President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on February 17, 2009. This law was an effort to revive the economy, but also to save and create millions of jobs in America. Obama chose Vice President Joe Biden to oversee implementation of the law, while working with cabinet members, governors and mayors across the country to ensure that implementation of the Recovery Act would not be abrupt , but as effective and efficient as Obama wanted. The Recovery Act provided $825 billion, which changed as it passed Congress. However, in doing so, he stirred up much turmoil among congressional Republicans, who favored a different approach to the economic dilemma. The Recovery Act is essentially an expansionary fiscal policy, in the sense that it aims to increase government spending while reducing taxes. The law included $550 billion to be spent in the first two years after implementation, far more than the government spends on programs each year. Which does not include defense and social benefit programs such as Medicare and Social Security. The bulk of the $275 billion in tax cuts would go to middle-income families in the form of $1,000 tax cuts, while business and other tax cuts would make up the rest. About $318 billion would go to state and local governments facing the possibility of layoffs and/or tax increases. Another $102 billion would be used to help recession victims with unemployment insurance, health care, food stamps and job training. Unemployment aid would also be increased by an additional $25 per week. As we can see, the evidence is clear and mounting by the day, the Recovery Act aims to mitigate the greatest economic downfall since the Great Depression and leaves... middle of paper... a past problem that These are gas prices, which have fallen considerably. The Recovery Act may not have sent physical checks, like the 2008 stimulus package did, but it cut taxes, which in turn gave Americans more money, which increased consumption, increased GDP, helping the economy stabilize. In comparison, the 2008 stimulus package and the Recovery Act were both essentially expansionary fiscal policies, in which they either wanted to increase government spending and cut taxes, the Recovery Act, or simply cut taxes overall, the 2008 Stimulus Plan. The 2008 Stimulus Plan and the Recovery Act were both important steps taken by Bush and Obama to improve the economy. And while the Recovery Act is still in effect, its progress is noticeable and improving our economy as it nears its end..