[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/25/art.cnnlive12.cnn.jpg caption="Shelby said no agreement has been reached."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - Republican Sen. Richard Shelby emerged from President Bush's economic bailout meeting Thursday afternoon saying, "We will not have a deal."
Shelby, a senator from Alabama, said he had a five-page paper from 44 leading economists that says "we are rushing to a deal."
One of Shelby's top aides told CNN earlier Thursday that the senator from Alabama had planned to make the statement. Shelby does not like the plan and wanted a public platform to voice his views, the aide said.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/25/art.ap.biden.917.jpg caption="Sen. Biden said Sen. McCain has come up short on the his terms for the bailout."]
WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania (CNN) – As Barack Obama and John McCain were getting ready to sit down with President Bush and congressional leaders at the White House to discuss the proposed $700 billion bailout package, Obama's running mate was accusing McCain of "posturing" and coming up short on the terms he's put forward.
Biden praised Obama for reaching across the aisle and calling John McCain on Wednesday morning to present a unified front as the government puts together a bailout package. Hours later, McCain announced he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington to help lawmakers reach a deal.
Watch: Oil man talks about bailout
"Unlike all the rest of the people talking," said Biden, "[Obama's] demonstrated that he's changed the tone. He will prepare to change the tone in Washington. Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we mean by leadership, not posturing."
The Delaware senator said McCain's proposals for the bailout don't sufficiently address middle class concerns, notably the housing crisis.
"He laid out what he thought the package should include," said Biden. "I looked it over and what's notable is what's not in the package. The silence on issues relating to the middle class is deafening in the package John has put forward. There is no help in his package for families struggling to stay in their homes."
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/25/art.mccain.global.gi.jpg caption="John McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign and pulling TV ads."]
Senators Barack Obama and John McCain are in Washington to meet with President Bush and other lawmakers... After the president summoned them there to help hash out a bipartisan resolution to the big 700 billion dollar financial bailout plan. It's another grand but empty political gesture. But you can't let a good photo-op go to waste.
Hours earlier, Congressional leaders reached an agreement on a bipartisan counter-proposal to the Bush plan... Without the help of either candidate or the president. The lawmakers are hopeful they'll have a vote within days and a bill on the president's desk soon after.
Yesterday John McCain, in a grand gesture, announced he was suspending his campaign and rushing to Washington to save the day. A lot of people saw that as the naked political stunt that it was.
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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/25/art.mccainfact.ap.jpg caption="How long will McCain's drilling plan take to produce oitl?"]The Statement
In a television ad titled "New Energy" that was released in July but continues to run in swing states and on national cable networks, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's campaign says Republican rival Sen. John McCain and President Bush "support a drilling plan that won't produce a drop of oil for seven years."
Learn the facts
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/25/art.mccain.dana.jpg caption="CNN's Dana Bash was on Capitol Hill with Sen. McCain Thursday."]
(CNN) - As John McCain returned to Capitol Hill Thursday to support the passage of a package to address the nation’s financial crisis, Democrats spent the morning gleefully directing reporters to a statement from the Republican nominee Tuesday – three days after the bailout bill was introduced – that he had not read the text of the administration’s proposal.
"I have not had a chance to see it in writing. I have to examine it,” he told a Cleveland television station.
Watch: McCain's bailout proposal
The McCain campaign said Thursday the Arizona senator had immediately been briefed on the elements of the plan – but could not say whether or not he had since read the three-page proposal, pointing instead to his meetings with congressional leaders and briefings with top officials. They also said the question was less relevant because final text was likely to be different than the original proposal.
Watch: What are the candidates saying about the bailout plan?
John McCain is greeted by Joe Lieberman as he arrives on Capitol Hill hoping to help shepherd through the economic bailout bill. He is meeting with GOP congressional leaders and plans to have lunch with Senate Republicans. (AP Photo)
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