Ordie
02-27-2008, 02:48 PM
February 26, 2008
Bush Cool to States’ Call for Public Works Projects
By ROBERT PEAR (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/robert_pear/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
WASHINGTON — President Bush rebuffed appeals from the nation’s governors on Monday to increase spending on roads, bridges and other public works as a way to revive the economy.
Governors said Mr. Bush had told them at a White House meeting that he wanted to see the effects of his economic stimulus package (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/u/united_states_economy/economic_stimulus/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) before supporting new measures.
A bipartisan group of governors is pushing for major road and bridge projects as a way to create jobs and foster economic development. But the White House says the money could not be spent fast enough to be of much immediate help.
“There’s no short-term stimulus to the economy for some of these projects,” Dana Perino (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/dana_perino/index.html?inline=nyt-per), the White House press secretary, said.
Moreover, Ms. Perino said, the president will not accept any bill that raises taxes to finance such projects. Governors would have more money available, she said, if Congress ended the wasteful earmarking of billions of dollars for specific projects.
In a report on Monday, the National Association for Business Economics, a professional group, said, “Economic growth is expected to slow to a crawl in the first half of 2008.”
Asked about the president’s response, Gov. Christine Gregoire (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/christine_o_gregoire/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Washington, a Democrat, said: “I think I can summarize his remarks best by saying he did not think he would be interested. He wants to see the results of the stimulus package that was just passed.”
Gov. Edward G. Rendell (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/edward_g_rendell/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who is vice chairman of the National Governors Association (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_governors_association/index.html?inline=nyt-org), described the response as “a fairly significant no.”
“There are tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure projects ready to go,” Mr. Rendell said. “I asked the president if he would support spending on those projects as part of a second stimulus package, and he said no.”
Other governors pushing for spending on transportation projects include Jon Corzine (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/jon_s_corzine/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of New Jersey, a Democrat; Charlie Crist of Florida, a Republican; Arnold Schwarzenegger (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/arnold_schwarzenegger/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of California, a Republican; and Eliot Spitzer (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/eliot_l_spitzer/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of New York, a Democrat.
After the cool reception at the White House, governors said they would take their proposals to Congress.
In his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Illinois has said he wants to spend $60 billion on roads, bridges and other public works over the next 10 years.
In an effort to avert a recession, Mr. Bush recently signed a $168 billion measure to provide tax rebates to encourage consumer spending and to offer new tax incentives for businesses to buy equipment.
Brian G. Turmail, a spokesman for the Transportation Department, said highway spending was not an effective way to stimulate the economy because “it takes too long to get the money into projects.”
Rather than asking for an increase in federal highway spending, Mr. Turmail said, governors should seek additional money from the private sector, including pension funds and investment banking concerns.
Mr. Crist said that he was exploring public-private partnerships and that federal officials had to “increase their investment” in transportation projects.
Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters told governors, “The federal role in transportation should be more limited than it is today,” and should focus on the Interstate and Defense Highway System and traffic congestion in major metropolitan regions.
Instead of relying so heavily on gasoline taxes, Ms. Peters said, states should charge highway users directly.
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/us/26govs.html?ei=5088&en=7098a07f61326d29&ex=1361682000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
Bush Cool to States’ Call for Public Works Projects
By ROBERT PEAR (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/robert_pear/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
WASHINGTON — President Bush rebuffed appeals from the nation’s governors on Monday to increase spending on roads, bridges and other public works as a way to revive the economy.
Governors said Mr. Bush had told them at a White House meeting that he wanted to see the effects of his economic stimulus package (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/u/united_states_economy/economic_stimulus/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) before supporting new measures.
A bipartisan group of governors is pushing for major road and bridge projects as a way to create jobs and foster economic development. But the White House says the money could not be spent fast enough to be of much immediate help.
“There’s no short-term stimulus to the economy for some of these projects,” Dana Perino (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/dana_perino/index.html?inline=nyt-per), the White House press secretary, said.
Moreover, Ms. Perino said, the president will not accept any bill that raises taxes to finance such projects. Governors would have more money available, she said, if Congress ended the wasteful earmarking of billions of dollars for specific projects.
In a report on Monday, the National Association for Business Economics, a professional group, said, “Economic growth is expected to slow to a crawl in the first half of 2008.”
Asked about the president’s response, Gov. Christine Gregoire (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/christine_o_gregoire/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Washington, a Democrat, said: “I think I can summarize his remarks best by saying he did not think he would be interested. He wants to see the results of the stimulus package that was just passed.”
Gov. Edward G. Rendell (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/edward_g_rendell/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who is vice chairman of the National Governors Association (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_governors_association/index.html?inline=nyt-org), described the response as “a fairly significant no.”
“There are tens of billions of dollars of infrastructure projects ready to go,” Mr. Rendell said. “I asked the president if he would support spending on those projects as part of a second stimulus package, and he said no.”
Other governors pushing for spending on transportation projects include Jon Corzine (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/jon_s_corzine/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of New Jersey, a Democrat; Charlie Crist of Florida, a Republican; Arnold Schwarzenegger (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/arnold_schwarzenegger/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of California, a Republican; and Eliot Spitzer (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/eliot_l_spitzer/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of New York, a Democrat.
After the cool reception at the White House, governors said they would take their proposals to Congress.
In his campaign for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Illinois has said he wants to spend $60 billion on roads, bridges and other public works over the next 10 years.
In an effort to avert a recession, Mr. Bush recently signed a $168 billion measure to provide tax rebates to encourage consumer spending and to offer new tax incentives for businesses to buy equipment.
Brian G. Turmail, a spokesman for the Transportation Department, said highway spending was not an effective way to stimulate the economy because “it takes too long to get the money into projects.”
Rather than asking for an increase in federal highway spending, Mr. Turmail said, governors should seek additional money from the private sector, including pension funds and investment banking concerns.
Mr. Crist said that he was exploring public-private partnerships and that federal officials had to “increase their investment” in transportation projects.
Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters told governors, “The federal role in transportation should be more limited than it is today,” and should focus on the Interstate and Defense Highway System and traffic congestion in major metropolitan regions.
Instead of relying so heavily on gasoline taxes, Ms. Peters said, states should charge highway users directly.
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/us/26govs.html?ei=5088&en=7098a07f61326d29&ex=1361682000&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print