Food-Stamp Funding Boost Gives Economy Quick Lift

Wall Street Journal thinks 100K figure is way off

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration says a $10 billion portion of its 2009 stimulus directly prompted the creation of 100,000 jobs in alternative energy, but the claim is difficult to measure. Trouble is, such assessments are based on mathematical formulas and reports, not straightforward counts. Indeed, the Congressional Research Service urged "skepticism" in the matter; now, the Wall Street Journal finds the number of jobs created to be "far fewer." It doesn't provide a total, but rounds up example after example of projects that didn't deliver as promised. More»

President's miscalculations include scale, momentum

(NEWSER) - Scott Brown’s Senate victory in Massachusetts is the final nail in the coffin of the Obama administration’s first-year political strategy, John F. Harris and Carol E. Lee write for Politico . The miscalculations cover “three major counts":

• Believing 2008 was a game-changer: The Obama team thought the "election represented something seismic." But "the assumption that Obama would be swimming mostly with the current rather than often against it on issues such as health care, financial regulation and global warming was naive in retrospect."

Say they can't afford matching funds, despite benefits

(NEWSER) - About half of US states are passing on a $5 billion pool of federal stimulus funds because of a requirement they put up 20% of the money, ProPublica reports. Only 27 states have applied for money under the program, which gives them wide discretion on how to distribute it—some have used it to create jobs, for instance, while others, like New York, give the cash directly to low-income recipients. More»

Tight with prez, Duncan holds keys to $5B in stimulus funds

(NEWSER) - Tight with President Obama and with $5 billion at his disposal, Arne Duncan may become the strongest education secretary in history, writes Nia-Malika Henderson for Politico. “Never ever have they had $5 billion to decide what to do in the education system,” says an education advocate. And it’s up to Duncan—a big believer in merit pay for teachers, data systems to track performance, and charter schools to try new strategies—to choose how to dispense that cash to states. More»

Public works, schools, summer youth programs to see US cash

(AP) - President Barack Obama promised today to deliver more than 600,000 jobs through his $787 billion stimulus plan this summer, with federal agencies pumping billions into public works projects, schools, and summer youth programs. Obama is ramping up his stimulus program this week, promising an accelerated pace of federal spending over the next few months to boost the economy and produce jobs. More»