The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged infrastructure

In Iowa, partisan responses follow Obama proposal on jobs

By | 09.09.11 | 2:54 pm | More from The Iowa Independent

Although President Barack Obama‘s joint address was billed as a proposal roll-out for the American economy and unemployment, there was a underlying theme of warning to those in Washington that everyday citizens are growing tired of partisan politics, bickering and stalemates.

Iowa Sen. Harkin, Robert Reich agree: Obama must be bold, use his bully pulpit

By | 09.08.11 | 3:49 pm | More from The Iowa Independent

When President Barack Obama addresses the nation and a joint session of Congress to unveil steps for job creation and the economy, there’s only one thing he needs to remember: go big. That’s the advice of U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

House GOP appropriators now speak up about rethinking earmark ban

By | 03.15.11 | 10:50 am

It might have seemed like a GOP victory when last November, President Obama ordered a moratorium on earmarks. But lately, a few House appropriators, both Democrats and Republicans, have expressed concern that the definition of what makes an earmark an earmark might be too broad and could create hurdles for 2012 spending More…

Infrastructure, Again

By | 10.11.10 | 1:08 pm

This morning, President Obama held a meeting at the White House to press, again, for infrastructure investment. The time is right for massive infrastructure spending, the president said, because of the high rates of unemployment in construction and overwhelming need for the country to update its roads, railways, highways and More…

Economists Argue Against Deficit Reduction

By | 09.16.10 | 12:05 pm

Today, more than 300 economists and policy experts released a letter warning that “the still-fragile economic recovery will be undercut by austerity economics of the kind being pushed by conservative politicians and by the Deficit Commission.”

The group argues that President Obama and Congress should press for legislation More…

The Problem With Having an Infrastructure Bank as a Jobs Program

By | 09.10.10 | 12:40 pm

Earlier this year, Stanton C. Hazelroth appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee to testify as the head of the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, the country’s largest public infrastructure bank. Founded with seed funding of just $181 million in 1999, the bank has since More…

Oil Industry Rails Against Obama Transportation Plan

By | 09.08.10 | 1:02 pm

The oil industry is railing against a plan by President Obama to spend billions of dollars on new transportation infrastructure because the $50 billion proposal will be paid for with an increase in taxes on the oil and natural gas industry.

The Ongoing Logistical Nightmare of Haiti, Six Days Later

By | 01.19.10 | 6:00 am

Ken Keen, a three-star Army general, was in Haiti on Tuesday at the U.S. ambassador’s office shortly before nightfall when the quake began. The ambassador’s office is high above the city of Port-au-Prince. Keen heard “the screaming and yelling of the people in the valleys below.”

Now Keen is the More…

Grassley: Iowa Is ‘Fortunate’ To Be Getting Stimulus Funds That I Voted Against

By | 04.07.09 | 12:46 pm

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said today that Iowa has “been fortunate” that emergency funding for highways is soon to arrive, while additional funds for teachers and low-income health programs will likewise prevent imminent job losses within the state. He forgot to mention that voted against the stimulus package that will More…

Experts Say LaHood Tax Plan Has Merit

By | 02.24.09 | 2:58 pm

A controversial proposal to shore up federal transportation funds has set off a firestorm in Washington, with a high-profile disagreement between the transportation secretary and the White House leaving the nation’s strategy for combating an impending highway budget shortfall in doubt.

In an More…