Key lawmakers spent Thursday trying to broker a deal on a bill that would allow the government to insure up to $300 billion of home loans and overhaul oversight of key players in the mortgage industry. By the end of the day, they had come closer together but had not hammered out a final compromise. "We believe we have an agreement in concept," said a spokesman for Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the lead Republican on the Senate Banking Committee. "We're currently in the process of seeing whether we can translate that agreement in concept into language."

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