By Mel Gagarin

President Barack Obama signed the $787 Billion Stimulus package that aims to jumpstart our flailing economy. While the details of the Stimulus bill are still emerging, there is one thing that is clear-the American people are hurting and there are high hopes that this package can ease the pain. The bill made its way through Congress last week at breakneck speed after much wrangling on both sides of the aisle, ultimately passing with only 3 Republican votes in the Senate and 0 in the House.

The passage of this bill has proved to be a serious test to the nascent Obama administration. At stake, possibly the President’s legacy as he himself has touted. If the package works in setting our economy on a path to recovery it will deliver the President an important victory while seriously damaging the credibility of the already crippled Republicans who will emerge as partisan obstructionists who played politics in a time of peril. If the package fails, it could prove costly to the newly minted power players in Washington during next year’s mid-term elections and give the Republicans a rallying point around their newly-found faith in fiscal conservatism.

Bill signing round-up:

• Obama bill signing coverage and full remarks (Huffington Post)
• Obama signs stimulus bill, readies homeowner plan (AP)
• Now for the Hard Part (CNN)
• Alex Koppelman’s take (Salon)
• Recovery.gov now live

Mel Gagarin is Media Manager for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.