President Obama is selling his plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan by describing it as an opportunity to refocus on the domestic health of America. His term, "nation building at home" recalls the great American eras like the industrial and gilded ages. They eventually led to new railroads and highways, the infrastructure that powered us into the boom time of the 1950s.

 

Many Americans are angry about the sluggish state of the economy. On Tuesday, they went to the polls and took their anger out on elected officials. But the people who have a very large effect on the American economy aren't elected at all. They’re the appointed officials at the Federal Reserve Bank, headed by Ben Bernanke. As if to underscore that point, The Fed announced Wednesday that they’ll buy $600 billion worth of Treasury bonds, in an effort to stimulate economic growth.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's expected announcement of billions of dollars in federal grants for high speed rail today is beginning on a sour note. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced yesterday that he is stopping construction of an $8.4 billion Hudson River rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York. Citing billions of dollars of expected cost overruns, Christie says his "decision is final." This comes after LaHood made a personal appeal to Christie, and negotiations between the Obama and Christie administrations.

With Republicans running against President Obama's stimulus, an issue that's resonated with voters, LaHood's announcement comes at a questionable time. There will be events in Iowa, Michigan, California. There's also money for Connecticut and Florida. These are all states with close races. How is this going to affect the midterm elections?

In early 2009, Kokomo, Indiana, was emblematic of the bleak state of recession-age America. With an economy dependent on the American auto industry, the city's unemployment rate had risen to 20 percent.

But over a year later, things in Kokomo are looking up. Unemployment is down to 14 percent, and several companies are creating new jobs. While there is much disagreement about the effectiveness of the economic stimulus package, Kokomo residents and politicians are quick to credit it with their city's recovery.

President Obama spent his Labor Day in Milwaukee, announcing big plans for the nation's infrastructure. The plan begins with an initial investment of $50 billion of taxpayer money, followed by increased spending over the next six years. It aims to build or repair 150,000 miles of roads; 4,000 miles of rail and 150 miles of airplane runways.

President Barack Obama is talking about the economy all week. Yesterday, he delivered a jobs speech before a whooping crowd in Milwaukee, Wis., where he called on Congress to swiftly approve a new stimulus plan: one that would devote at least an additional $50 billion to upgrade the nation's infrastructure.

Housing prices have dropped an average of 26 percent since last July, and many economists and realty analysts are recommending that the federal governement do... nothing.

UPDATED 5:45 p.m.

Alex Goldmark here. 

We're monitoring the media blitz of Rep. Eric Massa tonight as he heads for the cable news channels to defend himself against ethics accusations. And also to throw a few more parting shots at President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. It's an inside story for Washington, but some valuable insights might come out on how work gets done in the Obama White House. Our partners at The New York Times are covering that here. 

Also, it is python hunting season in Florida. We'll bring you a sharp shooter. 

 

In partnership with WNYC Radio in New York, The Takeaway's Transportation Nation looks at the changing shape of America's transit landscape.  

One year ago, the Obama Administration began pushing billions and billions of dollars out the door.  The federal stimulus combines tax cuts, huge chunks of federal spending and the extension of benefits in hopes of stimulating the American economy.  So how are American cities changing, and what will we remember about this massive program decades from now?

Many products we buy now come with labels that read “Made in China” or Japan or India, rather than the U.S.A. Minnesota tried to change that by implementing a law requiring state agencies to buy uniforms and safety equipment made in this country.

 

The federal government is on the verge of spending billions of dollars on highways and public transit projects, beginning in 2010.  Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood views this as a historic moment in American history, when federal money will back policy aimed at getting Americans off the highways, out of our cars and into public transit and high-speed rail.  LaHood steps through the many areas of American life in which he's now shaping policy. (click through for the full interview transcript)

• Sports Takeout: The Yankees did it! The Bronx Bombers ended their nine-year dry spell with a big win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series. Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, our sports correspondent, joins us with the highlights (and he'll try not to gloat too much).
  
• Washington Takeout: The U.S. Senate is extending aid to hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans. Our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, explains that the only thing delaying this assistance was political gridlock.
• Business Takeout: We take a closer look at President Obama's estimate of how many jobs have been created by the stimulus package so far. As Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times, explains, there are some curious calculations behind the administration's numbers.

• Business Takeout: Retail lender CIT files for one of the biggest corporate bankruptcies on record, and takes $2.3 billion in bailout money with it. Louise Story, finance reporter for our partners The New York Times, explains.
• Sports Takeout: The Takeaway's sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin talks about the decidedly mixed reception ex-Packers quarterback Brett Favre got as he took the Minnesota Vikings to victory in Green Bay over the weekend.
• Listener Takeout: Listeners respond to our question on whether and how stimulus money is making a difference in their jobs.

Today, the White House releases a huge amount of raw data on how and where stimulus money is being spent. We talk about the numbers we know so far, what listeners have noticed, and what we'll be looking for in the tea leaves. We're joined by WNYC reporter Andrea Bernstein, Pete Herman, a currently unemployed ironworker from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Charlie Dilbert, a construction worker from Cincinnati whose job is being paid for with stimulus money.

The White House announced this week that its $787 billion economic stimulus package has saved or created more than 1 million jobs since it was enacted in February. To help us parse these and other economic indicators, we talk with Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, a market analysis company in New York. We also speak with Louise Story, a Wall Street and finance reporter with the New York Times, about what financial troubles at Harvard and Yale mean for higher education and the economy as a whole.

President Obama’s stimulus plan's main goal was to help needy communities build roads and create jobs, to help kick-start the economy. To keep track of how the stimulus money is being spent, ProPublica has asked for volunteers from communities across the country for help. The Adopt-a-Stimulus Program is being launched today. Joining The Takeaway to talk about the program is Amanda Michel, Editor of Distributed Reporting at ProPublica; also joining the show is Geoff Badenoch, a volunteer tracker from Missoula, Montana.

Read about the initiative at ProPublica

Also follow as information is tracked on Stimulus Spot Check

Back in March, St. Cloud, Minnesota was excited. Vice President Joe Biden was in town to announce that the town would be receiving an influx of money from the stimulus plan. The money would be spent on much-needed infrastructure improvements and transportation projects. Now that excitement has been replaced by questions, mainly: is the stimulus money actually creating jobs in St. Cloud? Helping The Takeaway understand what’s happening on the ground are Minnesota Public Radio reporter Ambar Espinoza and The Takeaway's Political Director Andrea Bernstein.

Our friends at Pro Publica, the independent investigative organization, are tracking the stimulus in St. Cloud closely. Read their story, Primed for a Stimulus Ride, St. Cloud Wonders When the Bus Will Arrive.

Today the World Bank is raising its forecast for China's economic growth this year. Strong government investment and increased domestic demand have helped supported the growth of China's economy. For more, we turn to the BBC's Michael Bristow in Beijing.

They’re calling it the modern day equivalent of the electrical grid, or the interstate highway system. Seven billion dollars of the stimulus plan making its way through Congress right now is devoted to bringing broadband internet to under-served parts of the country. But technology experts worry that the multi-billion dollar tech plan will suffer if we don’t have more time to look at exactly what technology we’re getting. One of these experts is The Takeaway's technology contributor Siva Vaidhyanathan, a professor at the University of Virginia, who joins us now to talk about these concerns.