The weasel wants more money!

[warwoman]

Obama calling for more infrastructure spending


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Sep 6, 8:33 AM (ET)

By JULIE PACE











WASHINGTON (AP) - Vowing to find new ways to stimulate the sputtering economy, President Barack Obama will call for long-term investments in the nation's roads, railways and runways that would cost at least $50 billion.

The infrastructure investments are one part of a package of targeted proposals the White House is expected to announce in hopes of jump-starting the economy ahead of the November election. Obama will outline the infrastructure proposal Monday at a Labor Day event in Milwaukee.

While the proposal calls for investments over six years, the White House said spending would be front-loaded with an initial $50 billion to help create jobs in the near future.

The goals of the infrastructure plan include: rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads; constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of railways, enough to go coast-to-coast; and rehabilitating or reconstructing 150 miles of airport runways, while also installing a new air navigation system designed to reduce travel times and delays.

Obama will also call for the creation of a permanent infrastructure bank that would focus on funding national and regional infrastructure projects.

Administration officials wouldn't say what the total cost of the infrastructure investments would be, but did say the initial $50 billion represents a significant percentage. Officials said the White House would consider closing a number of special tax breaks for oil and gas companies to pay for the proposal.

Obama made infrastructure investments a central part of the $814 billion stimulus Congress passed last year, but with that spending winding down, the economy's growth has slowed. Officials said this infrastructure package differs from the stimulus because it's aimed at long-term growth, while still focusing on creating jobs in the short-term.

In a Labor Day interview on CBS'"Early Show," Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the plan Obama was to unveil Monday would "put construction workers, welders, electricians back to work ... folks that have been unemployed for a long time."

With the unemployment rate ticking up to 9.6 percent, and polls showing the midterm elections could be dismal for Democrats, the president has promised to unveil a series of new measures on the economy.

In addition to Monday's announcement in Milwaukee, Obama will travel to Cleveland Wednesday to pitch a $100 billion proposal to increase and make permanent research and development tax credits for businesses, a White House official said.

While the idea is popular in Congress, coming up with offsetting tax increases or spending cuts has been a stumbling block. Similar to his proposal to pay for the infrastructure investments, Obama will ask lawmakers to close tax breaks for oil and gas companies and multinational corporations to pay for the plan.

Other stimulus measures the administration is considering include extending a law passed in March that exempts companies that hire unemployed workers from paying Social Security taxes on those workers through December. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has proposed extending the exemption an additional six months.

Obama is also continuing to prod the Senate to pass the small business bill that calls for about $12 billion in tax breaks and a $30 billion fund to help unfreeze lending. Republicans have likened the bill to the unpopular bailout of the financial industry. And the president wants to make permanent the portion of George W. Bush's tax cuts affecting the middle class.

Wary of the public's concern over rising deficits, the administration insists a second stimulus plan, similar to last year's $814 billion bill, is not in the works.


You know what this Sumbiatch is doing.....He doesn't have a ghosts chance of getting this passed,but wants to be able to say he's tried......Oh lawdie how he's tried...to get the jobs flowing again....only to have those vile right wingers in congress foil his vision for job creation.

BTW,wasn't the monster $800 billion + supposed to address "shovel ready" infrastructure jobs such as this?

[dkmac]

More smoke and mirrors!

[Joe-Nathan]

Do you have a link for this story?

[kobayashi]

More smoke and mirrors!

Link?

I always thought the District was built with smoke & mirrors

[Squirrelmonkey]

[warwoman]

Do you have a link for this story?

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100906/D9I2DUV01.html

[Ares]

Republicans have been demanding infrastructure spending for months. Now that Obama introduces it, they oppose it. It's insane the Republicans flip-flop like they do, yet no one sees it.

[Windwatcher]

Infrastructure spend by using what's already been stolen from the taxpayers with other stimulus plans. Don't pile billions more on top with MORE stimulus plans.

[warwoman]

Republicans have been demanding infrastructure spending for months. Now that Obama introduces it, they oppose it. It's insane the Republicans flip-flop like they do, yet no one sees it.

Bullshat! I thought infrastructure was addressed and provided for in the original stimulus package. Where did they spend that money,Ares?

[Katfive]

Bullshat! I thought infrastructure was addressed and provided for in the original stimulus package. Where did they spend that money,Ares?

Yeah, but that was only 780 billion dollars that we borrowed from the Chinese, warwoman, I mean how much infrastructure could that possibly cover? Obviously we need another 50 billion on top. Now 830 billion will certainly do the trick, Right?

[Squirrelmonkey]

Republicans have been demanding infrastructure spending for months.

Link please?

[Joe-Nathan]

The KEY here is that they want to remove some(most) of the tax breaks/insensitive from the oil industry. These tax breaks/insensitive are what keeps the small independent oil companies open.

These independents make up 95% of the oil industry. All this does is open the doors for the big OIL to take over.