Morning Cup: Fact Checking the 2000th Stimulus Project

This is the latest roundup from our stimulus blog.

President Barack Obama yesterday announced the approval of the 2,000th transportation project under the stimulus package. But as ABC News notes, far fewer projects have actually begun. According to the Transportation Department's most recent weekly report, while DOT has committed $6.3 billion of its $48 billion, only $2.1 million has been disbursed. To be sure, states have awarded contracts without money in hand, but the process is slow. North Carolina recently broke ground on its first project. And as Obama noted in his speech yesterday, shovels won't hit dirt for the 2000th project -- the widening of a highway in Portage, Mich. -- until June.

The city vs. rural debate continues as the stimulus comes to Bethlehem, Pa., but not to Lopatcong. Today is the last day for police departments to apply for stimulus grants to hire more officers. So far, 30,000 requests have been made for grants to fill 6,000 positions, reports USA Today.

This afternoon, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research -- a new stimulus board to assess medical and drug studies -- will hold a "public listening session." Critics are expected to say the new program will limit health care options while the panel will try to convey that it will expand choices.

Project of the day: Cleaning up the Iron Mountain Mine near Redding, Calif., the Environmental Protection Agency's first stimulus Superfund project.

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