USATODAY.com - Bush plan gives huge tax break to buyers of big SUVs

USATODAY.com - Bush plan gives huge tax break to buyers of big SUVs: "Buying big, luxurious sport-utility vehicles could cost a lot less under the Bush administration's economic stimulus proposal, even though a Bush appointee blasted SUVs last week as dangerous fuel hogs."


SUV, truck owners get a big tax break

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The Appalling Hypocrisy Of The Republican Party Exposed In Three Simple Charts

To listen to Congressional Republicans tell it, you'd think the US's colossal budget and debt problem was caused by one simple thing: The Democrats.

And although the Republicans do deserve significant credit for finally focusing the country and Washington on the magnitude of the problem--really--their hypocrisy on this issue is almost unbearable.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/republican-budget-hypocrisy-2011-7#ixzz1TJU5vVB2

Recovery Project for Wounded Warriors Now Complete

Recovery Project for Wounded Warriors Now Complete: "The first of two new facilities being built with Recovery funds for wounded U.S troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has opened. Department of Defense officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 8 for the new “Warriors in Transition Barracks” at Fort Bliss, Texas."

Cash For Clunkers

Japan Cash For Clunkers:

Germany

U.S.

In Germany, incentives totaling 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) for buyers of new vehicles who turned in old ones boosted sales 23 percent last year, according to the VDA auto industry association. Without further subsidies, new car registrations in the country slumped 29 percent in the first seven months of 2010, according to the association.

Dollars from Florida's high-speed rail project up for grabs

On Thursday, Florida Rep. John L. Mica (R) said that he sought to broker a deal that would have allowed private investors into the Florida rail proposal as a hedge against overruns but that Scott could not be persuaded to support what he called a "boondoggle."

The rejected plan called for trains that would have traveled as fast as 170 mph on the 85-mile route from Tampa to Orlando.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and several members of Congress have written to LaHood seeking the funds for rail upgrades along the congested Northeast Corridor.

Florida Republicans Are at Odds With Their Leader - NYTimes.com

Florida Republicans Are at Odds With Their Leader - NYTimes.com: "Rick Scott, the conservative Republican billionaire who plucked the governor’s job from the party establishment in November with $73 million of his own money and the backing of the Tea Party, vowed during his campaign to run the troubled state like a corporate chief executive (which he was) and not a politician (which he proudly says he is not).

And now it has become a problem, some of his fellow Republicans say."

Report: GOP cuts could kill 700K jobs - POLITICO.com Print View

Report: GOP cuts could kill 700K jobs - POLITICO.com Print View: "House Republicans said last week that they want to cut spending by $2 billion a week for the rest of the fiscal year, adding up to a total of $61 billion in cuts during the next seven months. But that plan could come with the very real cost of jobs, Moody’s Analytics said in a report released Monday, buoying Democrats who argue that the GOP is pushing too many cuts too quickly.

Moody’s chief economist, Mark Zandi, projected that the House proposal would cut real GDP growth by 0.5 percent in 2011 and 0.2 percent in 2012. That, in turn, would lead to 400,000 fewer jobs being created than expected by the end of this year and a total of 700,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2012."

Penn State to spotlight energy research | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/29/2011

Obama's visit Penn State to spotlight energy research | Philadelphia Inquirer | 01/29/2011: "The trip to State College is part of Obama's political push to capitalize on his call for more research and innovation in clean-energy technology during Tuesday's State of the Union address.

Penn State has been awarded a $122 million grant by the Department of Energy to use on its 'energy innovation hub' at the Navy Yard, where the university is leading research into energy-efficient building design and retrofitting."

Penn State/Navy Yard energy project wins $129 million federal grant

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20100824_Phila_Navy_Yard_wins_Penn_State_energy_innovation_hub.html#ixzz1CQFYI85D
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McDonnell to roll out massive spending campaign for roads, colleges, jobs

McDonnell to roll out massive spending campaign for roads, colleges, jobs: "Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell plans a massive spending campaign that he said would unclog state roads, award thousands more college degrees and spur job creation, part of an aggressive legislative agenda he is expected to roll out this week.

McDonnell (R) will press lawmakers to approve a series of statewide projects he said would be paid in part through Virginia's $403 million budget surplus, $337 million in higher-than-expected tax revenue, and $192 million generated through cuts and savings."

Media In Politics » Blog Archive » Farm Subsidies Highlight The Hypocrisy Of Anti-Spending Politicians

Media In Politics » Blog Archive » Farm Subsidies Highlight The Hypocrisy Of Anti-Spending Politicians: "Many Republicans who swept rural Democrats from office are now confronting the reality of a promise to reduce spending: Should it cover the farm subsidies that have brought money and jobs to their districts – and directly benefited some GOP lawmakers or their families?

At least 13 Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee lost on Nov. 2, and most of then helped steer generous farm support back home. Many of their replacements avoided the issue of farm payments during the campaign as they focused on broader themes of lowering federal spending and changing Washington.

They’ll have to face it soon enough. Congress is expected to begin work on the next five-year farm bill before the 2012 election."

The best ad of the year! Video

Smug future-Chinese will own us, attack ad claims

Are you scared of Red China? "Citizens Against Government Waste" wants you to be! And not just scared -- they want you to be pissed off at how smug those stupid Chinese are. Just look at them laughing at us, with their douchey headset mics, in this new campaign ad:

Stupid future-Chinese people owning us! If only we hadn't attempted stimulus spending -- we could've been as prosperous and successful as the communist nation that spent vast sums of money on massive infrastructure projects as part of their $586 billion stimulus.

MinnPost - D.C. Dispatches: Despite opposing stimulus, Bachmann, Paulsen sought money for their home districts

Michele Bachmann has campaigned saying the stimulus was a "failure" and has criticized it repeatedly, including in a Townhall.com blog in January headlined "Stimulus is not creating jobs."

Yet despite her vocal opposition to the law, the founder of the House Tea Party Caucus quietly sent at least six letters to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urging stimulus funding for transportation projects in her district.

In one of them, in support of $300 million in spending for the $700 milliion replacement-bridge project crossing the St. Croix River, Bachmann cited a MnDOT estimate that the project would create nearly 3,000 jobs. In others, she noted that the projects would have economic benefits beyond just the projects in question, spurring development and private sector hiring in the communities surrounding the proposed stimulus projects.
MinnPost - D.C. Dispatches: Despite opposing stimulus, Bachmann, Paulsen sought money for their home districts

LINK TO THE LETTERS: http://www.minnpost.com/client_files/pdfs/BachmannRequest.pdf

Despite opposing stimulus - video

MinnPost - D.C. Dispatches: Despite opposing stimulus, Bachmann, Paulsen sought money for their home districts: "Yet despite her vocal opposition to the law, the founder of the House Tea Party Caucus quietly sent at least six letters to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood urging stimulus funding for transportation projects in her district."

Kerry bill would extend energy grants - The Boston Globe

Kerry’s plan would cost $2.7 billion.The 2009 grants “helped stimulate nearly $9 billion of new investments by the private sector in renewable energy projects and created an estimated 72,000 jobs in the wind and solar industries,’’ said Pat Eilers, managing director of the Chicago-based investment firm Madison Dearborn Partners.

Kerry acted after the Senate failed to take up legislation to place a price on carbon emissions. Kerry’s measure also would extend tax credits for makers of appliances that use less energy and for contractors that build more energy-efficient homes.

“Senator Kerry is hopeful that energy tax provisions will be part of any energy package that moves this year,’’ Whitney Smith, the lawmaker’s spokesman, said in an e-mail. “His bill highlights key priorities for advancing clean energy and reducing carbon emissions.’’

Kerry bill would extend energy grants - The Boston Globe

High Speed for the Sparsely Wired - NYTimes

Government stimulus spending is a contentious issue right now in Washington. But the $7.2 billion in the last stimulus package for extending high-speed Internet access is just beginning to be spent, and the beneficiaries could not be happier.

Cynthia K. Wegener and her husband, owners of a farm and horse-breeding business in western Kansas, will be able to upload a photograph of a horse to show a potential buyer in seconds, not the 20 to 30 minutes they now need with dial-up service. “I just cannot begin to tell you how frustrating it is to do anything with it,” she said.

290,000 jobs added in April, a 4-year high – rate 9.9%

Private employers -- the backbone of the economy -- added 231,000 jobs, the most since March 2006.

Also adding jobs were:

• Leisure and hospitality, up 45,000

• Manufacturing, up 44,000

• Construction, up 14,000

BLS: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm

Video

Tax Day rhetoric aside, Americans' bills are lower

You wouldn't know it by the Tax Day rhetoric, but Americans are paying lower taxes this year, even with increases passed by many states to balance their budgets. Don't expect it to last.

Congress cut individuals' federal taxes for this year by about $173 billion shortly after President Barack Obama took office, dwarfing the $28.6 billion in increases by states.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dow 11,000

Hopefully this info transfers to most Americans!

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly traded above 11,000 points on Friday, the latest mile marker in a yearlong rally that has catapulted the stock market from the depths of the financial crisis.

The Dow’s surge reflected a growing sense on Wall Street that the recovery might be accelerating. Risk-shy investors are snapping up stocks amid signs that consumer spending is improving and the economy is adding jobs.

But for all the optimism, some say they believe the market has come too far too fast. The major indexes have reached levels few could have fathomed in the recession’s darker days, climbing at least 68 percent in the last year.

On Friday, the Dow closed at its highest level since September 2008, when the near collapse of the financial system rattled global markets. But it remains a long way from the roaring days before the recession: the index is more than 3,100 points below its record high in October 2007.

That took way too long!

Private-sector job growth was again strongest in temporary help services and health care. The nation added 40,000 temporary service jobs last month, indicating that many employers were testing the waters before taking the plunge with a permanent hire. The health care industry, which grew steadily even during the depths of the recession, expanded by 27,000 jobs in March.

The March report may have been inflated, though, by a rebound from February when many people could not work because of snowstorms. Additionally, nearly a third of the hiring in March was temporary work on the 2010 census.

Though they know their new jobs are fleeting, many of the 48,000 new census workers are counting their blessings. To them, a job is a job, a closed hole in their résumés and maybe even a bridge to permanent employment elsewhere.

Democrats Target Stimulus Critics Who Sought Funds - WSJ

Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703562404575067372476731404.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

7 PDF letters link: Read the letters 

Democrats, stung by criticism of their $787 billion economic-stimulus plan, are targeting Republicans who have attacked the program and then lobbied to get money for their districts.

More than a dozen Republican lawmakers supported stimulus-funding requests submitted to the Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Forest Service, in letters obtained by The Wall Street Journal through the Freedom of Information Act.

The stimulus package passed last February with no Republican votes in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, just three Republicans supported it: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who later switched to the Democratic Party.

Lawmakers routinely send letters in support of federal funding for projects in their constituencies; some Republican lawmakers have deliberately avoided sending requests for stimulus dollars because of their opposition to the bill.

Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who called the stimulus a "wasteful spending spree" that "misses the mark on all counts," wrote to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in October in support of a grant application from a group in his district which, he said, "intends to place 1,000 workers in green jobs." A spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan said the congressman felt it was his job to provide "the basic constituent service of lending his assistance for federal grant requests."