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Monthly archive for February, 2009
Senator Tries to Explain What a Trillion Means
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
In the Senate, John Thune (R, SD) has just offered a cornucopia of explanatory devices to help Americans grasp the concept of “trillion.” His examples: * If you had $1 trillion in stacked $100 bills it would be 689 miles Read more ›
BREAKING: Senate Considers Dramatic Bump in Infrastructure Funding
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Sen. Patty Murray (D, WA) has just offered her amendment to boost infrastructure spending by $25 billion. Most of the money, $18 billion, would go into transportation and most of that into highways. In Murray’s words, the states would get Read more ›
Tuesday’s News
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
* The Senate releases their first draft of the stimulus bill – all 728 pages are available for perusal here. One highlight: $2 billion for high speed rail. (Transport Politic)
Duke’s Place: Michael Dukakis on How to Fix America
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Senators Demand: “More Infrastructure!”
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
While the Senate is the scene of a lot snipping and fighting over the stimulus bill, a bi-partisan spirit of agreement seems to be developing around one point: more investment in infrastructure. Here’s a rundown of this ad hoc caucus:
That Other Time Citibank Almost Collapsed
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Even if Citibank implodes and several hundred billion more in taxpayer wealth gets sucked into the resulting financial black hole, we can take solace in the fact that it all could have been much worse. Specifically, the company’s corporate headquarters Read more ›
Smart Grid Advertised During Super Bowl Despite Not Being Fizzy or Having Cool Ranch Flavor
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Under the theory that Americans are impatient about “fixing things now,” General Electric rolled out a campaign for its electrical grid products to the broadest possible TV audience yesterday: It’s a remarkable moment, actually – this is the kind of Read more ›
Trillion Dollar Barry: One Man’s Quest to Keep America Solvent
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Construction Expert: Union Labor More Efficient Than Non-Union Labor
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Construction industry reform guru Barry LePatner tells us that union labor is in factly “slightly more efficient” than non-union labor on construction jobs. It’s a key point to establish, because in the months and years ahead critics will certainly argue Read more ›
Amtrak: We’ll Pay You to Go to Vermont
Monday, February 2nd, 2009A Report from Ground Zero of the Coal Ash Spill
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Architect Seeks Answer to Toxic Classrooms
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Cameron Sinclair has visited classrooms in some of the poorest countries in the world, but he’s still shocked by what he sees in American schools. Six million students spend their days in temporary trailers that compromise both their education and Read more ›
How Do Stimulus Dollars Reach “Shovel Ready” Local Projects?
Monday, February 2nd, 2009Monday’s News
Monday, February 2nd, 2009
GOP Senators, including Mitch McConnell and John McCain, are sounding a dour note on the future of the $800 billion stimulus package. One possible solution: a bipartisan consensus seems to be growing for more infrastructure spending. Utilities are experimenting with Read more ›
Wednesday’s News
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
Obama wants some school construction and other cuts restored to the final stimulus bill. Here are the House and Senate (it passed!) versions compared in very fine detail. (WSJ) Obama says that 675,000 construction jobs will be created by the Read more ›
Federico Peña: Four Ways to Spend Smarter on Infrastructure
Monday, February 2nd, 2009