Obama to sign $787B stimulus bill to boost economy

WASHINGTON -- President Obama signs into law on Tuesday his hard-fought stimulus plan, hoping the measure will put a floor under the collapsing U.S. economy.

The president will put his signature on the bill in a highly unusual ceremony away from the partisan tensions still gripping Washington. He travels to Denver near the end of his first month in office — opening days of a new administration that have seen a relentless storm of economic bad news and public pessimism.

After his legislative victory with the $787 billion stimulus measure, Obama now must take equally vigorous steps to prop up the country's deeply troubled financial system, ease the pain of Americans facing home mortgage foreclosures and save the teetering auto industry.

Automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, now kept afloat on a combined $13.4 billion in federal emergency loans, were to report on Tuesday their plans for reorganizing toward long-term survival.

Obama has turned to appearances throughout the country to sell his economic plans, hoping to sustain support and foster hope among Americans who are giving him high marks in opinion polls. The president's travels pointedly contrast public backing for his economic plan to the partisan atmosphere still consuming Washington, where Republicans were nearly unanimous in opposing the stimulus measure.

Obama will use the ceremony surrounding the stimulus bill at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, underscoring investments the spending plan will make in the "green" energy-related jobs.

On Wednesday he moves to Arizona for the unveiling of a program to help millions of homeowners fend off home mortgage foreclosures.

Tuesday's signing of the massive stimulus measure was designed to start the flow of federal money nationwide toward infrastructure projects, health care, renewable energy development and conservation with twin goals of short-term job creation and longer-term economic healing.

The measure includes a $400 tax break for most individual workers and $800 for couples, including those who do not earn enough to pay income taxes. It delivers tens of billions of dollars to states to prevent deep spending cuts and more job layoffs. Consumers will receive tax incentives to buy first homes and new cars.