RANCHO MIRAGE (AP) — The costly $787 billion spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law soon after taking office boosted the economy and helped avoid another Great Depression, the White House said in a status report on Monday’s fifth anniversary of the law’s enactment. Republican leaders in Congress took note of the anniversary, too, but argued that the bill spent too much for too little in return. White House economic adviser Jason Furman said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act made other targeted investments that will pay dividends for years to come.