President Obama has signed the jobs bill passed Wednesday by the Senate, calling it a "welcome piece of legislation for our fellow Americans who are seeking work in this difficult economy."

The Senate vote was 68-29, with 11 Republicans voting in favor: Alexander (TN), Bond (MO), Brown (MA), Burr (NC), Cochran (MS), Collins (ME), Inhofe (OK), LeMieux (FL), Murkowski (AK), Snowe (ME) and Voinovich (OH).

The bill, which gives a tax break to small businesses, is expected to generate about 250,000 jobs through 2010. Given that there have been more than eight million jobs lost since the recession began, the bill seems more symbolic than anything else. But in light of the political atmosphere on Capitol Hill, symbolism may be all we can expect to see, especially in an election year. Still, Obama was clearly pleased, even if his math was a bit off (see bold):

I'm also gratified that over a dozen Republicans agreed that the need for this jobs bill was urgent, and that they were willing to break out of the partisan morass to help us take this forward step for the American people. I hope this is a prelude to further cooperation in the days and months to come, as we continue to work on digging our way out of the recession and rebuilding our economy in a way that works for all Americans and not just some Americans.

One Republican who voted no, New Hampshire's Judd Gregg, was exasperated: "When are we going to stop spending money around here as if there's no tomorrow? Because pretty soon there's going to be no tomorrow for our children as we add this debt to their backs."

In signing the bill today, Obama saw things differently:

Now, make no mistake: While this jobs bill is absolutely necessary, it's by no means enough. There's a lot more that we're going to need to do to spur hiring in the private sector and bring about full economic recovery — from helping creditworthy small businesses to get loans that they need to expand, to offering incentives to make homes and businesses more energy efficient, to investing in infrastructure so we can put Americans to work doing the work that America needs done.