Monday, February 9, 2009

On stimulus delays Obama warning



Deadline
Earlier, the US president gave his first public speech on the plan in Indiana - a state hit hard by the economic crisis.
At the town hall-style meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, Mr Obama conceded that the stimulus plan was "not perfect" but insisted it could help create jobs and "jump-start" the economy.
"I can't tell you with 100% certainty that runescape gold every single item in this plan will work exactly as we hoped," he said.
"But what I can tell you is... that endless delay and paralysis in Washington, in the face of this crisis, will only bring deepening disaster."
Mr Obama is due to appear in Fort Myers, Florida, on Tuesday, and Peoria, Illinois, on Thursday. Like Elkhart, both are cities that have been badly affected by the economic downturn.
The House and Senate measures are largely similar, but there are differences over how to expand the federal medical programme, Medicaid, and on spending priorities.
While the House bill would give more money to schools, local governments and individual states, the Senate bill devotes more resources to tax cuts.
US lawmakers will have to combine the two bills and have a finished version ready buy runescape gold by the president's deadline of 16 February.
New US employment figures were released on Friday showing that nearly 600,000 jobs were lost in January, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.6% - its highest in 17 years.

In his first White House cheap runescape gold prime-time news conference, Mr Obama said only government could break the vicious cycle crippling the US jobs market.
He said his plan will create up to four million jobs and help lift the economy.
The House of Representatives has already approved the plan and the Senate is due to vote later on Tuesday.
The version approved by the House differs from that being discussed in the Senate, and the two chambers will have to agree on a single final version.
The Senate voted 61-36 on Monday to end its debate, paving the way for a final vote on the Senate's version of the bill on Tuesday.


'Wild risks'
In his maiden prime-time news conference, Mr Obama stressed that lotro gold approval of his economic package was extremely urgent, as the present crisis was unlike any other faced by the US for 60 years.

Appealing for a bipartisan approach from lawmakers, Mr Obama said those who opposed parts of his package should remember his administration had inherited the economic crisis, and was trying to lay the foundation for the creation of jobs.
"The federal government cheap lotro gold is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life," he said. His immediate priority was to stop the downward spiral - to put money in people's pockets, to ease credit and to make sure the economy stopped shrinking, he said.
He said the root of the current crisis had been banks taking "exorbitantly wild risks" with other people's money.
The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Washington says the president was using this performance to appeal directly to the US people over the heads of other politicians.
Foreign affairs issues were also raised at the news conference.
Asked about relations with Iran, President Obama said he was looking for "openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table face-to-face".

Monday, January 12, 2009

Germany agrees 50bn euro stimulus



More details are expected later of the measures aimed at helping the country during what some fear could be its worst recession since World War II.


The initiatives include investments in railways world of warcraft gold, roads and schools, as well as a number of tax relief measures.
A 23bn euros plan, passed last month, was derided for being too cautious.
In its second attempt to kickstart Europe's largest economy, Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet has gone further, and she is expected to unveil the details of the plan on Tuesday.
"All in all, it is a package that will help get us through the financial crisis and secure jobs," said Christian Democrat parliamentary president Volker Kauder.

Tax cuts
The agreement follows squabbles between the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats over how to shore up the German buy runescape gold economy and prevent job losses.
The new two-year stimulus package will include investment measures worth around 18bn euros for infrastructure projects, correspondents say.
The package is also expected to include:
A 100bn euro programme for firms struggling through the ongoing credit crunch
Tax cuts and breaks wow gold, including reductions in state health care contributions and bonuses of 100 euros per child


A 2,500 euro payment for scrapping a car older than nine years buy wow gold and buying a new vehicle
But, says the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin, this package alone will not solve Germany's biggest problem at the moment: its falling exports.
Due to the global economic downturn, there is less demand abroad for German goods, such as cars and machine tools.


Germany is heavily reliant on exports, which saw their largest fall in November since reunification in 1990.
Last year it unveiled cheap wow gold a bail-out for businesses worth up to 500bn euros but its use has been limited due to strict conditions attached to taking the money.