Following long talks Senator Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat and chairman of the Banking Committee said "we're at a point where I think we can say something positive to the American people.This is an important moment."
Henry Paulson the US Treasury Secratary has said that he thinks "we are there".
The announcement later today is expected to show how the $700 bn purchase of mortgage backed securities and other bad debts will go ahead. The most likely scenario is that the US government will sell bonds into the market and then use the cash raised to finance the bailout.
It is believed that one of the major issues in Congress was the salaries of the bank executives, who are perceived to have caused the mess, going forward. There were those who argued that there should be an insurance type rescue scheme, but it was argued this would not free up the capital movements, so we can expect to see some mechanism for limiting executive pay in those banks who need to use the scheme.
Whether or nor not trust can be restored quickly to free up the markets remains to be seen.
