Obama: The Stimulus Worked

President Obama defended the $787 billion stimulus on Saturday, saying it "has worked as intended," in response to Republican criticism of his handling of the economy. “It has already extended unemployment insurance and health insurance to those who have lost their jobs in this recession,” he said in his weekly radio and Web address. “It has delivered $43 billion in tax relief to American working families and business.” House Minority Whip Eric Cantor responded, calling the bill "full of pork-barrel spending, government waste and massive borrowing cleverly called 'stimulus.'" Obama called for the public to be patient, saying the stimulus "was not designed to work in four months—it was designed to work over two years." Unemployment rose to its highest rate since 1983 in June and Obama has said he expects unemployment to rise further, to 10 percent.