Do you remember the $787 Billion Recovery Plan and the great controversy it created in early February of this year?

Well, you can now access information online detailing all the pertinent details about its true impact and get quarterly updates. The following is a description of the Act's purpose:

"On February 13, 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Four days later, the President signed the legislation into law. The Recovery Act’s three main goals are to:

• Create and save jobs
• Spur economic activity and invest in long-term economic growth
• Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending

This $787 billion Recovery plan includes federal tax cuts and incentives, an expansion of unemployment benefits, and other spending on social entitlement programs. In addition, federal agencies are using Recovery funds to award contracts, grants, and loans around the country.

The Recovery Act’s longer-term economic investment goals include:

• Initiating a process to computerize health records to reduce medical errors and save on health care costs
• Investing in the domestic renewable energy industry
• Weatherizing 75 percent of federal buildings and more than one million homes
• Increasing college affordability for seven million students by funding the shortfall in Pell Grants, raising the maximum grant level by $500, and providing a higher education tax cut to nearly four million students
• Cutting taxes for 129 million working households by providing an $800 Making Work Pay tax credit
• Expanding the Child Tax Credit

The Recovery Act was intended to jumpstart the economy but many of the projects funded by Recovery money, especially those involving infrastructure improvements, are expected to contribute to economic growth for many years."

The Act promised transparency. Thus, you can access vital information about the Act and its recipients at http://www.recovery.gov.