Pelosi, Boehner speak as one on bailout

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner vowed Wednesday night to reach a bipartisan solution to the U.S. economic crisis.

Pelosi, D-Calif., and Boehner, R-Ohio, issued a joint statement, saying they are working closely with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and fellow members of Congress to negotiate a workable plan to stabilize the financial markets, The Politico reported.

"Our shared goal is to make the proposal more accountable to taxpayers," they said. "Working in a bipartisan manner, we have made progress. We agree that key changes should be made to the administration's initial proposal. It must include basic good-government principles, including rigorous and independent oversight, strong executive compensation standard and protections for taxpayers.

"We are committed to continuing to work cooperatively and on a bipartisan basis to safeguard the interests of American taxpayers."

An initial $700 billion plan broached by Paulson ran into strong criticism as being to open-ended with too few safeguards for American taxpayers.