As Barack Obama was sworn in as president in 2009 he inherited the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. To combat this crisis and stimulate the American economy on February 19th President Obama signed into law H.R.1 or the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act has three immediate goals: create new jobs and save existing ones; spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth; foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending. The final version of the bill totals $787 billion in spending and tax cuts over the period of 2009-2019.
