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The Obama administration hoped spending $787 billion in stimulus would jump-start the economy, build new schools and usher in an era of education reform. So far, government auditors say, many states are setting aside such grand plans and simply trying to stay afloat.
The Government Accountability Office, in a report to be released Wednesday, says the stimulus is keeping teachers off the unemployment lines, helping states make greater Medicaid payments and providing a desperately needed cushion to state budgets.
But investigators found repeated examples in which, either out of desperation or convenience, states favored short-term spending over long-term efforts such as education reform.
In Flint, Mich., for example, new schools haven't been built in 30 years but the school superintendent told auditors that he would use federal money to cope with budget deficits rather than building new schools or paying for early childhood education.
Also, the GAO said about half the money set aside for road and bridge repairs is being used to repave highways, rather than building new infrastructure. And state officials aren't steering the money toward counties that need jobs the most, auditors found.
Originally posted by Maxmars
And now the rumblings of a new 'stimulus' package being considered has knocked the wind out of the trading in both the US and Japan..., go figure....
LANSING — Michigan’s worsening budget situation is fueling debate over the use of federal stimulus money as part of the fix.
At Michigan’s disposal is some $1.1 billion that it could use this year to plug budget holes — an action business advocates say could enable lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm to avoid significant reforms and spending cuts.
Pickens Scales Back Ambitious Wind Farm
July 8, 2009, 5:16 am In a sign of the difficulties facing the development of wind energy, T. Boone Pickens, the legendary Texas oilman, is suspending plans to build the world’s largest wind farm, The New York Times’s Kate Galbraith reports.
Mr. Pickens’s struggles are symptomatic of a broader reversal of fortune for wind developers. This year, Emerging Energy Research, a consulting firm, expects a drop of nearly 25 percent in the amount of new wind power installed compared with last year. Two crucial provisions to aid renewable energy in the stimulus package passed in February have yet to be introduced, Keith Martin, a tax and project finance specialist with the law firm Chadbourne & Parke, said.
Originally posted by lexwilsondotcom
This can't simply be blamed on Obama. There are many out there that find loop holes. Actually, there are individuals that are hired for that purpose alone.