President Barack Obama was set to sign into law his $787 billion economic stimulus package on Feb. 17 in Denver, emerging with a document bruised but alive after weeks of partisan fighting.

Republican lawmakers fiercely opposed the plan, while some Democrats joined the chorus, saying it didn’t go far enough.

It advanced earlier in the month after squeaking by in a procedural vote in the Senate with mostly Democratic support. But then business groups and GOP officials began seeking broader Republican backing, USA Today said in a story in its Feb. 9 editions. Key support appeared to come from GOP governors eager for federal dollars to help plug enormous state budget gaps.

To the administration, the plan perhaps couldn’t come together fast enough. Economic indicators continued to slide and Wall Street did little more than lurch day to day. In the week before the expected signing, the Dow shed 5.2%.

Here’s what’s inside the package, according to USA Today:

• $1 trillion from the Federal Reserve to buy bonds and other assets to boost consumer loans.
• $500 billion to $1 trillion from the government and private investors to buy distressed securities from financial institutions.
• $545 billion in spending, $293 billion in tax cuts in the Senate stimulus which was later reconciled with the $820 billion House version.
• $50 billion from the government to stem mortgage foreclosures.

Tags: boost consumer loans, business groups, buy distressed securities, Economic indicators, economic stimulus package, federal reserve, lawmakers, mortgage foreclosures, partisan fighting, President Barack Obama, Senate, state budget gaps, tax cuts, Wall Street

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 2:17 am and is filed under Small Business News, Small Business Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.