Recovery.gov, a new Web site that President Barack Obama has said will enable the public to monitor how effectively the U.S. government spends and distributes the $800-plus billion stimulus package, is ready to go live, an Obama transition team member and former director of the White House Office of Administration said Thursday. Franklin Reeder told a conference at American University's Washington College of Law that the site has been in the works for six weeks and is "ready to roll" as soon as Congress approves the funding. Obama said in a speech earlier this month that "restoring transparency is not only the surest way to achieve results, but also to earn back that trust in government." The House passed its stimulus bill Wednesday and the Senate is expected to vote next week.

Currently, visitors to Recovery.gov are instructed to: "Check back after the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to see how and where your tax dollars are spent." The placeholder page adds: "An oversight board will routinely update this site as part of an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency and unnecessary spending in our government." Recovery.com points to the forthcoming dot-gov site while Recovery.net is owned by Niche Sites LLC, a Pennsylvania-based firm that runs BuyersGuide.com, a product search portal. A message on that site notes that "traffic for this domain name is available." Recovery.org offers resources for recovering alcoholics.