Obama, Biden hail stimulus’ success after first year
One year after the federal stimulus package was passed by Congress to stem the nation’s economic downturn, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are championing the package as a success.
According to a statement from the White House, the Council of Economic Advisers estimates 40,000 jobs were created or saved in Missouri by the $2.8 billion in stimulus money the state has spent. The statement said the state is due to receive a total of $5.1 billion from the bill.
Those numbers do not match up with figures on Recovery.gov, the Web site the White House set up to track stimulus spending and answer calls for transparency in the bill. According to the site, Missouri received $3.4 billion and recipients reported creating 16,081 jobs through the end of 2009.
The site breaks that number down to local level, showing that Columbia received about $145.6 million and created or saved 169 jobs through the end of 2009.
Obama signed the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act once he was sworn in, after the bill was passed by near-party line votes in both house of Congress. No Republicans voted for it in the House and three Republicans voted for it in the Senate.
In remarks Wednesday in Washington, Biden said the stimulus package helped stem job losses and slow the shrinking of the GDP.
“I know without any question the Recovery Act is working,” Biden said. “It's working well, and maybe even most importantly, it's working towards something. It's not only helping American workers get back on their feet today but it's laying a foundation for long-term growth for tomorrow.”