NATIONAL NEWS

USA Today: Obama puts renewed focus on job creation
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-12-03-obama-jobs_N.htm
...Among the ideas under consideration, according to National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers and others... Financing more infrastructure and energy efficiency projects. Obama favors an "infrastructure bank" with public and private money, which he promoted in last year's campaign and this year's budget.

Reuters: Small business, transport central to jobs bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5B162E20091202
Democrats want increased lending to small businesses and funding for "shovel ready" transportation projects included in a job-creation bill they hope to pass in Congress next month to address the high U.S. unemployment rate.

The Hill: Job proposals from Democrats could add $300B of spending
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/70351-dem-job-proposals-add-up-to-300b-of-extra-spending
The cost of a new jobs bill Democrats hope to move early next year runs to nearly $300 billion when major proposals under serious consideration are added up...House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) pushed Wednesday for $69 billion for highway and transit projects that could be started almost immediately with funding. Oberstar had criticized the earlier stimulus bill for not including enough infrastructure spending, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) have voiced support for more infrastructure spending to create jobs.

WSJ: Putting Americans Back to Work
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704107104574570331372941594.html
...Direct government investments can also play an important role. We've already seen from the Recovery Act that spending on infrastructure—everything from roads and bridges to schools and municipal buildings—is an effective way to put people back to work while creating lasting investments that raise future productivity.

Huffington Post: It's Time to Get to Work on Jobs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-burger/its-time-to-get-to-work-o_b_376777.html
...We must invest in our aging and failing infrastructure by rebuilding our schools, roads and bridges—putting millions to work. An Infrastructure Bank can foster public/private partnerships in developing regional and large scale projects critical for a 21st century economy.

Brookings: Around the Halls: How Do We Create Jobs?
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/1202_halls_jobs.aspx
...Candidate Obama had called for the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank that would use a modest amount of federal startup capital to leverage the private funds needed to sustain a long-term increase in desperately needed infrastructure investment. The bank, headed by an independent board of governors, could bring some much-needed discipline to an allocation process now dominated by congressional self-dealing and log-rolling, and it could put lots of people back to work building our future. It’s time for President Obama to resuscitate this idea and to push for it—hard.

Baltimore Sun: This time, a real jobs program
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.jobs03dec03,0,2055928.story
...Facing peak oil and global competition for scarce natural resources, we must repair and reform the physical and intellectual undergirding of our economy to build a broad base of prosperity. That means major infrastructure investments in public works, communications and energy.

Huffington Post: Let's Recycle Unspent Bailout Money for Infrastructure Jobs
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-brunner/lets-recycle-unspent-bail_b_378311.html
...We don't need to issue "new" money to create jobs. We can create jobs while tackling the rebuilding of our infrastructure with leftover and paid-back bailout funds from Wall Street.  The Treasury Department reports that about $210 billion of the $700 billion bank bailout fund known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was not spent in averting the collapse of Wall Street that was widely feared late last year. That includes $72.5 billion that has been paid back by banks that weathered the crisis, and the Treasury expects to be repaid another $50 billion over the next 12 to 18 months. The future of this potential $260 billion fund has not yet been decided.

STATE NEWS

AP: Md. gov calling for legislation to create jobs
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gMDuU7QXIrhTSEVXSIcj0_9oFmZAD9CBBM500
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley says he believes the federal government should do more to preserve and create jobs with more investments in infrastructure like bridges, tunnels and roads.

Boston Globe: A good sign? T records first ridership increase in months
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/12/by_globe_staff_56.html
A good sign for the economy?  MBTA General Manager William Mitchell says that ridership on the public transit service increased in October, the first increase that officials have seen in the last 10 months... "This increase suggests that the MBTA may be seeing signs of improvement in the economy and in employment levels, which are major drivers of transit ridership," Mitchell said in remarks prepared for a board meeting today in Worcester.

WILX: Michigan  Gov. Wants D.C. Help to Create Jobs
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/78327722.html
Governor Jennifer Granholm is in Washington, DC, today looking for help in the creation of new jobs. Gov. Granholm and several other governors are meeting with senior White House officials and congressional leaders to talk about how the federal government can develop job-creation plans. The governor will discuss strategies such as tax policy changes, further investment in infrastructure, and extending more credit to small businesses and manufacturers.
Gov. Granholm is also expected to meet with U.S.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to discuss using federal stimulus money to build a Midwest high-speed rail corridor.

Detroit Free Press: $1.4 billion for state roads sought
http://www.freep.com/article/20091203/NEWS05/912030580/1001/News/1.4-billion-for-state-roads-sought
Michigan and other states have compiled a wish list of 9,500 transportation projects totaling nearly $70 billion, saying the work would sustain or create hundreds of thousands of jobs while fixing crumbling infrastructure nationwide.

Press Release: Iowa Gov. Culver: Announces more than $7.9 million for transportation infrastructure projects
http://www.iowapolitics.com/index.iml?Article=178346
Governor Chet Culver announced today that two freight rail, five local road and one state trail projects, worth more than $7.9 million, have been let by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT).