Obama unveiled the biggest public works program since the federal interstate system in the 1950s. Lawmakers have proposed spending between $400 million and $1 trillion on programs designed to green buildings, repair highways, renovate schools, expand high-speed Internet access in underserved areas, and giving hospitals electronic access to medical records. Obama has warned that with a sagging economy things are going to get worse before they get better. Yesterday he spoke to Tom Brokaw on “Meet the Press”—read the transcript.
Automakers could get a $15 billion by next week, but with strings. Lawmakers are preparing legislation that would create a seven-member board composed of Cabinet members and a Bush-appointed chair. The board would oversee the restructuring of the Big Three (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) and would hold them accountable for every transaction more than $25 million.
Congress will soon be welcoming its first Vietnamese-American. Nine-term Louisiana incumbent William Jefferson lost his seat to Republican Anh Cao (pronounced “Gow”) in a surprise upset. The election had been delayed because of Hurricane Gustav. Jefferson had been indicted for corruption charges, though the same happened to Cao last year and he’s still awaiting a date for his trial. One observer noted that New Orleans voters “don’t generally turn out candidates with ethics problems.”
The alleged 9/11 plotters have offered to confess, but the military judge won’t accept any guilty pleas until they’ve had time to go through formal proceedings. Some believe the move was a last-ditch effort by the Guantanamo detainees to challenge the current system by martyring themselves before the incoming President acts to shut down the military commissions altogether. The mother of one 9/11 victim approved of the court’s decision to proceed cautiously.
Now Kanye West’s cousin is under investigation in the death of the rapper’s mother. After undergoing a five-and-a-half hour cosmetic surgery last year, Donda West received home care from her nephew, Stephan Scoggins, a registered nurse. Scoggins apparently stayed with her overnight after the surgery but left the next day when she seemed to be doing well. He intended to return again the second night, but a friend found her without a pulse in the evening. If the California Board of Registered Nursing finds Scoggins negligent, he could lose his nurse’s license.
Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Twyla Tharp, and the Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey received lifetime achievement awards in performance arts at the Kennedy Center over the weekend. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted a dinner on Saturday as part of the event, which CBS will broadcast on Dec. 30.
