When the stimulus plan was being debated earlier this year it was all about money and speed as in: How much money can Washington spend how fast? Now we know the answer. Not much not very.
The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that at least some of those “shovel-ready” projects we heard so much about aren’t so ready for a shovel after all. The problems run the gamut from local opposition to specific projects to lengthy bidding and contracting processes required by law.
That should be no surprise to anyone who …

Forget the performance critiques of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s Republican response to Barack Obama’s State-of-the-Union-in-name-only speech Tuesday night. Plenty of Democrats sucked in the same role following the far less gifted orator George W Bush (remember Tim Kaine in 2006 or Harry Reid in 2005? Lordy they were bad!). Jindal’s problem wasn’t performance, it was substance and it reaffirms our diagnosis that the Republican Party is in critical condition.
Many Republicans leaders, egged on by right-wing radio hosts like Rush and Hannity, have charted a course of total opposition to the …

Last week the media formed a now-normal closed loop regurgitating the “news” that Americans were “deeply split” (NY Post) on Obama and his housing plan.
The cable nets went full-tilt especially after a CNBC reporter checked his credibility at the door of the Chicago Board of Trade and went on a stream-of-consciousness rant about how Obama’s housing plan reminded him of nothing more than Cuba under Castro.
By Sunday when the nets rolled out their gabfests it was no longer a question. The debates were over how bad Americans hated the housing …

 
Amidst the more than half a billion Federal dollars to be spent as stimulus (and another $287 million in tax breaks), there is great news for Amtrak but maybe not so great news for the people who ride it most — those in the Northeast Corridor.
The final stimulus bill will give Amtrak $850 million for capital projects — tracks, trains, stations — with an emphasis on projects that can be started quickly thereby putting people to work. But there’s one final proviso: No more than 50% can be spent on projects …

Barack is back, baby!
That’s what liberal bloggers are writing about the President’s first prime-time newser where he seemed to get some of his campaign mojo back. With the stimulus bill on it’s way to passing the Senate and then facing a potentially messy time in the sausage factory known as “conference committee” where the House and Senate versions must be meshed, Obama came out firing.
It began during his first road show Monday afternoon in Indiana and continued at the White House: “I’m happy to get good ideas from across the …

It’s February. Americans are losing their jobs at a rate almost none of us have ever seen. The economy is collapsing in a deepening tailspin of fear and gloom. Wallets are shut. Companies are closing. And in Washington, the “debate” over what makes a stimulus bill stimulating drags on.
Republicans have won the spin war hands down. The stimulus bill has been successfully reframed as a pork-filled mess. And as the Senate works today to get something passed Republicans and their media friends continue to pick out specific items in the …

Having just wrapped up a round of radio interviews with stations around the country it looks like the proverbial “Is the honeymoon over?” story is gaining traction. The cumulative effect of a badly marketed (and some say badly devised) stimulus plan coupled with his nominees’ tax problems is that Barack Obama has used up a fair amount of his political capital in a few short weeks.
Of course Obama started with more political capital than any President since FDR so he’s still got plenty of it and his mea cupla yesterday …

When you’re up and your opponent’s on his back the last thing you do is give him a hand. But that’s just what Barack Obama has done for Republicans.
After wracking up a historic win over John McCain and leading his party to big, increased majorities in the Senate and House, Obama has squandered some of his political mojo on one of the oldest White House stumbling blocks — nominees.
When it was just Bill Richardson and some ongoing, not particularly noteworthy investigation, it was manageable. Richardson withdrew and the storm passed. …

Even with the Feds potentially spending about $15 billion on mass transit in the next 18 months, the MTA’s proposed big fare hikes and service cuts would still have to happen according to MTA insiders.
That’s because while the amount of money in the stimulus bill for mass transit seems to grow every day, the money is for capital programs — building stuff — not operating systems already up and running.
Last week transit money in the stimulus jumped from $9 billion to $12 billion just before the House passed it’s version. …

I know you’re all waking up this morning talking about the stimulus football but I can’t let pass what happened earlier on Sunday without notice.
The US government is about to spend 800 billion or 900 billion or a trillion dollars on a stimulus “program” and that was, rightly, the topic of every one of the major Sunday political television talk shows. Shows that are the closest thing America still has to relatively thorough discussions of critically important issues. Ha!
This week ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC showed just what they …