Obama tells town hall questioner economic stimulus law worked, but results were hard to sell

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Obama: Stimulus law worked; selling job didn’t

RACINE, Wis. — President Barack Obama says his economic stimulus law did its job by staving off another Great Depression.

But he acknowledged that it’s tough to make the argument that things could have been worse.

Obama made his comments in response to a question at a town hall meeting.

He seemed to acknowledge public skepticism about the effectiveness of last year’s $787 billion stimulus bill.

Obama joked he could have sent people a check with his picture on it. Instead, the stimulus bill gave most workers a tax cut in their paycheck.

A check in the mail might have been better politics, Obama said, but the tax cut in the weekly paycheck worked better economically.