Obama defends stimulus package: 'We have stopped the freefall'

I'm stubbornly hanging on to the point that left alone the economy would have been working it's way out of recession anyway and the addition of more debt (stimulus package) did nothing more than repay some campaign promises. Inflation is looming and we still have heard nothing regarding significant cuts in gov't. spending, which is absolutely what's really required. Remember the measly $100 million (about the average amount spent every single day just covering the interest on the stimulus package passed earlier this year) Obama promised on April 20 to have cut in 90 days? Well that very simply project has come and gone without the cuts. If these guys can't cut that little amount from the budget how is it we're to have confidence in their ability to put together anything as complicated and important as this health care reform? - MBC

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1692674,CST-NWS-obama30.article

President Obama defended the steps taken by his administration saying the U.S. "may be seeing the beginning of the end of the recession."

"We know the tough times aren't over," Obama said. "But we also know that without the steps we have already taken, our troubled economy . . . would be much worse."

Obama told an audience in North Carolina, where the jobless rate is 11 percent, he faced "the worst economy of our lifetimes" upon taking office. The bank rescue begun under Bush was necessary to avert a collapse of the financial system and "helped stop a recession from becoming a depression," he said.

"There's a lot of misinformation out there" about the $787 billion stimulus package he pushed through Congress in February and the bailouts of financial institutions and automakers. Propping up General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC was necessary to save thousands of jobs, he said.

Obama said while "it didn't seem fair" to rescue banks that took excessive risks, taxpayers are already being paid back for the bailouts, and credit markets are thawing.

"We have stopped the freefall. The market's up and the financial system is no longer on the verge of collapse," Obama said. "So there's no doubt that things have gotten better."

A Federal Reserve snapshot of the economy issued Wednesday supported the president's view. A Fed survey of 12 regions of the country found the recession was easing or economic activity was stabilizing or moderating in June and July in most places. The report raises hopes that the recession, which started in December 2007, is drawing to a close.