Infrastructure | featured news

Republicans in the Senate Thursday dealt President Barack Obama the third in a string of defeats on his stimulus-style jobs agenda, blocking a $60 billion measure for building and repairing infrastructure like roads and rail lines.

When the city of Chesapeake, Va., considered closing a crumbling, 80-year-old bridge over the Elizabeth River in 2008, local officials knew that neither the state nor the federal government would pay for a replacement. Just tearing down the old one would cost millions of dollars. So they sold it. “We paid them $10,” said Bob Hellman, one of the investors, but “what we gave them wasn’t just $10.” Hellman’s investors group, American Bridge Partners, agreed to remove the old bridge — and to build a brand-new one, solely with private money.

President Obama this evening rolls out a plan to inject $447 billion into the ailing economy through tax cuts aimed at working families and small businesses and spending to rebuild infrastructure, proposing a larger cash infusion than expected – and, perhaps, more than Congress will seriously consider.

American has fallen to 23rd in infrastructure quality globally, with a daunting $2 trillion backlog of needed projects. A national infrastructure bank, gaining support in Congress, could help.

President Barack Obama is calling for a six-year, $53 billion investment in high-speed rail as he seeks to use infrastructure spending to create jobs.

Some investors found reasons to be optimistic in Mr. Obama’s proposal to cut corporate taxes and increase spending for education, innovation and infrastructure.

President Barack Obama's proposed $50 billion transportation spending program would boost jobs in the construction, manufacturing and retail industries and help bolster a struggling economy ...

The president’s initiative would create jobs quickly by emphasizing long-term transportation projects like roads, rail and airport runways.

The Obama administration is considering a range of new measures to boost economic growth, including tax cuts and a new nationwide infrastructure program, according to people familiar with the discussions. On the list of possible actions: additional tax cuts for small businesses beyond those included in a $30 billion small-business lending bill before the Senate. It's not clear what those tax breaks would target or how much they might cost in lost revenue to the government.

President Barack Obama proposed on Tuesday small business tax cuts, fresh infrastructure spending and energy efficiency rebates to boost jobs, but there were few details on the scale or cost of the measures.