Monday, September 22, 2008

My rewrite of bailout story

Here's how I might have opened the story, in its final version:

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President Bush again pressed for quick action Monday on a $700 billion government bailout plan for Wall Street, but Congressional negotiations continue as key Democrats urged a more deliberate approach.

Amidst the most dramatic financial bailout since the Great Depression, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down more than 370 points Monday.

Bush issued a statement at the White House saying "the whole world is watching" how the U.S. government addresses the continuing turmoil in the worldwide financial markets, as investors await more details about the government's plan to buy banks' mortgage debt.

Monday, some key congressional Democrats called for a more deliberative approach than that favored by Bush.

While Congress has been cooperating with the plan, many lawmakers insisted that any rescue include more government accountability, aid troubled homeowners and prevent Wall Street executives at taxpayer-aided firms from reaping generous payouts.

...

A few minor changes and a couple re-orderings but overall they had an effective first few graphs.