As Americans have slashed consumer spending, congressional Democrats want to buy American with stimulus spending.

In order to have an impact on the American Recovery and Reinvestment bill, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Still, as the bill goes through Congress, little has been done to ensure that proper oversight will be applied to the funds devoted to spending.

America lost 524,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate, at the same time, is at a 16-year-high of 7.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. There are currently 11.1 million unemployed throughout the country, which is nearly double the number out of work at the start of the economic recession a year ago. President Barack Obama has promised to sustain Americans in these hard times with an $825 billion economic stimulus package – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009.

Transit funding has taken a big hit in the House version of the stimulus bill, and yesterday some bloggers were speculating that it was because House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar (D., MN) had rolled over and allowed the money to go to tax cuts instead. But, the situation may not be as bad as it looks –- yet.

Following his election last November, then President-elect Barack Obama continually advocated for federal spending on infrastructure projects to stimulate the depressed economy and, at the same time, to not just rebuild America’s failing infrastructure but to also establish a Twenty-First Century country.

The national credit crisis is hitting the housing market again, this time resulting in bankruptcy -- for builders.

Blueprint America -- with Weekend America -- in a report on modern day gas prospecting in the hills of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Gas exploration has been happening in Pennsylvania since the 1800s. However, a new technology and new price incentives have made possible the exploration of the Marcellus shale. It is a geological formation – the size of Greece – stretching from New York to West Virginia and holding what could become the nation’s most prolific natural gas reservoir.

Congressional officials have released a draft of the $825 billion federal stimulus package, a combination of spending and tax cuts. Some of spending components include $87 billion for a temporary increase in aid to states for Medicaid costs; and $79 billion in aid to local school districts and public colleges to prevent cutbacks.