Obama signs stimulus bill

President Obama today signed into law the $787 billion stimulus bill, which he says will create 3.5 million jobs and reinvigorate the U.S. economy. The stimulus will put the economy on a "firmer foundation," President Obama said before signing the bill in Denver, Colo. It passed both houses of Congress on Friday with almost no support from Republicans. “This recovery plan will help to save or create as many as three to four million jobs by the end of 2010,” the president said in signing the legislation in Denver. The bill was passed last week by Congress with only three Republican votes in the Senate. The bill includes a mix of tax cuts and the largest public works spending programs since World War II. “The situation we face could not be more serious,” President Obama said. “We have inherited an economic crisis as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression,” he said. Failure to act quickly could lead to the disappearance of millions more jobs and double-digit unemployment rates, President Obama said. “With this act we begin the process of restoring our economy and making America a stronger and more prosperous nation,” he said. He also promised that “every dollar spent in this historic legislation is spent wisely and for its intended purpose.” The federal government will be held to “new standards of transparency and accountability,” President Obama said. An oversight board that includes citizens with expertise in management, economics and accounting, is to monitor the spending plan to root out “waste and inefficiency,” President Obama said.