Frank blames House GOP for breakdown of deal (Charles Babington)

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee declared Friday that an agreement on legislation to relieve a spreading financial crisis depends on House Republicans "dropping this revolt" against President Bush.

Rep. Barney Frank said leading Democrats on Capitol Hill were shocked by the level of divisiveness that surfaced at a White House meeting Thursday, not long after key congressional players of both parties declared they'd achieved the broad outlines of an agreement on a bill implementing the administration's proposed $700 billion bailout plan.

Bush planned another public statement on the situation from the White House Friday morning. He had delivered a speech to the nation Wednesday night urging support for the plan, but members of Congress say they've been hearing a lot of opposition from constituents to a public-financed bailout.

Frank said he did not think that Democrats were going to see a substantially different proposal from the plan the administration has been trying to sell to lawmakers and which had been the focal point of closed-door talks for days. He called the rival proposal being pushed by House conservative Republicans "an ambush plan."