Word: congresses
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...Congress knows better than James Oberstar that pumping billions of dollars into infrastructure spending to help stimulate the economy is easier said than done. When he first came to Capitol Hill more than four decades ago as an administrative assistant for the head of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Oberstar witnessed firsthand the pitfalls that President Kennedy encountered in trying to reverse the slumping economy in 1963. At the time, Kennedy "said to the Congress, You pass it, I'll sign it," Oberstar recalled on a recent morning in his Capitol Hill office. The only problem was, the infrastructure...
...those who claim that the messy bureaucracy usually involved in the quadrennial transportation legislation would hardly be an effective spark for a deeply troubled economy, Oberstar insists this time is different. All projects will be required to have broken ground and to report back to Congress on their progress within 60 days of the bill's enactment. They must report again in an additional 90 days and once again 60 days after that. All these reports will be combed over by the Obama Administration and Congress and will be made public online. "I've never seen anything like this," Oberstar...
...Babbitt. Meanwhile, states like Alabama, Kansas and Texas have been releasing lists of shovel-ready transportation projects that are dramatically skewed toward out-of-the-way sprawl roads. Missouri's list was all roads, none of them in St. Louis. Obama has vowed to reject earmarks, but if Congress simply passes cash to the states according to the usual formulas - and it will unless Obama intervenes - America is in for yet another festival of asphalt. There is even talk of waiving the regular cost-sharing requirements for local and state governments, an excellent way to make sure they green-light...
...opportunity to start keeping promises and start moving the country away from dirty energy, crumbling infrastructure and economic inequality. If he trades those goals for size and speed, he'll blow a unique chance to chart a new direction. He doesn't need to beg Congress to spend; that's like begging Cookie Monster to eat. He needs to take a stand: No money without reform. That won't just rebuild consumer confidence; it will rebuild citizen confidence too. As the shoe guy said, at a time like this, self-esteem is critical...
...There is plenty of evidence that Holder can turn a blind eye to politics. As U.S. Attorney in 1996, Holder prosecuted and sent to prison Representative Dan Rostenkowski, one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress. Two years later, as Deputy Attorney General, he gave independent counsel Kenneth Starr the legal authority to probe into Monica Lewinsky's relationship with President Clinton...