Congress leaders optimistic on revived bailout

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional leaders said that adding tax breaks and increasing federal deposit insurance should improve chances a $700 billion financial rescue plan will pass the Senate Wednesday night, a message they hoped wouldn't get lost on a convulsive Wall Street.

Some also saw heightened odds in signs of greater acceptance of the measure - if not a collective embrace - from constituents, based on e-mails, calls and letters in the wake the bill's defeat on the House floor. It was an assessment that lifted expectations for passage.

At the daily briefing Wednesday, spokesman Tony Fratto took the unusual step of waving a copy of the New York Times to cite stories in it as well as papers across the country that show evidence of the tightening credit squeeze on small businesses, municipal projects and jobs. "It is affecting real Americans out there," he said.