White House Launches Recovery.gov to Track Stimulus Spending

[Turborama]

Source: Wall Street Journal

February 17, 2009, 3:27 pm

Susan Davis reports on the White House.

After weeks of touting the Web site initiative, the White House went live today with www.recovery.gov, which lets the public track how the $787 billion economic stimulus package is being spent.##

“Recovery.gov is a website that lets you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going,” the site states. “The money is being distributed by Federal agencies, and soon you’ll be able to see where it’s going — to which states, to which congressional districts, even to which Federal contractors. As soon as we are able to, we’ll display that information visually in maps, charts, and graphics.”

It’s part of President Barack Obama’s pledge to make government more transparent. The site includes a link to the full text of the bill, and an initiation for visitors to share their stories of how the law is affecting their lives. It also includes a FAQ section with questions like, “What is a fiscal year (FY)?” to help people understand government jargon.

Obama appeared in Denver this afternoon to sign the bill. “Today does not mark the end of our economic troubles. Nor does it constitute all of what we must do to turn our economy around,” Obama said, according to his prepared text, “But it does mark the beginning of the end–the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families worried they won’t be able to pay next month’s bills; and to set our economy on a firmer foundation, paving the way to long-term growth and prosperity.”

For a Wall Street Journal break-down of how the economic stimulus adds up, http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/STIMULUS_FINAL_0217.html">check out this info-graphic.

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/02/17/white-house-launches-recoverygov-to-track-stimulus-spending/

---

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x273212">Transparency in Action: President Obama Introduces Recovery.gov (Video)