Stimulus: What got cut

Stimulus: What got cut
Trimmed out of the Obama Stimulus Plan, funds for the Smithsonian, hybrid vehicles and polar icebreakers for the Coast Guard.

Items Cut: (Source CNN Money)

-- $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill was for $7 billion)

-- $75 million for Smithsonian (original bill was for $150 million)

-- $200 million for Superfund (original bill was for $800 million)

-- $100 million for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill was for $427 million)

-- $100 million for Law enforcement wireless (original bill was for $200 million)

-- $300 million for federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill was for $600 million)

-- $100 million for FBI construction (original bill was for $400 million)

Items Fully Eliminated:

-- $55 million for historic preservation

-- $122 million for new Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters

Obama Needs To Get Outside the Beltway.

(From MOJO Blog Mother Jones)
President Barack Obama needs to get outside the Beltway.
Not necessarily by hopping on Air Force One (which he has yet to use), but by reaching out to the millions of Americans who are rooting for him in order to obtain their active support for his economic stimulus plan. In the first fortnight of his presidency, Obama has mainly played an inside game, as he has tried to win congressional approval of an economic recovery package. When the nearly $900 billion measure was being considered in the House, Obama largely deferred to House Democrats, who shoved many long-yearned-for spending initiatives into the bill. Thus, a 647-page creature was born, which included provisions easy for Republicans and conservatives to deride and oppose.

...
In the past two weeks, Obama and his aides have encountered the typical difficulties of Washington. It's hard to find experienced influence-makers for high-level appointments who are not tainted by the town's K Street culture (Washington's K Street, a canyon of nondescript office buildings a few blocks north of the White House that is to influence-peddling what Wall Street is to finance.) It's tough to score bipartisan points by working with partisans. It's a bitch to ask Capitol Hill machers to change their ways (of appropriating and legislating). It's not easy to control the message when a cacophonous media focus (sometimes rightfully) on missteps and conflict.

Do you want to know what Obama is focussing on?

Obama's green energy push spotlights Ohio biz
Obama's stimulus sales trip this week will feature Cardinal Fastener, a manufacturing company that has reinvented itself for the alternative-energy future.

(CNNMoney.com) -- Never mind Joe the Plumber; meet John the Manufacturer. That's what President-elect Barack Obama will be doing Friday, when he stops in Ohio to pitch his $825 billion economic recovery and job creation package.
While in Bedford Heights, Ohio, Obama will be touring the Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Company, a local manufacturing company that supplies steel screws, washers and bolts to industries such as construction and mining. The company is a carefully chosen poster child for Obama's stimulus plans: While so many manufacturers struggle with slowing sales, Cardinal Fastener is growing and adding staff, thanks to its focus on the green energy industry.
"People call it the next automotive industry for the United States," said John Grabner, 56, president and owner of Cardinal.

The small company is about to take the spotlight on a big stage - Grabner had to cut short an interview because a batch of Secret Service agents showed up at his door

Getting the money for the economic stimulus plan.

Getting the money for the economic stimulus plan.

With President-elect BarackObama's Inauguration Day less than 3 weeks away, Democratic lawmakers want to pass a far-reaching bill to save the economy. The largest Washington spending bill of all time, which is expected to reach the 1 Trillion Dollar will face some opposition from Republican Senate leaders and could easily be pushed forward in to February.
Democratic negotiators in the House and Senate are working on proposals that they will present to their chambers after the new Congress convenes on Jan. 6.
There is a chance a stimulus bill will be passed by Jan. 20, but it might be the first of two pieces of legislation.
"The first will be stimulus measures intended to get folks back to work and to help with housing. Then a broader measure will advance that will include more public works projects and related measures," said Jaret Seiberg, a financial services analyst at the Stanford Group, a Washington-based policy research firm.
With worsening economic conditions, the estimated cost of stimulating the economy shoots up.
Obama has said he wants to genarate or save 2.5 million jobs in the next two years. With the economic crisis spreading through allmost all levels of industry and the services sector being hit as well, unemployment rising, the retail sector suffering and consumer confidence at an all times low, this is a tremendous challenge. It is no more a matter of just throwing money at the problem but creating a fine-tuned stimulus package, which will need some time.
(Source CNN Money)
Road to stimulus: Speed bumps ahead

President-elect Obama surrounds himself with pragmatists instead of idealogues

President-elect Obama surrounds himself with pragmatists instead of idealogues
It looks like Barack Obama is planning to govern from the center-right of the Democratic Party.
He will probably ask Robert Gates to stay on (for a year or so) as Defense Secretary as well as some of the more seasoned troop commanders like Gen. James L. Jones, the former NATO commander as National Security advisor. This is not confirmed!
This might not be a bad idea as long as the Iraq and Afghanistan situation continues.
With Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary and Larry Summers as Senior Economic Advisor it looks like the best of both worlds.
And with Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State he gets somebody with a star like quality, a good inside knowledge and very powerful influential friends. She will get, however, a very challenging task, to restore trust and confidence in America and upgrading its status in the world is no minor job.

(Trendsbridge Team Comment: It's a well-known strategy. He does the same as in his time with the Harvard Law Review, he looks for the best people to do the job.)

U.S. / Politics (New York Times Permalink)
Obama Vows Swift Action on Vast Economic Stimulus Plan
By JACKIE CALMES and JEFF ZELENY
Published: November 23, 2008
Barack Obama offered the outlines of a plan to create or save 2.5 million jobs by investing in public works and alternative energy.