Obama: stimulus plan prevents another great depression
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U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the 787-billion-dollar stimulus package that he signed a year ago prevented another Great Depression while creating or preserving 2 million jobs.
![U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee fundraising reception in Washington February 4, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters File Photo]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100218/0011432100f50ce6eeeb17.jpg "U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee fundraising reception in Washington February 4, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters File Photo]") |
| U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic National Committee fundraising reception in Washington February 4, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters File Photo] |
Speaking on the first anniversary of the American Recovery and Investment Act (Recovery Act), Obama said that "it is largely thanks to the stimulus package, the second Depression is no longer a possibility."
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
According to the White House's documents, the Recovery Act has been working in various aspects during the past one year. Here are some key numbers.
On job creation, the White House said that data from the nonpartisan Congress Budget Office showed that the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009.
Analysis by the government's Council of Economic Advisers found that the Recovery Act is responsible for about 2 million jobs. This figure is in line with estimates from private forecasters like IHS Global, Moody's Economy and even the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
On economic growth, in the fourth quarter of 2009, the economy grew 5.7 percent -- the largest gain in six years and something many economists say is largely due to the Recovery Act. Before the Recovery Act, the economy was shrinking by about 6 percent.
On spending, the White House said that nearly 70 percent of the 499 billion dollars in Recovery Act spending has been obligated to specific programs and projects so far, putting those dollars to work in communities across the country.
On infrastructure construction, the document showed that over 12,500 transportation construction projects -- ranging from highway construction to airport improvement projects -- have been funded so far. Of those, more than 8,500 are already underway across the country -- with even more breaking ground as the weather warms up.
The Obama administration also cut taxes. It said that nearly 120 billion dollars in tax relief has been provided for working families and businesses through the Recovery Act this year.
