Eye on the Stimulus

This is the latest from our new Stimulus blog. Check out our posts, our charts, and more.

With blue chips selling for the price of potato chips and this morning's news that unemployment has hit 8.1 percent, pressure is growing to move the stimulus cash fast. And it seems to be grating the nerves of mayors and local officials from New York City to Battle Creek, Mich., who have publicly fumed at their state officials in recent days. Meanwhile, the Senate got some answers yesterday in a hearing on oversight and transparency of the stimulus package.

With urgency in mind, the Federal Transit Administration released its allocations of public transit dollars, and the Department of Homeland Security named 17 airports that will be getting new explosives detection machines. New Jersey and Idaho released their project lists.

As speculated, the stimulus may indeed revive the FutureGen "clean coal" power plant in Mattoon, Ill., now that several of its supporters are in the Obama administration, reports The Washington Post.

Project of the day: $2.1 million to relocate an aging Greyhound bus terminal in Miami.

This is the latest from our new Stimulus blog. Check out our posts, our charts, and more.

The states are promising transparency on stimulus spending. Here is a list of what sites are actually doing.

Some states, not all of which have special "recovery" homepages yet, are old hands at open government 2.0. We've included links to states' general transparency sites, many of which have details on contracts and expenditures.

We’ll keep the list updated as more states take the pledge. Also, we're considering adding a scoring system. (Think: "And for accountability and décor Missouri nails a 9.8!") Feel free to send us your suggestions.

Check out the list.

My name is Olga, and I'm a reporter from New York. I just got $20,000 in free* stimulus grant money!

*If by free you mean for the low, low price of $90 per month. Oh, and there is no such grant program in the stimulus package.

Because those are the terms being offered by stimulusgrants.com, one of many Web sites that have popped up to take advantage of the stimulus dream: that piles of free government money are headed your way. (No, we're not linking to them.)

When it comes to taking advantage of that dream, "unfortunately it's taken scam artists no time at all," said Eileen Harrington, acting director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, at a news conference Wednesday morning.

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This is the latest from our new Stimulus blog. Check out our posts, our charts, and more.   

A Senate hearing on stimulus oversight is getting under way this morning on Capitol Hill. A link to the webcast will be posted here. The Federal Trade Commission is warning consumers about stimulus scams. Colorado, Rhode Island and South Carolina released their lists of highway and bridge projects.

Meanwhile, Building America's Future, a coalition of state and local officials seeking infrastructure improvements, has created a Web site to keep track of such projects. Its main feature so far is a map that links to state news releases. Speaking of maps, several states have posted their own showing which bridges and stretches of road will be repaired. Check out Maryland, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Some Texas projects may be denied for not giving preference to economically distressed areas, according to the chairman of the House Transporation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn. Project of the day: Fort Custer, the Michigan National Guard's training facility in Augusta, Mich., will get $2.25 million for water, sewer and electrical upgrades.