Obama signs $787 BILLION stimulus bill

President Obama on Tuesday signed the massive $787 billion stimulus package, a measure he called the most sweeping financial legislation enacted in the nation's history. The stimulus is part of a three-pronged effort by the administration try to preserve or create 3.5 million jobs and arrest the nation's severe economic downturn. Today, the president will appear in Phoenix, one of the cities hardest hit by the housing downturn, to roll out a proposal aimed at curbing home foreclosures. And last week, the administration outlined a plan to repair the nation's teetering financial system. Skepticism on Wall Street persisted with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping nearly 300 points Tuesday. Yet the president cast the stimulus, the first major piece of legislation passed on his watch.