Walker's opposition to the rail project could have direct consequences on employment in Wisconsin, however. Spanish train-builder Patentes Talgo, which is building two cars for the existing Amtrak Hiawatha line, is being courted by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who has embraced the federal funding to upgrade rail service in the Midwest. Talgo has said that if Wisconsin doesn't change its mind about funding for rail, the company will leave no later than 2012, after delivering two trains that it has committed to build for the state of Oregon. more ›

The news this week has been filled with reports that recently elected Republican governors in Midwestern states want to turn down cash for high-speed rail projects funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. To read the news reports, however, one would think that these conservative, cost-conscious governors would simply refuse the funding on the principal that we can't afford to build a high-speed rail network right now. more ›

One of the bullet points of Wisconsin Governor-elect Scott Walker's campaign was opposing the construction of a high-speed rail line from Milwaukee to Madison, due to the $7.5 million annual operation costs Madison would have to pony up. Walker has pledged to reject $810 million stimulus funds geared toward the construction of the line. more ›

The second go-around of the Cash For Appliances program, scheduled to last all day today, was halted this morning by 10:30 a.m. after the program ran out of money. The money, supplied by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provided rebates of up to $250 on Energy Star appliances. Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO David F. Vite said, “This made Black Friday look like a Tuesday in July. Sales have never been so brisk in Illinois.” more ›

Yesterday we took a look at the progress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, opinions of which predictably split along party lines. Illinois’ Republican Congressman Aaron Schock has a new bone to pick with the stimulus - signage. According to the Chicago Tribune, a spokesman for IDOT reported that about 950 signs have been posted along roadways to inform people that the roadwork was funded by the stimulus bill. Calling it “propaganda” and an “unnecessary overhead expense,” Schock introduced a bill titled "End the Stimulus Advertisement Act” to put an end to the signs. more ›

Don't tell the Tea Party attendees this, but socialist federal pork stimulus money known as the Cash For Appliances program is going toward buying people new energy-efficient appliances across the country. The government has allocated $300 Million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which could save you money on a new energy-saving appliance like a freezer, a fridge, or dishwasher. For renters that don't have a need to pick up any of those, take heart - air conditioner room units are eligible as well. more ›

No one’s happy about the economy right now and it doesn’t seem that anyone is happy about the stimulus package either. Whether someone is shouting socialism or directing other vitriol at President Obama or some fuzzy numbers and bad data show up in the records, the stimulus package can’t seem to get a break. Now, the Chicago Tribune reports that the $6.4 billion Illinois received doesn’t seem to add up to many new jobs. more ›

Here's how to spin some bad news into good news: We're certainly not wasting any stimulus funds to construct a decent website about the spending of our stimulus funds. How do we know this? The organization Good Jobs First has rated the websites of all 50 states [pdf] to see how well they report their spending of stimulus money, how detailed the information is, and so on - and Illinois sucked bad. more ›

The National Endowment for the Arts announced the 631 recipients of $29,775,000 in direct grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Twenty-four Illinois organizations will receive a total of $1,025,000, with all but $100,000 being given to twenty-one Chicago- and Evanston-based groups. more ›

The CTA unveiled the first of its new 58 articulated hybrid buses today. The buses were purchased with $50 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, just one of several projects the CTA is undergoing with their $241 million in stimulus cash. Once the rest of the new buses get into action this fall, the CTA will have a total of 151 articulated hybrid buses on the roads and the buses will help the agency save around $7 million a year in areas like fuel, parts, and labor. [Crain's] more ›

We’ve been hearing for a while now that the CTA is due to receive federal stimulus money for transit projects. But we now have confirmation from U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the CTA will get $240 million in grants according to WBBM. The CTA plans to use the money to complete infrastructure repairs and acquire hybrid buses and has said that the federal money will help pay for roughly $7 billion of work needed to bring the system into good working order. [WBBM] more ›

Chicago will be spending $34 million on job training this year, helping 11,000 people as they search for new jobs, the Chi-Town Daily News reports. Of the $34 million, federal stimulus money accounts for $18 million of the funds while the rest comes from the money Chicago gets annually for work development projects. more ›

The Chicago Transit Authority is about to embark on its second project funded by stimulus cash: it will purchase 58 hybrid buses for $49 million to be delivered this fall, according to a CTA statement. more ›

With the elimination of slow zones from Damen to Clark/Lake behind them, the CTA is going to use a new influx of federal stimulus cash to fix up the Blue Line at the Dearborn station; 36,000 feet of it, to be exact. Per the Chi-Town Daily News: more ›

Earlier this week, we mentioned how the clock was ticking on the state of Illinois to claim its allotted stimulus cash for transit projects. Well, someone finally answered the bell. Yesterday the Chicago Transit Authority received $241 million from the federal stimulus package for capital projects. Today the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning allowed the CTA to begin working on transit projects, according to the Chi-Town Daily News. Metra will receive $141 million and PACE suburban buses will receive $33 million. more ›

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has issued a heads up to his former legislative home state of Illinois, warning the state that time is running out for them to submit their transit project list in order to receive money from the recently passed stimulus bill. Said LaHood, "The law requires us to get the money out the door very quickly...we have not received a list from the state or from Chicago." Illinois is in line to receive $935 million from the stimulus package with $429 million of that designated for transit projects. As outlined in the stimulus legislation, the deadline for applying for bridge, highway, and transit funding is Tuesday, March 10. more ›

In his first official address before a joint session of congress, President Barack Obama struck a tone more reminiscent of a campaign stump speech than a presidential address. After weeks of bad news on Wall Street, compounded by sometimes public musings by lawmakers about the sorry state of the economy, Obama struck positive notes throughout his speech: "while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken,'' the president said, "though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.'' Given the downward spiral of the markets recently in spite of the administration's attempts to shore up the economy, that may not be such a bad thing. more ›

Transparency and accountability are two features sorely lacking in Illinois' political landscape. But they are a big part of Governor Pat Quinn's new Web site urging Illinois residents to bring in their suggestions on how to spend anticipated stimulus funds. more ›

While the U.S. Senate was debating the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the bill that President Obama hopes will pump billions of dollars and thousands of jobs into the faltering economy, the White House released a study indicating that the bill could save or create 150,000 jobs over the next two years. According to Crain's Chicago Business, those estimates "are based on the overall goal that the plan will create or save 3 million to 4 million jobs nationally over the next two years." (You can check out per capita details of the House stimulus plan over at the Wall Street Journal's nifty "Who gets what" map.) more ›

It's a busy start to his first full week as governor for Pat Quinn. He met yesterday with Mayor Daley here in Chicago and pledged his full support to the Chicago 2016 cause, saying, "We want to have the greenest Olympics ever held." At issue was the $150 million ex-gov Rod Blagojevich had promised to the $1.15 billion financial package to help Chicago in its bid. All indications are that Quinn will back that money as well, saying, "I support whatever is necessary...The General Assembly will have to act on that, and it's an opportunity that I think will happen in the next couple of months." more ›