Congress balks at banks bailout plan

Henry Paulson, the US treasury secretary, talks to the media about efforts to heal the crisis in the financial markets on Friday. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP
The markets are on the retreat again as the US Congress – Republican and Democrat members – cavil about the Bush administration's proposed $700bn (£377bn) rescue plan for the banking sector.

Several commentators express reservations about the plan, particularly as it would concentrate enormous power in the hands of the treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, who would take charge of the massive fund that would buy "distressed assets" - or, as some wags have called the scheme, "cash for trash".