U.S. mayors on December 9, 2008, called on President-elect Obama to channel infrastructure spending directly to cities rather than state governments. Consequently, there could be a problem with how infrastructure projects receive funding once the next stimulus bill is passed. However, there may be some lessons to be learned from how the New Deal was managed.

As unemployment continues to increase, President-elect Obama further outlines his stimulus plan for the country, including infrastructure and green energy projects.

President-elect Barack Obama and leaders in Congress are developing a multi-billion dollar green-jobs program to both stimulate the economy and put in place the groundwork for a more energy-efficient country. But, will it work?

In Michigan, the unemployment rate is 9.3 percent – almost three times what it was in 2000. Can new green and infrastructure employment opportunities put these people back to work? What is more, are these jobs that they can quickly transition into?

Nationwide there are more than 550 transit projects valued at $8 billion that are "ready to go" as soon as funding is made available. Countless other infrastructure projects remain stalled throughout the country as the funds are simply not there to begin building. If these projects are to stimulate the economy, as President-elect Obama has said, where will the money to start these projects come from as many states face billion dollar budget shortfalls?

A journalist who uncovered potentially fatal design flaws in the connections between natural gas pipes - and revealed that state regulators, along with local power companies, had known of the flaws for nearly thirty years.

Similar to Brett Shipp’s investigation on the ignorance of state regulators to design flaws in Texas' pipeline infrastructure, another local Texas television reporter, Will Ripley (NewsChannel 5), further explored faulty natural gas pipelines in the Rio Grande Valley.

The National Transportation Safety Board hearing into the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge - NTSB investigators have found the weight of the bridge and construction materials and equipment placed on it forced a poorly-designed and under-sized gusset to fail.

Rick Karr, Blueprint America correspondent, on the best in infrastructure blogging.

Over 70 percent of the major transportation-funding measures on ballots this year were approved. This will inject over $75 billion into 23 transportation systems around the country. Seattle will invest $18 billion to expand its mass-transit system. The Wall Street Journal reports on what could be a major shift in American transportation policy.

To bail out its economy, China recently announced a $586 billion stimulus package in new infrastructure spending. And, as a new President is about to take power, the United States considers a similar move. However, Japan tried the same thing nearly 20 years ago with little success.