OMEN
02-11-2009, 11:26 PM
US lawmakers have agreed to pump $789bn in tax cuts and spending into the sputtering US economy.
They are set to vote as early as tomorrow to send the plan to President Barack Obama.
Key senators, who worked with House members to resolve differences between the two chambers' rival versions of the stimulus legislation, were beaming as they announced President Obama's biggest legislative success yet.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hailed the 'give and take' that had produced the compromise, which he promised would create some 3.5 million jobs and revive the world's largest engine of economic growth.
The compromise, aimed at digging the US economy out from under an avalanche of grim economic data, came in smaller than the Senate's version at $838bn and the House legislation at $819bn.
Senator Susan Collins, one of the three swing-vote Republicans whose support was crucial to getting Mr Obama's mammoth plan through the Senate, said included about $150bn in infrastructure projects.
35% of the total is to go to tax relief, and billions more would help the 49 states that face deep cuts in services to meet legal requirements that they produce balanced budgets.
Supporters of the bill predicted passage before President Obama's self-imposed 16 February deadline despite fierce opposition from Republicans, none of whom voted for the House measure and just three of whom helped shepherd the bill through the Senate.
RTE
They are set to vote as early as tomorrow to send the plan to President Barack Obama.
Key senators, who worked with House members to resolve differences between the two chambers' rival versions of the stimulus legislation, were beaming as they announced President Obama's biggest legislative success yet.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hailed the 'give and take' that had produced the compromise, which he promised would create some 3.5 million jobs and revive the world's largest engine of economic growth.
The compromise, aimed at digging the US economy out from under an avalanche of grim economic data, came in smaller than the Senate's version at $838bn and the House legislation at $819bn.
Senator Susan Collins, one of the three swing-vote Republicans whose support was crucial to getting Mr Obama's mammoth plan through the Senate, said included about $150bn in infrastructure projects.
35% of the total is to go to tax relief, and billions more would help the 49 states that face deep cuts in services to meet legal requirements that they produce balanced budgets.
Supporters of the bill predicted passage before President Obama's self-imposed 16 February deadline despite fierce opposition from Republicans, none of whom voted for the House measure and just three of whom helped shepherd the bill through the Senate.
RTE