The $787 billion federal economic stimulus package passed the U.S. House Feb. 13 by a vote along party lines.

The five Arizona Democrats in the House voted for the proposal, while the three Republicans voted in opposition. The vote tally was 246-183.

U.S. Rep. John Shadegg was angry before the vote when he posted the following on a

Republican Web site, RedState: "How fitting is it that the stimulus bill is coming to a strong-arm vote on Friday the 13th? This entire process has been a horror story. The exclusion of Republicans. The pork and paybacks for special interests. The secret, closed-door meetings. The mammoth bill text kept hidden until hours before the vote. But of course the greatest horror is Mot the process – it is the product. At the end of the day we have at? Economic stimulus without economic stimulus. A recovery package that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says will shrink the GDP. An historic transfer of wealth and power to the federal government – which the government has no plans of returning to the people. We may lose the day – but do not let history record that we went down without a fight."

Here is part of a statement issued by Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva: "The State of Arizona is in a budget crisis that it is translating to cuts in the Department of Economic Security, slashed departments at our public universities and colleges, money taken from our children in elementary, junior high, and high schools, and increases in hunger, poverty, and the ranks of the uninsured. The Recovery Act will help stop this kind of hemorrhaging, which is why I support it. "

On Feb. 12, one day before the House vote, Democratic Rep. Harry Mitchell stated that he was still weighing his vote on the compromise stimulus bill. Shadegg went on to note that he had heard from "Arizona employers, elected officials and educators calling for the stemming of massive job losses in Arizona and support for the stimulus bill." As of December, the unemployment rate in Arizona had risen to 6.9 percent, equating to a recent loss of 115,000 jobs.

Arizona's two Republican U.S. senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, both voted against the package when it went before the Senate earlier in the week. That version of the stimulus also passed along a party-line vote.

National news outlets are reporting that President Obama could sign the legislation as early as this weekend.