U.S. Senate passes economic stimulus package

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate passed an economic stimulus package on Thursday to fend off a possible recession and House leaders said they would act soon to send the measures to President George W. Bush.

According to the stimulus package, individuals who pay income taxes would get up to 600 U.S. dollars, working couples 1,200 dollars and those with children an additional 300 dollars per child.

Workers who make at least 3,000 dollars but don't pay taxes would get 300 dollar rebates. The rebates were expected to cost about 100 billion dollars, and the package also includes close to 50 billion dollars in business tax cuts.

The package, which has been rejected by majority Democrats in the Senate at first, was approved at last after the Republicans agreed to add rebates for 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has been urging the Senate to steer back to the stimulus bill, said the House would approve the bill as soon as possible and send it to President Bush.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The White House and Congress reached a tentative deal Thursday on an economic stimulus package to fend off recession.

"I think this is a remarkable package because it is about putting money in the hands of America's working families," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the agreement was reached. Full story

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Recession worries surged, slamming financial markets, amid signs that service businesses -- from hotels and retailers to banks -- may be stumbling in both the U.S. and Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

In the U.S., a key barometer of the strength of the service sector dropped to its lowest level since October 2001, and suggested those businesses are now contracting. In Europe, a similar indicator fell to a four-year low, said the report. Full story

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. White House said on Tuesday President George W. Bush will not rule out the possibility of a larger economic stimulus package than that he outlined last week.

"I'm not going to close the door, but I'm not suggesting that anyone believes it has to be bigger than" the 150 billion U.S. dollar figure already bandied about, said the White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. Full story

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- President George W. Bush called on Friday for a package of tax cuts and other measures totaling 140 billion dollars to fend off a possible recession.

"This growth package must be big enough to make a difference in an economy as large and dynamic as ours, which means it should be about 1 percent of GDP," Bush said at a White House announcement.