Science Wins Big in the $825B Stimulus Bill; Inaugural Art

House Dems offer $825B stimulus bill

After weeks of talks with President-elect Barack Obama’s top aides, House Democrats on Thursday released an expansive economic recovery plan that calls for $550 billion in spending and aid to states and $275 billion in tax cuts. [via CNNMoney]

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Congressional stimulus package includes billions in extra research funding.

Democratic leadership in the US House of Representatives unveiled on Thursday an $825 billion economic stimulus bill that includes tens of billions of dollars in new funding for basic research, science infrastructure and clean-energy initiatives.

Organizations representing the research community applauded the proposal, citing massive infusions of cash for both physical and biological sciences throughout the federal science agencies. But some questioned whether the one-time infusion would matter much to agencies whose budgets have flatlined or been lower than expected in recent years.

As part of a massive collection of tax cuts and spending initiatives, the 258-page blueprint released by House appropriators would pump $3 billion into the National Science Foundation (NSF), $2 billion into the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $1.9 billion into the Department of Energy and $1.5 billion into university research facilities. Much of that money would be directed toward science infrastructure like renovating buildings or laboratories, but the NSF and NIH would receive $2 billion and $1.5 billion respectively that could be used to pay for thousands of basic research grants that have already been approved but for which there was previously not enough money. [via Nature]
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I’m quite keen on this new commemorative inaugural print by Shepard Fairey. This would look great as a shirt. [via ObeyGiant]
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This weekend, America’s capital city will welcome thousands of government officials and dignitaries from the U.S. and around the world. Over 10,000 buses will carry 500,000 riders into Washington, D.C., doubling the city’s population. On Inauguration Day, the Metro is expected to have a 17-hour rush hour. District bars will be open 24-hours a day for five straight days. To manage an event of this scale, the District of Columbia will spend a mammoth $47 million. It is not enough.

Obama’s Inauguration is expected to be the largest inaugural event in American history–and the most challenging to orchestrate. A committee of local elected officials estimates that ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved in the festivities will cost over $75 million. [via Forbes]

Yikes, the logistics are nightmarish (it’s like hosting a gargantuan statewide rock concert). It’s going to be a crazy four days until 1.20.09! I will most likely be living vicariously through friends who snatched up tickets to the inauguration.

Bailout Rejected, Stocks Crushed; What Can You Do With $700 Billion?

Congress will be voting on the bailout bill again tomorrow and I hope it doesn’t pass. I can’t condone such an enormous sum of money in the form of what is essentially a blank check, to save these financial institutions who have run themselves into the ground. When a business fails, it fails; our government shouldn’t be handing out lifelines that we cannot even afford.

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“Even before the opening bell, Monday looked ugly. But by the time that bell sounded again on the New York Stock Exchange, seven and a half frantic hours later, $1.2 trillion had vanished from the United States stock market. What had started 24 hours earlier, with a modest sell-off in stock markets in Asia, had turned into Wall Street’s blackest day since the 1987 crash. The broad market, as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, plunged almost 9 percent, its third-biggest decline since World War II. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 778 points…Across Wall Street, no one could quite believe what was happening on the floor — the floor of the House of Representatives, not the New York Exchange.”
[For Stocks, Worst Single-Day Drop in Two Decades via the NYT]

“Stocks had fallen from the get-go Monday morning. In addition to expectations for the bailout, there was also news that troubled Wachovia had to sell its banking assets to Citigroup. A number of European banks also collapsed.” [Stocks crushed via CNN]

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The effect of the U.S. financial crisis on the global economy:

• Bailout plan rejected – supporters scramble via CNN
• Global markets rocked by US bailout rejection via ABC
• Global banks expect to fall under U.S. bailout umbrella via IHT
• Bank bailouts sweep Europe via CNN

“Global central banks scrambled to relieve a severe squeeze in money markets by more than doubling the amount of dollar funding to $620 billion as banks hoarded cash, bracing for more trouble ahead in the worsening credit crisis.”  
[U.S. bailout blow triggers stampede to safety via IHT]

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According to the latest issue of TIME magazine, this is what you could do with $700,000,000,000:

• Give each person in the U.S. $2,300
• Pay the income tax of every American making less than $500,000
• Fully fund the Defense, Treasury, Education, State, Veterans Affairs, and Interior Departments – as well as NASA
• Buy gasoline for every car in the U.S. for 16 months
• Buy every NFL, NBA, and MLB team, build each a new stadium, and then pay the players $191 million a year
• Or, you could pay off 7% of the $9.8 trillion national debt

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Also, these 7 Questions About the $700 Billion Bailout are answered via TIME:

1. Will it really cost $700 billion?
2. How long will the money last?
3. Is this kind of bailout unprecedented?
4. How will the Federal Government know what price to pay for the mortgages it buys?
5. What happens if the cost tops $700 billion?
6. Will all of the federal wheeling and dealing come with transparency and oversight?
7. Do the Wall Street executives get to keep their bonuses?

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A recap of the last two weeks (the ones that broke Wall Street): The crisis: A timeline via CNN