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Febbraio 23, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Business Online, Capire in modo semplice, Creare un Business, Economia, GDI, Informatica, Pagamento o commissioni online, Parlo in prima persona, Pubblicizzare la propria attività, Sistemi di guadagno Online, Strategie vincenti, italian | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Commento

MAKE MONEY ONLINE: THE BIG GUIDE

Welcome to the exclusive two-part series on starting your own online venture! Do you have abrilliant idea that can bring in revenue (and profit!) through the world wide web? Perhaps you already are active on the internet, but want a way to bring everything under one umbrella business for practical and legal purposes?

There are many ways to start thinking about running your own business… and being a business owner is something that will become increasingly popular as the years go by. As the owner of two small businesses, I have been through the process myself, and I would like to help YOU do the same! Don’t let anyone tell you that running a business is difficult, you just need to know where to go and how to organize yourself. Let’s start in with the basics, and then in part two we will cover more specific goals and structure.

Forming an Idea that Works

If you are looking to start a business, what’s the first thing you will need. That’s right…a business idea! It sounds a bit funny, or even a bit obvious, but solidifying your idea will probably be the biggest step you will have to take. As an example, I am going to use Bullish Bankers… which is an online financial research community that I formed with some friends from Penn State University.

It’s one thing to say “okay, I am going to start a financial business online“… but it is entirely different to lay out exactly what you will be doing. Obviously, the point of owning a company is to make money (assuming you are for-profit). Therefore, you will need to first consider your competitive advantage. What do you have to bring to the table? If you are planning on going in direct competition (i.e. doing the exact same thing as another business), you better be more experienced and able than your peer to be able to win. I would prefer to be in a niche like financial services, but have some kind of spin that makes my business unique. That is what we did with Bullish Bankers LLC., and it has worked thus far!

When you are brainstorming your business idea, don’t think solely about what you are doing… make sure that you can be profitable in your space, and that you have some kind of edge over your competition (whether that be uniqueness or execution skills).

What Kind of Business is It?

When thinking about eBusiness, one has to understand that being an “online business” isn’t a classification. In fact, now that so many companies are moving to internet-based revenue streams… it is essential that you understand where you are on the map. Additionally, if you are a business owner… you will need to be able to quickly identify to potential partners, employees and clients exactly what business you are in. For example, if you walk into a bank for a new account and tell them you are an “internet” business… they are going to want more information.

Furthermore, it is important to have a classification for what you do for your own sake. Too many people come up with business plans and think that they can do everything at once. If you are going to focus on selling cars, don’t also try to offer marketing services. Not only will your business industry give your clients a better idea of what exactly you do, but it will help you to keep from over-extending yourself. Staying with your niche industry is always the best way to form and operate a profitable business… don’t try to do too much at once.

Naming Your Business

Coming up with a name for your business is a very important part of your new online venture… but it shouldn’t be a deal breaker if somebody has already chosen the name that you wanted. That being said, I would have to say that the name your company carries will be important in lending authority to your name. I would suggest sitting down with a pen and a notebook to jot down ideas as they come to you. Go ahead and take an hour to come up with some interesting ideas, then pick your favorites. I would suggest using some “trigger” word that would immediately attach the name of your business to what you do. For example, when we selected “Bullish Bankers”… that is a name that immediately brings up the thought of Finance to people in the industry, so it is much easier to get your foot in the door.

Checking to see if your name is available can be a bit tricky. The problem here is the you register your corporation with the State department where you reside… so you will need to check with the State to see if your business name is available. This can be solved relatively easily with a search through Google for something like “California business name availability search.” Try out some combinations, or simply call your State department to figure out if you are in the clear or not.

Recruiting Partners and Stakeholders

Alright, so by now we have the idea, the name and the general business strategy set in stone. All we need right now is a helping hand. Sure, you can opt for what is known as a “sole proprietorship” and go it alone. In this case, ignore this section entirely. However, I would actually recommend that you enter into some kind of partnership among people you know, and people that are interested in the business. We will discuss the actual contractual part in the next part to get things legalized… but for now you should consider recruiting a few partners or private investors that are interested in the success of your idea. Nothing jump-starts a business like a little buying interest to keep you motivated to succeed!

Okay, so we’ve covered the thought-process behind launching your own eBusiness. Now that we have everything in place and ready to go… let’s turn to the second half of this report and start considering how to actually file and register all of your ideas legally. It is important to have everything ready to go before you start… which is a big reason behind why I laid out this “idea machine” technique before actually talking about registering your business.

Do you have that million dollar idea? If so… let’s figure out exactly how to get up and running. Check out part two of this series on forming your own eBusiness, and we’ll continue this lesson to the point where you can legally operate as a business!

Part Two

Now that we have our corporate strategy set up and organized, we need to talk about the real “nitty gritty” details of how exactly to form your business. Everybody talks about it, but it seems like something that is so difficult to do that many people don’t even try! Not the case. Starting a business on the internet, an eBusiness if you will, is one of the more simple processes out there. All we really need is some legal protection under an LLC or an S-Corporation to start off; then, we should set up some financial agreements to lock in our business security. Let’s get to it! )

Limited Liability Corporations (LLC.) and S-Corporations (Inc.)

One of the most daunting tasks in operating an eBusiness online is choosing between the two types of corporate structure: Limited Liability Corporation (LLC.) or S-Corporation (Inc.). There are many similarities and differences between the two… but in the long run, the choice is really based on a business-specific case. In the terms of online businesses, you probably won’t want to try out anything but an LLC or an S-Corp for practical reasons… so let’s stick with the two.

There are many examples of both businesses on the internet, and the differences can sometimes be blurred. When you think about a Limited Liability Corporation or S-Corporation, both function as “pass-through” entities for your business. What this basically means is that any taxation for the business can be “passed-through” to their owner’s income statements for legal purposes. This avoids the problem of double-taxation that you would run into with anything else. For Bullish Bankers, we took the LLC. for flexibility and practicality, and became Bullish Bankers LLC. My friend Tyler Cruz (whom many of you know) chose to get an S-Corp for Merendi Networks because of savings on employment taxes among other things.

The Bottom Line Decision:
I recommend Limited Liability Corporations because they are a lot easier to operate. They do not have to be operated by a board of directors like an S-Corp, and also offer flexibility in profit-sharing and a more lax ownership structure. If you would prefer the rigid and set-in-stone rules that come along with massive employment… go with the S-Corp. If you would rather feel your way through it all with a more allowing structure… go with the LLC. You can read more details in this article if you need more information.

Registering Your Corporation

Now that you have selected between an LLC and an S-Corporation… it’s time to go ahead and actually register your business. How much will this cost? Actually, it is only around $100 to do it yourself. D The price will vary by state, but in Maryland (where I registered both of my small businesses) it was just $100 for registration filing for life. Not a bad deal for thousands in potential tax savings, eh?

So here are the two routes:

  • Hire a Professional: If you are just too lazy to dig around on your State Department website and do the filing yourself (which is ultra-simple), you can always hire someone and pay them fees to do it for you. Sure, this will run you around $200 (double) for the filing costs and the service charge… but it is also a lot easier. I’d recommend using LegalZoom.com to handle this. I have never used them myself, but have heard only positive remarks toward their service.
  • Find the Forms and File: This is really very simple to do, and is just a one-form contract. The best way to do anything nowadays is to search through Google. So search for your “State filing an LLC.” or “State filing an S-Corp” and you should find the documents available noproblem. Not a lot is required on these forms, just your name, business name, address and a check for the amount required. They will be called the “Articles of Organization” or “Articles of Incorporation”. For an example, see how easy the form for Maryland is!

Filing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

To save some time, we are going to go ahead and file for an Employee Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. The reasoning behind this is essentially the same reason why individuals carry Social Security Numbers. This is a number that you will need time and time again, so it is better to get it now and get it over with.

Getting an EIN from the IRS is one of the quickest and easiest steps you will make, despite how daunting it seems. It is completely free, and you can apply for an EIN online and get your EIN number almost instantly via email. Then, just print out the forms to have a physical copy or two. You’ll need the EIN if you sign on as an affiliate for any company or if you need to open a bank account, among other things.

Setting Up a Banking Account

Many banks nowadays 

emphasize small businesses. Because banks function off of deposits and loans… they actually do want your money. Check out your local banks or nationalized chains and ask them about their banking plans for small businesses. You are going to want a bank with checking… and if you are planning on running a lot of transactions you might want to pay a little extra for the flexibility. I use PNC Bank for my operations through both LLCs that I own.

Once you set up a bank, you will have something to link a PayPal account to if you choose to do this. As an online eBusiness, I trust PayPal to handle most of my transactions. Plus, since this is legally separate from your banking account, you will get as many free transactions as you want! This PayPal-Bank combination is pretty standard nowadays, and it is how a lot of us operate. At the very least, you need that bank account to have checking capabilities so you can pay the bills under your company name.

Protecting your Business with Legality

We’re almost done! We’ve got everything from the company registration (takes a month or two to clear) to a bank account to our Employee ID Number from the IRS. All we need at this point, is a few second checks against any potential liability issues that might arise. I would recommend getting together a Privacy Policy and a Terms of Service for every website that you administer under your eBusiness. We need a way to ensure that nothing goes wrong… and if something does, you are protected against it. Writing a Privacy Policy and Terms of Service can be a time-drawn process, but it is well worth it in the long run. You can take a look at the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service from Bullish Bankers LLC. if you need an example of how to correctly write one of these to cover your bases.

Second to the online forms to secure your liability downside, if you are working with partners you should draw up a charter. This is just a simple document that you can write yourself delegating tasks and the corporate structure. We’ll call this a Manager’s Agreement. One thing about the law that many don’t understand, is that you can effectively write anything yourself and have people sign it to be legally bound… so long as they are fully aware of what they are signing and consent to the terms. Get in Microsoft Word and write up a clause… perhaps delegating who is the CEO and who is the HR Representative… perhaps talking about ownership, who owns what % of the business… or even talking about your voting process. You should always draft something like this and have it signed early if you are running a corporation to have everything set before you hit the ground running.

Bottom Line:
Whew! That’s a lot of paperwork, eh? ;) Hopefully, after reading through this two-parter… you realize that starting your own business really isn’t too much work when it all comes down to it. After all, once you get past the initial set up, your business will carry a considerable amount of added weight, and people will downright trust you more. An added bonus to all of this is that you no longer have full liability for loss because of your filing with the government. I’d say it’s a good idea overall.

Hope you enjoyed this lesson on forming your first eBusiness. Feel free to contact me with any questions, or just drop a comment. Oh, and stay bullish on the net!

From | Netfool

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Buyers and sellers on the net, Economy, English, How create a Business, How-to, Investing | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Ancora nessun commento.

GDI: Trovare più affiliati

 

15.jpg

 

I metodi più efficenti per porare avanti il business e il tuo guadagno:

  • - Avere un sito o un blog che parli del nostro business e di come partecipare
  • - Promuovere la nostra campagna creando un gruppo facebook o un pagina facebook e invitare più gente possibile a parteciparvi
  • -Inserire il nostro blog o sito in molti siti di aggregazione in modo da aumentare il suo pagerank (quando la gente cerca GDI dobbiamo apparire tra i primi)
  • -Mettere un video su youtube che spieghi tutto
  • -Creare una newsletter che parli di business online con molti iscritti in modo da avere un grande potenziale di informazione.
  • -Se usi emule o limewire o qualche altro software p2p, ti darò un file con una guida a GDI con al posto del mio link (alla pagina di reffereals) il tuo. Tu metterai questa guida nella tua cartella condivisa dal programma p2p e tale guidà verrà letta da altre persone che clikkando su “iscrizione” verranno mandate sulla tua pagina :)

 

Inoltre per ottenere ottimi risultati è necessario apparire estremamente professionali. Quindi, se si ha la possibilità, è importante:

  • - Parlare in modo diretto (telefono, mail, ecc..) con le persone interessate a cui vuoi presentare il business ed essere più gentili e comprensibili che mai 
  • - Lavorare molto in prima persona, proponendo il proprio business in modo diretto, magari in chat o su forum
  • -Non spiaccicare testi già fatti, esagerati, grammaticalmente scorretti se no viene presa come una bufala o una cosa poco seria :)
  • -E’ una cosa difficile da fare, io non l’ho fatto ma mi è venuta l’idea: mettere in giro fotocopie per la città o addirittura organizzare (senza spendere tanti soldi) una o due riunioni in città su come guadagnare online attraverso la GDI. Ovviamente per fare una roba del genere devi aver preso molto seriamente questo lavoro ed avere grande spirito d’iniziativa, ma i risultati penso sarebbero eclatanti. :)

Ma è anche molto importante pubblicizzare GDI anche in altri stati e in altre lingue, ripeto come si fa (l’abbiamo detto pure qua):

Per tutti quelli che come noi lavorano come noi in GDI  sapranno bene quanto sia importante espandere i propri orizzonti in campo pubblicitario, è infatti importantissimo  cercare il numero maggior possibile di affiliati!

Appunto per questo chi si iscrive con NOI ottiene già per se un sito con più lingue (oppure se non siete con noi pagando 10 euro ve ne posso fare uno io e di grafica bellissima, realizzato con apple). Inoltre ottiene guide con più lingue (perchi non sta con noi la guida con i vostri link di iscrizione vi costa 3 euro per lingua).

E’ ovvio che la pubblicizzazione all’estero riesce sempre più difficile poichè spesso non si ha la giusta padronanza della lingua straniera :)

Contattatemi se volete pubblicizzare il vostro business con GDI anche all’estero per mezzo di siti accattivanti o guide in altre lingue oltre all’italiano. Se non siete capaci, dopo averlo creato io stesso vi pubblicizzerò il vostro sito!

Ripeto, i costi sono:

  • 10 euro per il sito (con molte lingue), sito accattivante made in apple (non i soliti orribili fatti con GDI)
  • 3 euro per la guida (una guida = una lingua a vostra scelta)

 

Se siete interessati potete scrivermi da qua o su redditoonline@gmail.com :

Solo Testo. Non sono concessi markup.

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Business Online, Capire in modo semplice, Creare un Business, Economia, GDI, Pubblicizzare la propria attività, Sistemi di guadagno Online, Strategie vincenti, italian | , , , , , , , , , | Ancora nessun commento.

Pubblicizzare GDI all’estero e in altre lingue

gdi_benvenuto

Per tutti quelli che come noi lavorano come noi in GDI  sapranno bene quanto sia importante espandere i propri orizzonti in campo pubblicitario, è infatti importantissimo  cercare il numero maggior possibile di affiliati!

Appunto per questo chi si iscrive con NOI ottiene già per se un sito con più lingue (oppure se non siete con noi pagando 10 euro ve ne posso fare uno io e di grafica bellissima, realizzato con apple). Inoltre ottiene guide con più lingue (perchi non sta con noi la guida con i vostri link di iscrizione vi costa 3 euro per lingua).

E’ ovvio che la pubblicizzazione all’estero riesce sempre più difficile poichè spesso non si ha la giusta padronanza della lingua straniera :)

Contattatemi se volete pubblicizzare il vostro business con GDI anche all’estero per mezzo di siti accattivanti o guide in altre lingue oltre all’italiano. Se non siete capaci, dopo averlo creato io stesso vi pubblicizzerò il vostro sito!

Ripeto, i costi sono:

  • 10 euro per il sito (con molte lingue), sito accattivante made in apple (non i soliti orribili fatti con GDI)
  • 3 euro per la guida (una guida = una lingua a vostra scelta)

 

 

Potete scrivermi da qua o su redditoonline@gmail.com :

Solo Testo. Non sono concessi markup.

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Business Online, Capire in modo semplice, Creare un Business, Economia, GDI, Pubblicizzare la propria attività, Sistemi di guadagno Online, Strategie vincenti, italian | , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Commento

Creare un’azienda a gestione famigliare

“In un’impresa familiare bisogna considerare un membro della famiglia come un impiegato qualunque“, indica André Von Moos. Imprenditore ed economista, Von Moos ha appena pubblicato un libro intitolato “Diriger une entreprise familiale avec succès” nel quale tratta in dettaglio questa particolare forma d’organizzazione del lavoro.

Secondo Andé Von Moos le imprese familiari presentano molteplici vantaggi. Sono generalmente più vicine al mercato ed ai clienti, caratteristica che conferisce loro una maggiore legittimità. Inoltre il titolare vi supervisiona tutte le tappe del processo di decisione, dalla strategia generale alle questioni operative, cosa che gli permette di beneficiare di una grande rapidità di reazione.

Le società familiari incarnano per eccellenza la convergenza tra famiglia, capitale, imprenditore e impresa. Ma questi elementi, strettamente legati fra loro, possono essere in conflitto e, se non sono gestiti in maniera adeguata, possono portare a tensioni. Secondo André Von Moos la chiave del successo risiede nella netta distinzione tra il tempo dedicato agli affari ed il tempo consacrato alla famiglia. 

Il passaggio da una generazione all’altra si rivela, ad esempio, una tappa particolarmente critica. “A partire dalla seconda generazione si nota una tendenza ad adagiarsi sul lavoro svolto dai pionieri”, osserva l’economista. “Dunque, affinché un’azienda perduri nel tempo, le nuove generazioni devono innovare costantemente, in particolare reclutando persone esterne al cerchio familiare”. 

Le aziende familiari (nel commercio, la ristorazione, ma anche nell’artigianato e l’industria) rappresentano una maggioranza schiacciante delle società in Svizzera: se ne ritrovano all’incirca 180′000, ovvero il 60% del numero totale delle imprese.

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Capire in modo semplice, Creare un Business, Economia, Strategie vincenti, italian | , , , , , | Ancora nessun commento.

Business e aziende creati con pochi fondi

 

photo-jd.jpgDave Lefkow e Justin Esch sono riusciti a creare e portare al successo la J&D Bacon Salt con soli 5000$ grazie ad un ottimo prodotto, una grande determinazione ed un intelligente ed accurato sfruttamento dei social network e del passaparola. Il tutto alla faccia dei consulenti che gli avevano presentato un budget di 20 milioni di dollari solo per partire. Qui la storia sul business Journal.

Dave e Justin erano convinti che un prodotto come il loro, praticamente una killer application nel settore alimentare (un sale marino con zero calorie, zero grassi, basso colesterolo, kosher-certified, totalmente vegetale in grado di far sapere qualsiasi cosa di bacon), avrebbe potuto raggiungere il successo anche senza costosi investimenti sui classici canali promozionali.

E’ bastato creare una storia basata su semplici chiavi come: il bacon che non uccide, il bacon che puoi mangiare spesso, il bacon che puoi aggiungere a tutto, per scatenare il passaparola dei numerosissimi fans del bacon (soprattutto in USA) attraverso tutti i canali possibili.

Ecco quindi il blog, il gruppo su Facebookquello su MySpace, su FlickrTwitter, fino alcoinvolgimento dei propri clienti in una campgna per inviare casse di Bacon Salt ai marines impegnati in Iraq.

Partendo da blog e social networks, in poco tempo, come spesso ormai accade, la storia ha raggiunto anche i massmedia. Il tutto a costi ridicoli. Il video sotto ne riassume bene il risultato.

Via | http://www.aghenorblog.com

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Business Online, Capire in modo semplice, Creare un Business, Economia, Sistemi di guadagno Online, italian | | Ancora nessun commento.

Europe hit by economic slowdown

GDP growth rate chart

European economies contracted in the fourth quarter of last year, with some countries registering the worst figures in decades, official data shows.

The eurozone economy shrank by 1.5% in the previous quarter and 1.2% on the year, Eurostat said.

Germany’s economy shrank by 2.1% compared with the previous quarter, its worst quarterly performance since 1990.

France shrank by 1.2%, initial data shows, while Italy registered a drop of 1.8%, the steepest drop since 1980.

The data puts pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates.

In the whole of 2008, the economy in the 15 countries using the euro grew by 0.7% against the previous year, Eurostat said. Slovakia joined the eurozone on 1 January 2009, making it a 16-country club.

 

 Germany is being punished for its heavy dependence on exports 
Stephanie Flanders, BBC economics editor

The Dutch economy shrank 0.9% during the quarter while the Austrian economy eased by 0.2%, the first drop in nearly eight years. In the same quarter, Portugal’s economy contracted by 2% on the previous quarter and 2.1% on the previous year.

“These are huge contractions in Europe, the largest in living memory in most cases,” said Ken Wattret, economist at BNP Paribas.

Companies have cut investment and exports have dropped as the global recession has taken hold.

European companies hit by the slowdown include Air-France KLM, which reported a third-quarter operating loss on Friday, and Michelin, whose final-year profits fell as the crisis in the global car industry took its toll on the tyre maker.

The decline in demand for cars was further highlighted by data released on Friday.

The number of new cars sold in Europe in January was down 27% compared with January 2008, the European carmakers’ association, Acea, said.

German gloom

The slowdown was the most dramatic in Germany, which registered the biggest fall since German reunification in 1990.

 

 Workers assemble parts for high-voltage circuit breakers at a factory of German engineering company Siemens

German exporters have been hit hard by the slowdown

The 2.1% contraction was the third consecutive quarterly drop in Europe’s biggest economy, according to the initial data from the Federal Statistics Office, worse than the 1.8% anticipated by analysts.

Year-on-year, the German economy shrank by 1.6%, after growing by 1.4% in the third quarter.

Many are now gloomy about the prospects for 2009.

“This shows things went downhill sharply at the end of the year,” said Juergen Michels, an economist at Citigroup. “We’ll likely head down again the first and second quarter.”

“This number makes it plain that we’re in a very serious recession – the most serious since World War Two. It’s no surprise that exports and investment have tumbled,” said Dirk Schumacher at Goldman Sachs, adding that the rise in inventories did not bode well for the first quarter.

The situation “can hardly get worse,” said Carsten Brzeski at ING Financial Markets.

“The German industrial production has run out of steam with companies working only off their backlogs. Foreign demand has plummeted over the last months,” he added.

Last month, the German government forecast that the economy would shrink by 2.25% this year.

France slowdown

The slowdown in the French economy was slightly worse than analyst expectations of a 1.1% drop.

 

Christine Lagarde

The French economy minister has warned of tough times ahead

The French economy expanded slightly in the third quarter, by 0.1%, which means that France has not officially entered a recession – which is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

With consumer spending up by 0.5%, some analysts found cause for hope.

“Consumer spending has held up quite well so you can say there is still money out there to be spent and French households are spending it,” Alexander Law, chief economist at Xerfi said.

Companies also reduced their inventories in the fourth quarter, shaving 0.9% off gross domestic product, a fact that could bode well for industrial production in the first quarter. With warehouses emptier, companies may increase production.

Many say that tough times lie ahead. “The first quarter will be difficult,” Christine Lagarde, France’s economy minister, said. “We will have a difficult year. “

The data increases pressure on the European Central Bank to cut rates. The bank cut the benchmark rate to 2% in January, the lowest in the bank’s 10-year history and kept the rate unchanged in February. Its next decision is due on 5 March.

 

 

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Economy, English, From BBC | , , , , | Ancora nessun commento.

Microsoft to launch retail chain

Microsoft sign

Microsoft cut 1,400 jobs in January

Computer software giant Microsoft has announced plans to open its own stores, at a time when many other retailers are struggling in the economic downturn.

The company plans to sell computers installed with Microsoft software and other products, Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner said.

The stores will also promote new operating system Windows 7 and updates of Windows Live and Windows Mobile.

Ex-Wal-Mart executive David Porter will head the new retail division.

The company’s rival Apple already has high-profile stores located around the world.

‘Tremendous opportunities’

“This is an exciting time with our strong line-up of upcoming product releases,” Mr Turner said in a statement.

“There are tremendous opportunities ahead to create a world-class shopping experience for our customers.”

Mr Porter, corporate vice-president of retail stores, will devise a strategy outlining when the stores would be launched and where they would be located.

The decision comes after Microsoft launched a $300 million (£207m) advertising campaign last autumn in a bid to revive its Windows Vista operating system, which was widely criticized for being too slow.

In January the company cut 1,400 jobs and said it would axe 3,600 more workers over the next 18 months.

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Economy, English, From BBC | , , , | Ancora nessun commento.

Obama hails bail-out ‘milestone’

US President Barack Obama has welcomed Congress’s approval of his $787bn (£548bn) economic stimulus package.

He described it as a “historic step” and “major milestone on our road to recovery”, and is expected to sign the bill into law early next week.

The Senate approved the measure with just three Republican votes, hours after the House of Representatives backed it without Republican support.

Mr Obama has said the plan will “save or create more than 3.5 million jobs”.

Republicans argue the tax cuts are insufficient, and that the economy will be saddled with debt for years to come.

Members of both houses of Congress reached a deal over the content of the stimulus package on Wednesday.

 This historic step won’t be the end of what we do 
President Obama

The BBC’s Kevin Connolly in Washington says the first set-piece drama of the Obama era ended in a comfortable but not entirely unqualified victory for the president, who had hoped for more bipartisan support.

All 176 Republicans and seven Democrats voted against the revised package in the House. It was backed by 246 House Democrats.

The three rebel votes in the Senate were enough under Congress rules to stop the Republican Party using blocking tactics to delay the stimulus plan, and it passed 60-38.

‘Immediate investments’

In his weekly address, President Obama described his economy recovery package as “an ambitious plan at a time we badly need it”.

“This is a major milestone on our road to recovery, and I want to thank the members of Congress who came together in common purpose to make it happen,” he said.

“I will sign this legislation into law shortly, and we’ll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done.

“This historic step won’t be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but the beginning.”

The approved version of the plan is split into 36% for tax cuts and 64% percent in spending and money for social programmes.

STIMULUS PACKAGE
$240bn in tax breaks for individuals and businesses
$140bn for health care
$100bn for education
$48bn for transportation projects
Source: Associated Press

Running to more than 1,000 pages, it includes new road building, cash to pay police in hard-up cities, and tax breaks for consumers buying houses and cars.

The package also imposes new limits on cash bonuses and other incentive compensation for executives on Wall Street, which are much tougher than those proposed by the Obama administration last week.

The provision, inserted by Senate Democrats, targets senior executives at financial institutions receiving government bail-out funds.

The colossal package is all to be funded with borrowed money.

Republicans had insisted on larger tax cuts instead of big spending programmes.

Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said: “This isn’t Monopoly money. It’s real. It adds up, and it has to be paid back, by our children and by their children.”

The Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, praised the three Republicans who had voted for the bill and said it was the most important piece of legislation he had worked on.

“The country is in trouble and we’re so fortunate we were able to get it passed,” he said.

“It’s going to give this country a shot in the arm.”

Earlier, Mr Obama had said that in the longer term the government needed to rein in spending, and that “we are going to have to once again live within our means”.

The president told members of the Business Council in Washington that the package was “only the beginning of what I think all of you understand is going to be a long and difficult process of turning our economy around.”

Presidential pressure

“We have a once-in-a-generation chance to act boldly, and turn adversity into opportunity, and to use this crisis as a chance to transform our economy for the twenty-first century,” Mr Obama said.

Among the measures in the approved package is a “Buy American” clause that had caused alarm among US trading partners.

The EU and Canada said that provisions favouring American-produced materials for government projects risked provoking retaliatory protectionist measures.

In the face of this reaction, the clause was softened to a version requiring the government not to violate trade agreements.

Last week, the House had approved an earlier $825bn version of the package without any Republican support.

The Senate voted to approve a different $838bn version on Tuesday, with few Republicans opting to back it.

The two versions had to be reconciled in a joint House-Senate committee before facing final votes in the two chambers.

Febbraio 15, 2009 Pubblicato da Dario Vignali | Economy, English, From BBC, Obama | , , , , | Ancora nessun commento.