The US House of Representatives is expected to vote along party lines later Wednesday on an unprecedented 825- billion-dollar economic stimulus package to help pull the world's largest economy out of its most serious recession in decades, according to dpa. President Barack Obama, who has made the stimulus a centrepiece of his efforts to revive the struggling economy, made a final effort to convince skeptical legislators to back his plan, which includes a mixture of government spending projects and tax cuts for consumers and businesses. "I know there are some that are skeptical of the scale and size of this recovery plan," Obama said at a White House event, promising a transparent and open process. "We will invest in what works." Obama said he held a "sober meeting" with dozens of top business leaders from around the country Wednesday morning. US firms cut 2.6 million jobs over the course of 2008. More than 70,000 additional job cuts were announced by US companies just in the past week. But the stimulus vote is expected to fall largely along party lines, despite a push by Obama for bipartisan support and his rare visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday to do some arm-twisting among minority Republicans. Opposition Republican leaders have called for more tax cuts and instructed their members to oppose the plan. Obama has argued the stimulus will save or create 3-4 million new jobs over the next two years. Most fellow Democrats support the package, which will move to the upper Senate chamber if approved by the House of Representatives Wednesday evening.
