WH: Stimulus bill good for economy

WH: Stimulus bill good for economy

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.

The costly $787 billion spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law soon after taking office boosted the economy and helped avoid another Great Depression, the White House said in a status report on Monday’s fifth anniversary of the law’s enactment.

Republican leaders in Congress took note of the anniversary, too, but argued that the bill spent too much for too little in return.

White House economic adviser Jason Furman said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made other targeted investments that will pay dividends for years to come.

By itself, the stimulus bill saved or created an average of 1.6 million jobs a year for four years through the end of 2012, Furman said in a White House blog post.

Half of the total fiscal support for the economy, or about $689 billion, from the recovery act and subsequent measures was in the form of tax cuts directed mostly at families. The remainder was spent on such things as rebuilding roads and bridges, preventing teacher layoffs and providing temporary help for people who lost their jobs or needed other assistance because of the poor economy.

Flights disrupted

Travelers suffered through another difficult day Monday as winter’s icy grip caused airlines to delay and cancel more flights.

By late afternoon Monday, nearly 1,200 flights in the U.S. had been canceled and an additional 3,000 had been delayed, according to tracking service Flight-Aware.com.

Chicago was hit hardest, as the area was caught in a storm that was expected to drop up to 8 inches of snow by Monday night before moving into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today.

Nearly 500 departures were canceled Monday at Chicago’s two big airports, O’Hare and Midway, and many flights headed to the city also were scrubbed, FlightAware said. The Chicago department of aviation said most of the cancellations were proactive — announced ahead of the storm.

Cabela’s co-founder dies at 77 in Neb.

OMAHA, Neb.

Richard Cabela, a co-founder of outdoor outfitter Cabela’s, died Monday. He was 77.

Cabela, who went by Dick, died at his home in Sidney, where the company is based, said spokesman Joe Arterburn.

The company that sells outdoor gear and sporting goods got its start humbly in 1961 when Cabela bought $45 of fishing flies in Chicago. When the flies didn’t sell quickly at the family’s furniture store in Chappell, Neb., Cabela started selling them through the mail with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim.

Dick Cabela’s first successful ad in Sports Afield magazine offered five free fishing flies as long as the buyer paid 25 cents shipping and handling. That led to the development of the Cabela’s catalog. Today, the company has 50 retail stores across the U.S. and Canada. Last year, it had $3.6 billion in revenue.

Associated Press