Obama: Stimulus starting to work

? President Barack Obama on Wednesday marked 100 days since signing his $787 billion economic stimulus package, saying it’s created or saved more than 150,000 jobs.

Speaking in Nevada, Obama unveiled funding for two energy projects: a solar program and a geothermal program that he said would help pave the way to a new, clean-energy future.

“From where we stand today, the road to economic recovery is still long. And the road to a new, clean-energy economy is even longer. But after four months of this administration and one hundred days of the Recovery Act, we have carved out a path toward progress,” Obama said.

Earlier Wednesday the White House released a report detailing accomplishments of the first 100 days of the stimulus plan.

Some economists have been skeptical of the administration’s claim that the stimulus has created or saved 150,000 jobs, but the White House has stuck to its assertion that the plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs over two years.

Very little of the stimulus package has actually been paid out so far, with most of it going to help states cover rising Medicaid costs.

Republicans were critical of the stimulus on Wednesday.

“It’s been a full 100 days since the bill became law, and the administration is pulling out all the stops to put a positive spin on the legislation, which has been increasingly panned by media and state and local officials as wasteful and inefficient,” House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement.

Boehner said the stimulus was “basically anything but the ‘timely, targeted, and temporary’ bill Washington Democrats promised earlier this year.”

Before Obama spoke Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced $1.5 billion in tax credits, saying the money from the stimulus package would create jobs and stimulate growth around the country.

The money went to 32 organizations in Ohio, Texas, Massachusetts and other states. Treasury said awardees are planning investments in renewable energy projects, charter schools, health care facilities, manufacturing companies and retail centers.