Obama signs the stimulus bill in Denver; now comes the real work for Americans

February 17, 6:54 PMPolitical Issues ExaminerJudah Freed

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President Barack Obama in Denver today signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), a $787 billion spending and tax cut bill more than a thousand pages in length that few in Congress and even fewer in the country fully understand. Look for lots of expert analysis in the weeks and months ahead, yet what can we average citizens do? I'd like to make three recommendations.

Accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, President Barack Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009, at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in Denver. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

First. we can accept personal responsibility for doing our homework on the new law. We need to gain a working understanding of the divers ARRA provisions

We already know generally about the sections for creating jobs, digitizing health care records, supporting green energy development, and texa credits for first-time home buyers. Yet ARRA contains funding for hundreds of other programs involving almost every department of the federal government. We need to learn about all these diverse program and begin to think about how these programs will affect us individually and collectively.

The full text of ARRA is available online through  ReadtheStimulus.org. I recommend a visit to this generally impartial website and the analytical links you'll find on the homepage.

Second, we can accept as fact Obama's statement that ARRA is a compromise law that's inherently imperfect. Some provisions will not be as effective as promised while other provisions will be more effective than anyone dares to hope.

The point here is that we need to give ARRA a fair chance to work. We need to keep an open mind, be reasonably patient for the measures to take effect, and then be objective in our analysis. We need to look at results after removing from our eyes the filters from a progressive or conservative bias. In other words, we have to be more pragmatic than ideological.

Third, as we observe the effects of ARRa through the rest of 2009 and into 2010, we need to give be lively advocates for the outcomes we desire. For example, if you think the education section is not improving the quality of classroom teachers as much as you expect, then it's your social responsibility to speak up about it.

And before we get hypercritical about any fruit from the ARRA tree, I advise that we tell ourselves the old proverb, "If you don't do something to stop it, you must want it to happen."

I'm absolutely certain that there are Republicans who hope ARRA will fail because its failure could help the party regain power. My judgment is that such cynicism is contrary to the common good. Those who would wish harm on others for the sake of gaining power for themselves, frankly, invalidate their right to hold power.

Therefore, I strongly encourage you to be a vocal yet considerate citizen activist in the months and years ahead. Assertively hold our national leaders feet to the fire.be willing to contact the White House and contact the Congress. Also, speak up the new website Obama has created, Recovery.gov.

Yet please don't stop there.

Remember that ARRA sets up broad national goals but leaves most of the specific spending decisions to state, county and local leaders. Consequently, if you want to ensure transparency and accountability, you need to start attending city county and county commissioner meetings, read their reports, and organize affinity communities to monitor local ARRA outcomes.

If each of us or even many of take all three of the steps outlined here, we'll increase the chance of ARRA actually helping America recover. Seems to me that regardless of our party affiliation, if we have any integrity or moral conscience, this is what we most desire for our national and our world.

Related Examiner Postings:

• Obama makes history in Denver
• Obama Sustainable Stimulus is Signed into Law at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
• Recovery website : Show me the money
• Stimulus package: are you shovel-ready?
• How the Stimulus Could Affect Families
• Why is our economic situation so dire and why is the stimulus bill not the worst since 1930s?
  
• Counter rally against stimulus package: pig upstages Obama's pork
• Obama will sign bill with largest tax cut ever today
• more stories 

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