Biden offers 200-day recovery update

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The administration hit its marks in goosing the economy during the second 100 days after the stimulus package was passed, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said.

In addition to reporting that the Obama team met or exceeded the 10 commitments, Biden highlighted specific areas of progress over the last 100 days during a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington Thursday.

"Two hundred days ago, President Obama signed into law the third piece of our economic plan: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And today there's a growing consensus -- the Recovery Act is, in fact, working," Biden said.

He cited analysis from Moody's, the Economic Policy Institute and IHS Global Insight that indicated the $787 billion stimulus package either created or saved between 500,000 to 750,000 jobs.

Biden pointed to the Health and Human Services Department's exceeding its goal of expanding service at 1,129 health centers in across the nation and helping approximately 500,000 patients.

Another example Biden cited was rehabilitation and improvement projects at 192 airports -- up from a goal of 98 -- and projects on more than 2,200 roadways.

"Two hundred days in, we know there's a great deal more to do," Biden said. "We also know that, thanks to the Recovery Act, where we are today is a much better place than we could have possibly been without it."