Tag: economic stimulus

The Colorado congressional delegation split along partisan lines, with all five Democrats voting in favor of the $819 billion stimulus bill and both Republicans voting against it Wednesday evening. The House passed the measure 244-188, with not a single Republican voting for the massive spending and tax-cut bill the Obama administration pushed to propel the economy out of the worst recession since World War II.

Melding the intermountain West's newfound political muscle with the region's abundant natural resources could kick-start a very potent economic engine to create green jobs via the federal stimulus package, writes Joan McCarter at New West. Of course, it doesn't come without some serious roll up your sleeves post-Bush political rehab.

Congressional Democrats hoping to use the economic stimulus package to force lenders to refinance troubled mortgages have met an unlikely opponent: President Barack Obama. Many Democrats, including Obama, have long-supported the strategy of empowering bankruptcy judges to alter the terms of primary mortgages to prevent foreclosures. But White House officials have said they don’t want the bankruptcy provision in the stimulus bill for fear of alienating Republicans, most of whom oppose the change.

If you’re looking for innovation in Colorado’s share of the Obama administration’s stimulus package, you’re likely to be disappointed in what some transportation officials are calling “a jobs bill.” Most of the $520 million in new spending headed this way will be pumped into much-needed and “shovel-ready” paving projects and repairs for bridges and interchanges that have been put off for years in the face of shrinking federal and state highway budgets.

As President-elect Barack Obama fills his administration with lions of the scientific world comes more potential good news for the state on the proposed federal economic stimulus package.

While some Western Slope politicians are eagerly eying their slice of the federal stimulus package pie expected from the Obama administration early next year, other lawmakers are already starting to craft a long-term funding fix for crumbling infrastructure at the state level.