The crisis: A timeline

Congress got the proposed legislation in the overnight hours. The bottom line: The administration was asking for $700 billion to buy troubled mortgage assets and get the financial system flowing again.

"It is a big package because it's a big problem," President Bush told reporters at a morning news conference. "The risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risk of the package."

The Democrats who run Congress initially indicated they were receptive to the Treasury proposal. But as the day wore on, there was a theme sounded by the leadership.

Democrats will seek to "insulate Main Street from Wall Street and keep people in their homes by reducing mortgage foreclosures," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., indicating her party would seek other actions aimed at benefiting taxpayers.



NEXT: Sunday, Sept. 21 - The end of an era