Obama Celebrates 2000th Stimulus Project and Settles Blood Feud Over Who Had First One

After presiding over the raucus White House Easter Egg Hunt this morning, Obama and Biden mosied over to the DOT headquarters in Washington to celebrate a milestone for the stimulus bill — transportation project number 2000. It’s a $68 million for widening I-94 in Michigan and doing something or other with an overpass. The work will take more than two years and create 1,500 or so jobs.

Obama, surrounded on stage by construction workers, made his usual pitch about rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, making the biggest infrastructure investment since Eisenhower, and recreating the country for the 21st century. He said nice things about Transporation Secretary Ray LaHood and the “TIGER Team” of sharpies who were getting all these projects approved so quickly.
Amid all the ceremony, there was a tantalizing bit of stimulus gossip, however: The president weighed in the hotly contested question of which was the nation’s first project. Missouri, Maryland, Nebraska and California have all been bickering over who held the honor.

Recalling an earlier visit to the DOT, he said, “Work on the very first project — resurfacing route 650 in Silver Springs, Maryland — began that very same day.” Because of the tight camera angle, it wasn’t clear if anyone from Missouri stormed out at that point.

(Image: AFP)