Colorado’s major stimulus dividends to come

In a story on Obama’s first 100 days, Market Watch quotes Colorado pollster Floyd Ciruli, who says Obama’s high marks are “mostly for effort so far.”

“There’s no sense in Colorado that there’s economic payoff.”

But a quick scan of the Web today suggest it’s only a matter of time before Colorado begins to feel the effects of the attention the Obama Administration has been lavishing on the state.

The Examiner:

– Energy Secretary Steven Chu will visit the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden Wednesday to announce that the lab will receive millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds for wind-energy research.

Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and Rep. Ed Perlmutter, both Democrats, said Tuesday it’s unclear how much additional money the lab would get, but they believe it will be significant.

CBS4:

The Department of Defense has announced another $37 million in spending at Fort Carson from economic stimulus funds.

The military said Tuesday the new round of spending is for construction and repair projects including electrical lines, sewers, streets, parking lots, heating and air conditioning systems and other projects.

The spending is in addition to $94 million in stimulus spending announced last month for Colorado installations including Fort Carson, the Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Station and Buckley Air Force Base.

That spending includes a solar power plant at the academy, child development centers for Fort Carson and Peterson and other projects.

The Denver Post:

Colorado is one of 16 states the U.S. General Accounting Office has chosen to follow as it spends stimulus dollars. The state has almost 150 funding streams coming in amounting to $7 billion.

If competitive grants, like [the..] education money called “Race to the Top,” go well, the state could receive $8 billion.

Denver Business Journal:

Colorado’s national parks and monuments will get $20.5 million under the federal stimulus package for 29 improvement projects, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Wednesday.

Obama’s success turns on the economy. He inherited a global financial crisis and quickly set about busting moves — passing the enormous budget package, doling out billions in stimulus funding and forking over trillions in controversial financial bailouts to corporations. In the next 100 days, we’ll have a much better read on the results.

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