Post by gearcruncher on Feb 17, 2009 16:25:32 GMT -5
President signs $787 billion program into law in Denver Tuesday
DENVER - President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday one of the most costly pieces of legislation in U.S. history — a $787 billion program to breathe life into the country's failing economy.
Speaking in Denver, the city where he won the Democratic presidential nomination last summer, Obama said the massive government spending and tax cut program opened the road for Americans to begin "laying claim to a destiny of our own making."
The president put his signature to the bill in a highly unusual ceremony away from the partisan tensions still gripping Washington. As he spoke in Denver, he was closing out his first month in office — opening days of a new administration that have seen a relentless storm of economic bad news and public pessimism.
After his legislative victory with the $787 billion stimulus measure, Obama promised to take equally vigorous steps to prop up the country's deeply troubled financial system, ease the pain of Americans facing home mortgage foreclosures and save the teetering auto industry.
Automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, now kept afloat on a combined $13.4 billion in federal emergency loans, were to report later Tuesday on their plans for reorganizing toward long-term survival.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters traveling with the president on board Air Force One to the Colorado capital that he would not rule out bankruptcy for Detroit automakers and that the administration looked forward to reviewing the companies' restructuring plans.
Gibbs said it was important for the economy to have a strong and viable auto industry, adding it was up to automakers to make choices about what is most helpful to their recovery. He also confirmed that GM on Tuesday received another $4 billion in government funds.
Gibbs also said the administration was keeping an open mind about a second stimulus effort. He stressed, however, that there were no plans currently in the works for one.
In remarks before signing the bill, Obama cautioned Americans not to expect a quick or dramatic economic turnaround and said government intervention was not at an end. The stimulus "doesn't constitute all we're going to have to do to turn our economy around."
Obama has turned to appearances throughout the country to sell his economic plans, hoping to sustain support and foster hope among Americans who are giving him high marks in opinion polls. The president's travels pointedly contrast public backing for his economic plan to the partisan atmosphere still consuming Washington, where Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the stimulus measure.
Obama used the signing ceremony at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to underscore investments the spending plan will make in "green" energy-related jobs.
As Obama traveled to Colorado, the White House opened a Web site, Home | Recovery.gov, that will allow people to track where the money is being spent. The White House press office also announced job growth projections for each state and congressional district.
On Wednesday he moves to Arizona for the unveiling of a program to help millions of homeowners fend off home mortgage foreclosures.
Tuesday's signing of the massive stimulus measure was designed to start the flow of federal money nationwide toward infrastructure projects, health care, renewable energy development and conservation with twin goals of short-term job creation and longer-term economic healing.
The measure includes a $400 tax break for most individual workers and $800 for couples, including those who do not earn enough to pay income taxes. It delivers tens of billions of dollars to states to prevent deep spending cuts and more job layoffs. Consumers will receive tax incentives to buy first homes and new cars.
Poor people and laid-off workers will benefit from increased unemployment and food benefits and subsides for health insurance. The bill also includes a controversial "Buy American" provision that, despite being watered down, has drawn the ire of U.S. trading partners.
Even with such massive spending plans, it's expected to take time for the economy to recover. So part of Obama's message as he has traveled the county is designed to lower expectations.
The unemployment rate is now at 7.6 percent, the highest in more than 16 years. Analysts warn the economy will remain feeble through 2009.
Republican lawmakers, who largely balked at the economic package, complained that it was short on cutting taxes and that the spending measures didn't target the vast sums of money well enough toward short-term job creation, which was the major goal of the bill.
Many private economists are forecasting that the budget deficit for the current year will hit $1.6 trillion, including the stimulus spending. That's about three times last year's shortfall, and such year-to-year deficits contribute toward a mounting national debt.
DENVER - President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday one of the most costly pieces of legislation in U.S. history — a $787 billion program to breathe life into the country's failing economy.
Speaking in Denver, the city where he won the Democratic presidential nomination last summer, Obama said the massive government spending and tax cut program opened the road for Americans to begin "laying claim to a destiny of our own making."
The president put his signature to the bill in a highly unusual ceremony away from the partisan tensions still gripping Washington. As he spoke in Denver, he was closing out his first month in office — opening days of a new administration that have seen a relentless storm of economic bad news and public pessimism.
After his legislative victory with the $787 billion stimulus measure, Obama promised to take equally vigorous steps to prop up the country's deeply troubled financial system, ease the pain of Americans facing home mortgage foreclosures and save the teetering auto industry.
Automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, now kept afloat on a combined $13.4 billion in federal emergency loans, were to report later Tuesday on their plans for reorganizing toward long-term survival.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters traveling with the president on board Air Force One to the Colorado capital that he would not rule out bankruptcy for Detroit automakers and that the administration looked forward to reviewing the companies' restructuring plans.
Gibbs said it was important for the economy to have a strong and viable auto industry, adding it was up to automakers to make choices about what is most helpful to their recovery. He also confirmed that GM on Tuesday received another $4 billion in government funds.
Gibbs also said the administration was keeping an open mind about a second stimulus effort. He stressed, however, that there were no plans currently in the works for one.
In remarks before signing the bill, Obama cautioned Americans not to expect a quick or dramatic economic turnaround and said government intervention was not at an end. The stimulus "doesn't constitute all we're going to have to do to turn our economy around."
Obama has turned to appearances throughout the country to sell his economic plans, hoping to sustain support and foster hope among Americans who are giving him high marks in opinion polls. The president's travels pointedly contrast public backing for his economic plan to the partisan atmosphere still consuming Washington, where Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the stimulus measure.
Obama used the signing ceremony at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to underscore investments the spending plan will make in "green" energy-related jobs.
As Obama traveled to Colorado, the White House opened a Web site, Home | Recovery.gov, that will allow people to track where the money is being spent. The White House press office also announced job growth projections for each state and congressional district.
On Wednesday he moves to Arizona for the unveiling of a program to help millions of homeowners fend off home mortgage foreclosures.
Tuesday's signing of the massive stimulus measure was designed to start the flow of federal money nationwide toward infrastructure projects, health care, renewable energy development and conservation with twin goals of short-term job creation and longer-term economic healing.
The measure includes a $400 tax break for most individual workers and $800 for couples, including those who do not earn enough to pay income taxes. It delivers tens of billions of dollars to states to prevent deep spending cuts and more job layoffs. Consumers will receive tax incentives to buy first homes and new cars.
Poor people and laid-off workers will benefit from increased unemployment and food benefits and subsides for health insurance. The bill also includes a controversial "Buy American" provision that, despite being watered down, has drawn the ire of U.S. trading partners.
Even with such massive spending plans, it's expected to take time for the economy to recover. So part of Obama's message as he has traveled the county is designed to lower expectations.
The unemployment rate is now at 7.6 percent, the highest in more than 16 years. Analysts warn the economy will remain feeble through 2009.
Republican lawmakers, who largely balked at the economic package, complained that it was short on cutting taxes and that the spending measures didn't target the vast sums of money well enough toward short-term job creation, which was the major goal of the bill.
Many private economists are forecasting that the budget deficit for the current year will hit $1.6 trillion, including the stimulus spending. That's about three times last year's shortfall, and such year-to-year deficits contribute toward a mounting national debt.