarkably tumultuous White House meeting on the bailout Thursday. With the session breaking up in disarray, according to two participants, Bush issued an appeal, saying, "Can't we just all go out and say things are OK?" The group around the table, congressional leaders as well as Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic rival Barack Obama, spurned the request. The participants spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

The legislation the White House is promoting would allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other sour assets held by investors, most of them financial companies. That should make those companies more inclined to lend and lift a major weight off the national economy that is already sputtering.

Many House conservatives say they are against such heavy federal intervention. Under the House Republican plan, the government would insure the distressed securities rather than buy them. Tax breaks would provide additional incentives to invest. In an Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll, only 30 per cent of those surveyed expressed support for Bush's package. Forty-five percent were opposed, with 25 per cent undecided. The survey was conducted Thursday and had a margin of error or plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.