Stimulus bill awaiting Obama signature

A near-US$800bn stimulus bill is on its way to President Barack Obama's desk for signing having cleared its last political hurdle.

The Senate voted 60 to 38 to pass the US$787bn (€610.6bn) package, meeting the crucial 60 mark with the support of just three Republicans.

The final vote was held up to allow time for Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown to fly back from Ohio, where his mother died earlier in the week.

His was the decisive 60th vote for the bill in the 100-seat Senate.

Earlier, the House of Representatives voted 246 to 183 in favour of the package. But for a second time in the House, not one opposition member backed the plan.

Minority leader in the House John Boehner described the 1,071 page Bill as "an act of generational theft".

The plan comprises of $281bn (€218bn) in tax cuts and more than $500bn (€388bn) in spending projects.

Its passing is seen as crucial for the early Obama administration. The President has on a number of occasions stressed the urgent need for it to be passed. But his calls for bi-partisan support has fallen on deaf ears in Congress.

It leaves the administration open to criticism if the stimulus fails to revive the flatlined US economy.

Responding to the fact that for a second time in the House, no Republicans voted for the bill, the White House press secretary cited another number: "The "3.5 million jobs that we look forward to saving or creating," he said.

But Republicans maintained that it was too expensive and relied too heavily on spending.

Mr Boehner said that a Bill that was supposed to be "jobs, jobs, jobs" had been turned into one concerned with "spend, spend, spend".

"This is disappointing. The American people expect more than this," he said.

Mr Boehner added: "The legislation falls woefully short. With a price tag of more than one trillion US dollars when you factor in interest, it costs every family almost 10,000 US dollars in added debt.

"This is an act of generational theft that our children and grandchildren will be paying for far into the future."

But Democrats heaped praise on the Bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "By investing in new jobs, in science and innovation, in energy, in education, we are investing in the American people, which is the best guarantee of the success of our nation."

Passing the Bill this afternoon gave the Senate just enough time to approve the Bill before the house breaks before Presidents Day on Monday. Mr Obama previously expressed a desire to have something on the desk to sign by then.

Last time, the upper house cleared the Bill by a 61 to 37 vote, with three Republicans pushing the 'yes' vote above the crucial 60 mark.

One complication this time around was the absence of Senator Edward Kennedy.

The Democrat grandee, who has been battling brain cancer, was not in the Senate to vote for the Bill due to ill health.