US President Barack Obama's $825bn (£576bn) economic stimulus package

US House passes economic package

Passed by 244 votes to 188, no Republicans backed the plan, saying it was too expensive and would not work.
The Senate debates the plan next week, and it could face stiff opposition as the Democrats have a slimmer majority.
After the vote, Mr Obama urged members of Congress not to "drag our feet or allow the same partisan differences to get in our way".
The president has said his package, which he hopes to sign into law next month, would help create a favourable climate for American business to thrive.
The bill would cut taxes for people and businesses by $275bn, while pumping more than $540bn into a range of initiatives including road and bridge repair, increased unemployment benefits, investment in new technology and renovations to 10,000 schools.
Heated debate
Mr Obama has pledged to try to end partisan division in Washington, but the debate on how best to kick start the US economy has devolved into a bitter squabble along party lines, says the BBC's Richard Lister in Washington.

In a heated debate, a succession of Republicans in Congress have condemned the stimulus package as a wasteful government spending exercise that will do little to create jobs.
They promoted their own bill, focussing more on tax cuts, which they said would create more jobs for half the investment.
"Fast-acting tax relief will create more jobs in America than a lot of slow-moving government programmes," said the Republicans' House minority leader John Boehner.
But this was a battle they could not win in the House, where Democrats have a large majority.
It is slimmer in the Senate where Republicans could slow the bill's progress, but Democrats are confident they can get the measure through there, and they have set a target for mid-February to have the bill on Mr Obama's desk to be signed into law.
Failing to attract significant Republican support for the bill, our correspondent says, is a blow to Mr Obama's hopes of forging a new consensus in Washington, at this time of economic crisis.
Greater accountability
Mr Obama said earlier workers were looking for "bold and swift" action from leaders, and called on businesses to play their part in economic recovery by creating jobs in a "favourable climate" started by government.

"I am confident that we are going to get it passed," Mr Obama said.
The US "cannot afford inaction or delay", he said after meeting business leaders at the White House.
Laying the blame for the economic crisis partially on a "sense of irresponsibility" on Wall Street and the government in Washington DC, he said corporate America had to take responsibility for its workers, but that Washington needed to provide leadership with the stimulus plan.
The president has said most of the money in his package would be used "immediately", creating as many as 4m jobs - the vast majority in the private sector - and that there would be a greater measure of accountability.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was sworn in on Monday, has the task of trying to get the US economy back in shape.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama attended his first Pentagon session with the joint chiefs of staff on Wednesday, telling them the military had carried out its missions under enormous pressure, and pledging his support to the troops.
Mr Obama, who campaigned on a promise to end the war in Iraq responsibly and withdraw troops next year, said his administration faces tough decisions on Iraq and Afghanistan.

dear readers

Are you in the United States? Do you agree with President Obama's proposals? leave your comments and experiences ..

Where to secrete your cash now

You're not going to find eye-popping interest rates, but there are lots of ways to earn modest returns -- with the priceless assurance that your balance won't drop.

You (and your savings) may have been bruised and bloodied by the stock market, but that's no reason to seek comfort by tucking your money under a mattress. Although Treasury bills are paying next to nothing, banks and brokerages are still offering safe alternatives that pay at least a little bit more -- nearly 4% -- are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and are backed by the full faith and credit of Uncle Sam.
Banks are particularly eager to cut you a deal. "They need deposits to boost capital and to have funds available to lend when markets loosen up," says Tom Brogan, director of retail banking practices at TowerGroup, a consulting firm.
You'll generally find the best terms at online banks, many of which are offshoots of traditional institutions. And take a good look at interest rates at community banks, which often offer incentives designed to retain current depositors as well as entice new ones. Your bank may have tiered rates -- the higher your balance, the more you earn -- which is a boon if you're moving a chunk of cash from the sale of stocks or mutual funds.
Certificates of deposit CD fans, rejoice. Interest rates are guaranteed, and the feds have temporarily increased insurance protection on bank deposits.
The FDIC raised its ceiling on deposits from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor per bank in October. (The ceiling reverts to $100,000 on Jan. 1, 2010, so if you're thinking about depositing more than $100,000 in a CD that matures after Dec. 31, 2009, consider dividing the money among two or more banks instead.) CD maturities range from six months to five years. Some have no minimum-deposit requirement, and others require as much as $10,000 (a higher minimum does not ensure a better rate).

Despite the many recent mergers, there are still thousands of banks, so you want to be comfortable as a customer. Aaron Fine, a partner at Oliver Wyman, a financial-services strategy consulting firm, says you should find out how customer-friendly the bank's procedures are -- and, of course, make sure it is FDIC-insured. "If the Web site is cumbersome and it's difficult to make deposits, I wonder how hard it will be to take money out," says Fine. "If the process is fluid, transparent and easy to use, then I'm comfortable with it."
That said, the rate's the thing, and it pays to shop around. Yields on the highest-paying CDs range from 3.21% to 3.88%, depending on maturity (from one year to five years).

Parcel out your savings. Let's say you bailed out of the stock market, and now you're sitting on a pile of cash that exceeds the FDIC's expanded limits. To be fully covered, you could divide your money among a number of banks, but it takes a lot of time and effort to research banks and open accounts.
As an alternative, you could place as much as $50 million (honest!) through the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service program, and all of it would be FDIC-insured. This is how it works: You deposit your cash in one of 2,700 participating banks. The bank then parcels out the money to other banks in $100,000 chunks. The FDIC has issued an opinion that CDARS is a deposit-placement service, which means that all the money in the program is eligible for insurance. The original bank sets the interest rate and takes care of the paperwork, so you receive one consolidated statement. If you're investing $1 million or more, you should be able to negotiate a slightly higher rate than the ones that are advertised.

Build a CD ladder. Interest rates are generally low because the economy is weak and because people are flocking to safe investments, pushing down yields. But rates are likely to rise when the economy recovers. Two or three years from now, 3.88% might seem like an even-less-than-adequate return.
You can protect yourself by building a CD ladder -- that is, staggering the maturities of your CDs. If rates fall, you've locked in today's higher yields for some time; if short-term rates start to rise, you can take advantage of higher yields as your CDs mature.

Laddering your emergency fund

FYI: Banks with the highest rates in one category -- say, six-month CDs -- often show up as leaders in other CD maturities as well. Just be sure not to exceed the insurance limit at any one institution. (See "What if your bank fails?)
Or, as with the CDARS program, you could get help in selecting top-paying certificates. Some investment firms, such as T. Rowe Price and TD Ameritrade, will invest your money for you, although you may sacrifice some yield in return for the convenience.
To enroll in T. Rowe Price's Smart Ladder CDs, you fill out one application and deposit a minimum of $25,000, which is equally distributed among five CDs, with maturities from one to five years. Current rates are 1.35% to 2.7%; higher rates are available for larger deposits. When a CD matures, it is automatically reinvested in a five-year CD to rebuild the ladder.
One big advantage: CDs bought from brokerages may be redeemed without penalty before the term expires, although their values may fluctuate.