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U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economy after an economic meeting with company CEOs in the East Room of the White House in Washington, the United States, Jan. 28, 2009. [Xinhua/Zhang Yan]
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The Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved an 819-billion-dollar economic stimulus bill, which melds new spending and tax cuts to jump-start the economy.
The vote was 244-188, with Republicans unanimously opposed to the bill.
The House measure combines roughly 275 billion dollars in temporary tax cuts for both individuals and businesses along with about 544 billion dollars for job-creating investment projects, health industry improvements, expanded aid for the poor and unemployed, and improving education.
It also includes money for development of alternative energy.
The measure had been estimated to cost 825 billion dollars, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) updated its price tag to 816 billion dollars after accountants recalculated the cost.
That total rose by 3 billion dollars when the House approved ona voice vote a Democratic amendment for mass transit.
President Barack Obama hopes the expansive stimulus plan will create or save 3 million to 4 million jobs and help revive the economy, which has been in a recession since December 2007.
The new president's goal is to pump most of the 819 billion dollars into the economy quickly, observers said.
Last week, Obama's budget director, Peter Orszag, told lawmakers the administration's goal was to inject at least 75 percent of the money from the stimulus plan into the economy by Sept. 30, 2010.
The approval by the House came after days of intense lobbying by Obama, including personal appeals to congressional Republicans.
As the House began debate on the measure on Tuesday, Obama visited the Capitol Hill to persuade skeptical House and Senate Republicans, who wanted more than the 275 billion dollars in tax cuts and incentives in the plan while reducing the amount in government spending, to support the plan.