Fewer ‘green’ transportation jobs in stimulus than touted

President Obama’s economic stimulus program might be considered green, but it’s still got a big streak of gray.

The $785 billion spending bill that Obama signed Tuesday, shortly after he toured the sparkling solar-paneled roof of the Denver Museum, will save or create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, according to the White House. Environmental groups, happy about the sharp departure from Bush administration policies, say up to 1.5 million or 40 percent of the jobs created by the unprecedented legislation will be green — meaning they will contribute to decreasing energy consumption, lowering oil demand and switching to renewable sources.

Killing same-sex unions (softly) in the Land of Enchantment

For the last few years, New Mexico has been close to becoming the first state between the coasts to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples. Many Democrats in both houses of the state legislature support the idea, and as a presidential candidate last year, Gov. Bill Richardson pandered to gay audiences saying he would gladly sign such a measure.

The triumph of blue patriotism

When Barack Obama took the stage at the We Are One concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, he signaled not only the arrival of a new administration to Washington but the arrival of a patriotism that looks new but isn’t. This patriotism’s founding document is the Declaration of the Independence. Abraham Lincoln, not George Washington, is the father of the nation, and Martin Luther King, not Ronald Reagan, is its greatest recent leader. This patriotism is not red, not white, but blue.

The Thrilla from Wasilla: An Alaskan recounts the reign of Gov. Sarah Palin

David Noon, a professor and Sarah Palin watcher in Alaska for the last six years, has this sharp but even-handed assessmenthttp://www.minnesotaindependent.com/6891/the-thrilla-from-wasilla-an-alaskan-recounts-the-reign-of-gov-sarah-palin of the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Rene Marie

On Monday, Barack Obama responded to false rumors about his own patriotism with a speech defining love of country as a unifying ideal of Americans from George Washington to Martin Luther King, Jr.…

Rene Marie

On Monday, Barack Obama responded to false rumors about his own patriotism with a speech defining love of country as a unifying ideal of Americans from George Washington to Martin Luther King, Jr.…

The week that was from the Center for Independent Media

In a remarkable turn of events, The Washington Independent (TWI) has been accredited to join the Obama and McCain campaigns full time, as members of the traveling press corps. There are only five newspapers left in America that regularly travel…

Evangelicals go liberal

McCain’s problem with godly voters. (No, it’s not that he used to date strippers.)

The week that was from the Center for Independent Media

Economic woes, the presidential election, environmental news, immigration busts, government transparency and a National Press Club award topped our week at the Center for Independent Media’s growing online news network.

Congratulations to Michigan Fellow Eartha Jane Melzer who won an…

Obama: “A moment that will define a generation”

Last night, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Barack Obama claimed victory in his quest to secure the Democratic presidential nomination.  "Let us begin together," he says, in this video from Minnesota Monitor (check it out). The Illinois senator…