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STIMULUS PLAN * USA - $600 Million for Upgrading Government Fleet in Jeopardy
"... you have to ask yourself - are these folks serious? "
Washington,DC,USA -Automobile Magazine, by Joshua Duval -6 Feb 2009: -- The federal government's $900 billion stimulus plan currently includes $600 million allocated for the government to purchase more fuel-efficient fleet vehicles - but that provision may not make the final cut of the stimulus bill... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, attacked the measure as "wasteful spending". Several Senators, being referred to as "centrists," have identified the $600 million as superfluous spending that has helped bloat the economic stimulus bill and are seeking to remove it, along with other components of the bill they see as extraneous... Speaking yesterday at the U.S. Energy Department in Washington, President Barack Obama defended the $600 million in government spending. "Critics of this plan ridiculed our notion that we should use part of the money to modernize the entire fleet of federal vehicles to take advantage of the state-of-the-art fuel efficiency. This is what they call pork," he said. "You know the truth. It will not only save the government significant money over time, it will not only create manufacturing jobs for folks who are making these cars, it will set a standard for private industry to match. When you hear these attacks deriding something of such obvious importance as this," he continued, "you have to ask yourself - are these folks serious? Is it any wonder that we haven't had a real energy policy in this country?"... $600 million could buy approximately 30,000 vehicles... * LaHood opens truckers convention
Peoria,IL,USA -The Peoria Journal Star, by SCOTT HILYARD -Feb 06, 2009: -- It was a major coup for a regional truckers’ group annual convention — opening remarks delivered by the top federal official in the field, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood... LaHood made little news with his visit... One thing that did change was his announcement last week that a conference call with all 50 state directors of transportation. The transportation officials were called to Washington to get started prioritizing shovel-ready projects that would qualify for economic stimulus money... “People are hurting. We’ve got to get a stimulus bill passed, get the economy headed in the right direction and get people back to work and in good paying jobs,” he said... After speaking, LaHood took questions from the audience about the economic stimulus package, an increase in the fuel tax to pay for road and bridge repair and the move toward more environmentally friendly vehicles... He said the fuel tax cannot begin to pay for all of the highway and bridge repairs the country needs, but that no decision on raising it had been made... “Obviously he’s comfortable here,” Don Schaefer, executive vice president of the Mid-West Truckers Association. “With Ray LaHood as the secretary of transportation and President Obama, I think Illinois is pretty well-positioned to begin to solve some of our transportation needs”... * Energy's Chu: Disburse $25B in two months
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News -7 Feb 2009: -- U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu wants to begin disbursing loans to carmakers in one to two months from a $25 billion program aimed at funding fuel-efficient vehicle technology, a department spokesman said... Chu wants to get those funds moving quickly, department spokesman Dan Leistikow said Friday...
* Comfortable Senator With Golf Clubs Tells Unemployed To Be Patient: Ensign says there is no hurry on economic stimulus legislation
NEV,USA -The Desert Beacon -February 6, 2009: -- According to Senator John Ensign (R-NV) we don't have a serious and immediate economic recession in this country? "So we need to act much more responsibly than this bill acts. It's still time. There is no hurry." [TP]... Why get all excited? Gee, we've only seen unemployment in Nevada increase from 5.2% in December 2007 to 9.1% in December 2008. [DETR]... A person could suppose there's no rush for a Senator with job security for six years, a federal health care plan, being paid $169,300 per year, and who is covered by FERS or CSRS retirement accounts. [wik] 1.8 million other people might not be so patient, including 44,000 wholesale workers and 25,000 truckers... Labels: Obama's Administration
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