As one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This bill authorized an unprecedented amount of Federal spending in an effort to help the United States economy overcome the effects of the financial crisis. In addition to direct spending, the law created a special type of taxable municipal securities known as Build America Bonds.
These bonds were then issued throughout the remainder of 2009 and 2010 by states and municipalities looking to fund infrastructure projects and were commonly purchased by insurance companies, mutual funds, foreign