Republican figures said that in its present form, the legislation would only institutionalize the bailing out of failed banks.
The head of the US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke has said that addressing the record federal budget deficit should be a top priority for the American government as postponing it could jeopardize a full economic recovery. Mr Bernanke said he was also worried about the impact high unemployment rates could have on the recovery.
The Americans say they are increasingly concerned about reports that Syria may be providing Hezbollah in Lebanon with Scud ballistic missiles. Israel has accused Syria of supplying Scuds to Hezbollah, but it's not clear whether any have actually been handed over. Here is our state department correspondent Kim Ghattas.
The White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs said the US had expressed its concerns to the governments involved. That would be Syria and Lebanon. He talked about sophisticated weaponry that is allegedly being transferred into Lebanon. Hezbollah is backed by Iran. If it obtains medium-range missiles, this could alter the military balance in the region. Mr Gibbs was responding to questions about the accusation made by the Israeli president, but he did not confirm that the transfer had taken place.
This is the latest World News from the BBC.
Scientists in Britain have successfully created human embryos containing DNA from a man and two women. The technique could be used within three years to prevent mothers with genetic disorders from passing them to their unborn children. Women with damaged mitochondria, minute structures that power human cells, are more likely to produce disabled children than their healthy counterparts. Researchers from Newcastle University managed to bypass the problem by implanting genes from the fertilized egg of one woman into a healthy donor egg from another woman.