Rep. James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American congressman, said Thursday that southern GOP governors’ opposition to the federal stimulus package by is “a slap in the face of African-Americans.” Many of the states whose governors are promising to boycott the Sean money. On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he would accept the money, and none of the others has rejected it outright. The Republican governors of Idaho and Alaska also said they had reservations about whether the money would come with too many strings attached, but Clyburn said he was particularly taken aback by southern governors who said they might decline it. “These four governors represent states that are in the proverbial Black Belt,” Clyburn said. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford accused Clyburn of playing the race card. “Spending money at the federal level that we do not have represents a future tax increase on all South Carolinians, regardless of their color,” Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said in an e-mail statement. “And in the process of doing so, he’s ripping off everyone he claims to represent.” Sanford had said earlier that being against the stimulus plan doesn’t preclude taking the money. He said he opposed President Barack Obama’s economic plan because it’s “a bad idea,” but would look over it and decide whether some parts would work for South Carolina.

With Bill Passed, Tough Part Begins for Obama Turns out that convincing Congress to go along with a nearly $800 billion recovery plan – at a time when the American public has little reason to trust government – was the easy part. Now, President Obama must figure out how to deliver on the promises embodied in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which he signed into law Tuesday. “Today does not mark the end of our economic troubles,” Obama said before signing the bill at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. “But it does mark the beginning of the end – the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families worried they won’t be able to pay next month’s bills; and to set our economy on a firmer foundation.” Read the rest here.

Obama will move on plan for fixing economy. President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the $700 billion-plus economic stimulus bill today. Following weeks of debate about the size and scope of the plan, the bill was passed late last weekend. Among incentives included in the package are individual, government-issued checks to taxpayers based on household size, along with homeowner tax credits. One goal of the package is to encourage spending and investment from consumers who’ve been handicapped from boosting the business economy by lack of disposable income.

Washington passes stimulus bill. The long-debated economic stimulus bill has passed. Legislators in Washington agreed Friday on a plan of well over $700 billion dollars that is designed to turn around the American financial crisis. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law next week. The passage of the plan marks Obama’s biggest successful initiative since he took office last month. The president went round after round with Republicans who argued that earlier versions of the proposal involved unnecessary spending that would only make things worse. Obama consistently argued that action was necessary sooner than later.Bill would reform police procedures. A man whose rape conviction was reversed years after he died in prison is having an impact from beyond the grave. Tim Cole was recently exonerated of sexual assault by a Texas judge for the first time in the state’s history that a conviction was reversed post mortem. Now Texas Sen. Rodney Ellis has introduced reform bills that will keep cops from wrongly influencing witnesses in identifying suspects. Cole rejected plea deals he was offered to serve a lighter sentence in the 1985 rape of a college student. He said he wouldn’t plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit. The woman identified him as her attacker, but a different man later confessed to the crime and was proven guilty through DNA tests. But Cole died of an asthma attack while picking cotton on a prison farm before the evidence surfaced.

Lawmakers have come to a final agreement on President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The versions of the bills that passed the Senate and the House of Representatives were both over $800 billion, but this version costs $789 billion, according to Republican Sen. Susan Collins, from Maine. The bill should create 3.5 million jobs once it takes effect, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference. The package includes money for Americans struggling in the recession, states grappling with budget deficits and tax cuts. Earlier this week, President Obama hit the primetime airwaves, making the case for the stimulus plan.

What’s one thing you would do to stimulate the economy?

Barack Obama: Only government can provide boost. Barack Obama wants support from lawmakers on a $775 billion plan to turn around America’s economy, he announced Thursday. The president-elect gave a televised 20-minute outline of his proposal in his first major speech since Election Night. He emphasized his feeling that a “wait and see” approach will no longer result in rejuvenating a nation devastated by failing banks, dying auto companies and epidemic home foreclosures. “It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth,” Obama said. ”But at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe.” Obama’s plan aims to save or create no less than 3 million jobs “over the next few years,” he said. While he acknowledged that the “cost of this plan will be considerable,” Obama urged the speedy passage of a stimulus bill. Among the targeted areas for assistance, he said, are public service jobs including police, fire and education.

One of President-elect Barack Obama’s trademark lines is that he will change the way Washington does business. If he’s able to enforce his latest decree – that members of Congress won’t be allowed to sneak their personal pet projects into the lining of big-money bills – he will indeed transform politics as we know it. Obama says that the only way to reignite the sluggish economy and swelling budget deficit is to get Congress on board with his new way of doing things. “We are going to bring a long-overdue sense of responsibility and accountability to Washington,” Obama said. “We are going to stop talking about government reform, and we’re actually going to start executing.” The president-elect said that the federal government will be investing “an extraordinary amount of money” to jump-start the economy, save or create 3 million new jobs (mostly in the private sector) and ensure future growth. “But we’re not going to be able to expect the American people to support this critical effort unless we take extraordinary steps to ensure that the investments are made wisely and managed well,” he said.
 

Obama asks Bush to help struggling automakers. The struggling auto industry was foremost on the mind of president-elect Barack Obama as he visited the White House Oval Office for the first time on Monday, according to news reports. Obama put himself in the middle of a political standoff between the White House and Democrats on Monday as he asked President Bush in a meeting at the White House to support immediate emergency aid to the automakers, according to The New York Times. Read the rest here.