Obama: Stimulus Must Be Spent Wisely

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said the $787 billion economic package will help struggling cities, but both Washington and the mayors have a responsibility to spend the money wisely.

Obama met with the nation's mayors and was addressing the group in a White House gathering.

In prepared remarks, Obama said his administration has asked for "the unprecedented trust" of all Americans to deal boldly with the woeful economy. With that trust, he said, comes an obligation to do it wisely, free from politics and personal agendas.

He said that on this, he will not compromise or tolerate any shortcut.

"If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it, and put a stop to it," Obama said.

Obama signed the economic stimulus package into law this week.

More than 60 mayors were at the White House on Friday for meetings with Obama and key members of his Cabinet.

Besides seeing the president and Vice President Joe Biden, the mayors were scheduled to gather with Attorney General Eric Holder, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other members of the administration.

Clinton To Obama: Talk Positively On Econ.

Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton said he thinks Obama should talk more optimistically about the prospects that the nation will recover from its current deep economic woes.

It used to be gospel in the nation's power center: Presidents didn't talk publicly about what the markets were doing.

The notion was that anything a president said on this subject could be too easily misinterpreted, sending Wall Street into a dive.

Clinton said he wants Obama to assure the people that the United States will surmount this problem. But at the same time, the former president said in an interview broadcast Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that "I like the fact that he didn't come in and give us a bunch of happy talk."

He also said he believes "you will see some good economic news from the stimulus fairly soon."

For his part, Obama has said he thinks the country will get past the recession, but that it will be a long slog.

While the stimulus money is coming, many wonder who will keep track of how it's used?

Obama's top budget aides are putting in place strict reporting requirements for all government agencies that will be involved in spending the $787 billion economic package.

In fact, Obama's budget chief has revealed a 25,000-word document detailing exactly how Cabinet and executive agencies, states and local organizations use the money that's designed to save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years.

Officials said it's a strict system meant to streamline reports so they can be reviewed readily on the administration's new Web site, Recovery.gov.