economic stimulus package

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Vetting Process Leaves Agencies Understaffed

Stimulus increases workload, but senior posts vacant

(Newser) - President Obama’s nominee vetting process is making it hard for federal agencies to get to work on new projects, the Boston Globe reports. Of about 500 senior positions, only 70 have been filled. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but the passage of the stimulus package “may...

Unemployed Furious at Contrarian Govs

Constituents fear losing out on stimulus dollars over politics

(Newser) - Opposing the stimulus’ expansion of unemployment benefits may be good PR, but there’s one constituency it’s not playing well with: unemployed people. “It just seems unreasonable,” one jobless Texan tells the New York Times, “that when people probably need the help the most, that because...

Alaskans Erupt Over Jindal Volcano Jab

(Newser) - Alaskans of all stripes are incensed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s disparaging comments Tuesday about the necessity of volcano monitoring, the Anchorage Daily News reports. It’s “a matter of life and death in Alaska,” Sen. Mark Begich wrote the Republican. Even Gov. Sarah Palin’s office...

Obama Trying to Shift Burden to the Rich
Obama Trying to Shift
Burden to the Rich
analysis
Feb 25, 2009 7:46 PM CST

Obama Trying to Shift Burden to the Rich

(Newser) - As details trickle out about President Obama's budget, one clear picture is emerging—he is dead-set on making the rich pay more, write Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear in the New York Times. In the latest example, he plans to fund half of his health-care reform through tax increases on...

Democrat Governor May Reject Stimulus Funds

Bredesen of Tenn. joins GOP critics

(Newser) - A Democrat has joined the ranks of GOP governors who may turn down stimulus funds. Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee says the state may reject $143 million for unemployed workers because it won't be able to afford the long-term budget repercussions, reports the Tennessean. Six other governors, all of them...

Misguided Cartoonist Has 'Right to Fail': Parker

Image was easily misread, but it's just a cartoon

(Newser) - The New York Post cartoon that has Al Sharpton up in arms was poorly thought out, to be sure, writes Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post. It "was offensive for reasons unrelated to race," she argues, but it’s important to remember that “outrage is out of...

8th-Grader's Letter Inspired Obama Speech

South Carolina teen becomes face of stimulus with plea for education funding

(Newser) - South Carolina eighth-grader Ty'Sheoma Bethea became the symbol of the stimulus package in President Obama's speech to Congress last night, WSAV reports. The president has repeatedly referred to Bethea's dilapidated school in his calls for spending on education infrastructure, and during his speech he quoted from a...

What Should I Say Tonight? 5 Sure Bets
 What Should I Say
 Tonight? 5 Sure Bets
ANALYSIS
Feb 24, 2009 3:07 PM CST

What Should I Say Tonight? 5 Sure Bets

(Newser) - President Obama has had to change his tune a few times since he took office, but the content of his speech to Congress tonight will be no surprise, Michael Scherer writes in Time. Talking points have been consistent for long enough to predict 5 key features:
  • I'm not Bush: In
...

Schumer to GOP: Stimulus Is All or Nothing

Governors can't cherry-pick favorite parts, senator argues

(Newser) - Chuck Schumer thinks governors ought to have one choice when it comes to the stimulus: Take it or leave it. The New York senator is fed up with Republicans like Bobby Jindal and Mark Sanford, who want to grab some federal cash while refusing the rest on ideological grounds. “...

Is Obama Trying to Fix Too Much at Once?
Is Obama Trying to Fix Too Much at Once?
OPINION
Feb 24, 2009 8:35 AM CST

Is Obama Trying to Fix Too Much at Once?

Despite new prez's gifts, Brooks worries he's moving too fast

(Newser) - David Brooks is not a liberal, but the New York Times columnist doesn't hesitate to call himself "a great admirer of Barack Obama and those around him." Yet as the new administration has thrown itself at a dozen staggering problems, from fixing health care and the auto industry...

Public Trusts Obama, Blames GOP for Stimulus Row
Public Trusts Obama, Blames GOP for Stimulus Row
NEW POLL
Feb 24, 2009 7:30 AM CST

Public Trusts Obama, Blames GOP for Stimulus Row

(Newser) - GOP attempts to attack Barack Obama on the stimulus don’t appear to be working. According to a New York Times/CBS poll, three quarters of Americans, including 6 in 10 Republicans, believe the president is trying to act in a bipartisan manner, and most blame Republicans for objecting to the...

Obama Blasts 'Casual Dishonesty' of Bush Budgets

(Newser) - At a White House “fiscal responsibility summit” today, President Obama opened fire on what he called the Bush administration’s “casual dishonesty” about the federal budget, Politico reports. “Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years,” Obama said, “we cannot simply spend...

Republicans Hope for 1994 All Over Again

But Dems are in a better position than they were under Clinton

(Newser) - Barack Obama is banking on change, but Republicans are betting things haven’t changed much at all. They’re hoping to bounce back from the political wasteland using the same playbook that swept them into power in 1994, Jeanne Cummings writes in Politico. The strategy: Unite against Democrats' economic policy,...

Obama's Approval Dips to 63%
 Obama's Approval Dips to 63% 
Feb 23, 2009 12:55 PM CST

Obama's Approval Dips to 63%

(Newser) - President Obama’s approval rating has slipped from 68% just after inauguration to 63% one month in, the Chicago Tribune reports today—just above average for the past few presidents at this stage. Though the modest slip is likely due to a hardening of Republican opposition, any "increased public...

Obama to Govs: Stimulus Check's in the Mail

Devaney helped nab Jack Abramoff

(Newser) - Within 2 days, the White House will begin distributing $15 billion to states to help them pay for Medicaid for the poor, the president said today at a National Governors' Association meeting. "That means that by the time most of you get home, money will be waiting to help...

GOP Guvs Right to See Stimulus Cash as 'Trap'
GOP Guvs Right to See Stimulus Cash as 'Trap'
OPINION
Feb 23, 2009 8:40 AM CST

GOP Guvs Right to See Stimulus Cash as 'Trap'

Say law is a 'budget trap' that will hook them on more spending

(Newser) - Five Republican governors are threatening to turn down much of their stimulus windfall, afraid of taking addictive doses of spending on education, welfare, and health care that the states would have to shoulder in 2011 and beyond. And they're right to worry, the Wall Street Journal says. Take enrolling new...

Federal Sleuth to Oversee Stimulus Plan

(Newser) - President Obama is naming one of Washington's top investigators to oversee spending of the $787 billion stimulus plan, Politico reports. Earl E. Devaney, inspector general of the Interior Department, will head a board overseeing how agencies and departments spend the taxpayers' money. A former fraud investigator, Devaney helped amass evidence...

Obama Plans to Slash Deficit by 2013
Obama Plans
to Slash Deficit by 2013
Feb 21, 2009 10:33 PM CST

Obama Plans to Slash Deficit by 2013

Goal hinges on Iraqi withdrawal, letting Bush's tax cuts lapse

(Newser) - Having proved he can get the government to pony up $787 billion to stimulate the economy, President Obama will now attempt to highlight his frugal side. Obama will unveil a budget Thursday that aims to cut the deficit—which could climb to $1.9 trillion in 2009—to $533 million...

Obama: We'll Feel Tax Cuts by April 1

Families to bring home $65 more per month, says prez

(Newser) - Americans will see tangible results from the stimulus—more money in their wallets—by April 1, President Obama said today in his weekly radio address. “Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans,” he said. The Treasury...

Post's Cartoon Apology No Good for Spike Lee

He calls on celebs to boycott the paper

(Newser) - Unimpressed by the New York Post's apology, Spike Lee has called on celebrities and athletes to boycott the paper and help "shut it down" for its chimpanzee cartoon. Lee and his 11-year-old son, joined by Al Sharpton, led 300 protesters in New York yesterday, the Daily News reports. "...

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