Federal Stimulus

A revised draft of the Boxer/Inhofe amendment just came over the transom from a source in DC close to the negotiations (PDF).  This is a draft from yesterday and negotiations are ongoing, so expect changes. 

The latest word from DC is that Kit Bond's pro-highway/anti-rail amendments have yet to come to the floor, while the Inhofe/Boxer amendment to create a $50 billion highway slush fund is still being finalized by its authors. The phone calls and emails are having an effect -- Boxer felt enough pressure to adjust her amendment, Transportation for America tells us, but the tweaks don't go far enough. (This huge pool of money would not, for example, set aside any amount explicitly for transit.)

Just how bad are the service cuts and layoffs that transit agencies across the country will soon be forced to enact? Severe enough to weaken the national economy, the New York Times reports -- all while Congress pieces together a stimulus plan that does nothing to address the problem:

Stimulus debate continues today in the Senate, where the stale ideas keep on coming. In addition to the $50 billion highway slush fund floated by Senators Boxer and Inhofe (no vote on that one yet), Missouri's Kit Bond plans to offer two amendments that would rob from transit, rail, and green transportation to pay for highways.

Barbara Boxer and infamous global warming denier James Inhofe will present an amendment to the Senate stimulus plan that could funnel as much as $50 billion in additional funding to highways, Streetsblog has learned. Friends of the Earth tells us that Boxer's staff confirmed she will introduce the amendment, which could bring the total for highways close to $80 billion, exactly the figure Inhofe demanded last week in a letter to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. 

This word of warning from cartoonist Mike Luckovich to Republicans in Congress feels all the more timely on the heels of today's action in the Senate. Click through for the punchline.

We just got word that the Murray/Feinstein amendment, which would have increased funding for both highways and transit in the Senate stimulus package, received support from 58 Senators, falling short of the 60 votes necessary to be considered. Does that clear the way for Chuck Schumer's transit amendment? Not exactly. The vote calls into question whether Senate Republicans will allow any amendment to pass that increases the overall size of the bill.

Update: Hold those phone calls, folks. Schumer has co-sponsored the Murray/Feinstein amendment, making it highly unlikely that he will offer his own, superior amendment. There are more amendments in the wings -- supported by Senate Republicans and some surprising Democrats -- that would give highway builders even greater leeway to build dirty, traffic-generating boondoggles. We'll keep you posted on those developments throughout the day. For now, you can get the message out with this action alert from Transportation for America, telling your Senator that the stimulus package should reduce oil dependence, invest in transit, and spur a green recovery.

I generally avoid cable news like the plague but I've been tuning in lately hoping to find some interesting discussion of the federal stimulus bill. Despite my low expectations of the medium I've been amazed by the inanity, the lack of substance and the incredible amount of Republican demagoguery being allowed to make it onto the airwaves.