FT.com: US economic Meltdown - Bailout plan gives dictatorial powers to Bush Administration: Democrats demand further measures - by Andrew Ward

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US Economic Meltdown - Bailout plan gives dictatorial powers to Bush Administration: Democrats demand further measures - by Andrew Ward

Six weeks before the US elections, members of Congress would normally be winding down business and entering full-time campaign mode. Instead, legislators spent the weekend locked in frantic negotiations over the Bush administration’s proposed $700bn (€485bn, £382bn) rescue plan to save the financial system from collapse. Nancy Pelosi, House speaker, said Democrats were willing to act swiftly to grant the Treasury department “sweeping and unprecedented powers” to deal with the crisis but warned that Congress would demand “strong oversight mechanisms” and fast-track authority to reform regulation of the financial sector.