Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) was appointed to the Senate after Ken Salazar left to head the Interior Department. Bennet was a big Obama supporter who got handsomely rewarded with a Senate seat.

We’ll review Bennet’s short, yet extremely liberal record in the Senate later. The good news now is that folks are beginning to gear up to run against him. Last week, Ken Buck announced his plans to run against Bennet in 2010. We don’t know much about Buck or his chances, but he appears to be saying the right things. Here’s an excerpt from the story from in the Colorado Statesman:

On Tuesday, April 28, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck announced his plans to challenge Colorado’s freshman Democrat senator. Buck, who has long been rumored to be entering the race, telegraphed his punches on April 23, when he registered the Web site promoting his candidacy — www.buckforcolorado.com.

Before facing Bennet, however, Buck may have to win a Republican primary. Other possible GOP contenders include Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier and former 7th Congressional District Rep. Bob Beauprez, both of whom have expressed interest in the race.

Buck did not return an interview request from The Colorado Statesman, but it’s possible to distill his political viewpoint from his Web site, which pushes a conservative agenda stressing lower taxation, personal freedom and smaller government.

“Today, we face a critical choice between bigger government with epic taxation, debt and intrusion in our lives, or a smaller limited government that leaves us with control of our family and business decisions,” Buck writes on his Web site. “The Washington, D.C., politicians try to fool us to hold on to their power by claiming the solution to government’s problems is more government. Nonsense.”

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (Democrat, then RINO, now Democrat again — Pennsylvania) was on Meet the Press this morning. Perhaps the most telling exchange was when David Gregory asked him what he got in terms of a pay-off from the Democrats.

GREGORY: I want to move on to the question of what it took for the democrats to get you. What were you offered? What inducements were you given to switch parties?

SEN. SPECTER: None.

GREGORY: None? You won’t keep your seniority?

SEN. SPECTER: I will.

GREGORY: That’s not an inducement?

SEN. SPECTER: No. It’s an entitlement.

This pretty much sums everything up. Sen. Specter believes he is entitled to keep his power in Washington. That is his motivation. First he candidly admitted that he switched parties just so he could win — not because it would help achieve a set of policy goals. And now he’s done it again. For Specter, it’s not about protecting the Constitution or even serving the people of Pennsylvania; it’s out protecting his own power. Perhaps Pat Toomey will have a chance to say something like this to Specter in a future debate.

WILLIAM WALLACE: There’s a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.

If you watched the President’s prime time news conference Wednesday night, you probably heard him claim that the stimulus plan has already “saved or created over 150,000 jobs.” Right. Thankfully, FactCheck.org blew the whistle on him.

Fantasy Jobs?

By Jess Henig May 1st, 2009
FactCheck.org

At President Obama’s April 29 news conference, he claimed that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has “already saved or created over 150,000 jobs.” Wait a minute. Isn’t the number of jobs actually plummeting?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy lost more than 1.3 million jobs in the two months after he took office, and it has probably lost at least another half-million in April. The day after Obama spoke, the Department of Labor announced that another 631,000 workers (seasonally adjusted) had filed new claims for unemployment insurance the previous week.

So what 150,000 jobs was Obama talking about?

It turns out the president’s claim is really an estimate of what his economic advisers think the stimulus bill is doing, and not based on any evidence of its actual effects.

We asked the White House for substantiation of Obama’s claim, and a spokesman responded that the figure comes from a recent estimate by the Council of Economic Advisers. “Because the baseline for employment is obviously still strongly downward,” the spokesman told us, “the estimate does not mean that employment has risen by 150,000. Rather, it means that employment is 150,000 higher than it otherwise would have been.” He said the figure is an estimate of people hired to work directly on ARRA-funded projects, plus “jobs created by the tax cuts, aid to the states, and other parts of the ARRA.”

So when the president said his stimulus bill “already saved or created” those jobs, he was just giving an estimate produced by his own economic advisers at the White House. Furthermore, the jobs figure is based on projections done at the time ARRA was passed. Recipients of ARRA spending aren’t required to report until later what they’re doing with the money and how well it’s working, so there’s very little hard data on where the money is being spent, let alone how many jobs may have resulted from the legislation. The CEA incorporated some actual spending reports into its estimate, but that information is not complete.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), honorary chairman of Senate Conservatives Fund, writes an important op-ed in the Wall Street Journal tomorrow on how Republicans can grow their Party. Contrary to what many in the Party believe, the winning strategy is based on core its principles. DeMint writes …

To win back the trust of the American people, we must be a “big tent” party. But big tents need strong poles, and the strongest pole of our party — the organizing principle and the crucial alternative to the Democrats — must be freedom. The federal government is too big, takes too much of our money, and makes too many of our decisions. If Republicans can’t agree on that, elections are the least of our problems.

This is exactly why SCF works so hard to elect true conservatives. These leaders will be the “strong poles” in the Senate who will fight for our freedoms. Without these conservatives, the Republican Party will continue to stand for nothing and continue to live in the minority.

“A political party cannot be all things to all people. It cannot compromise its fundamental beliefs for political expediency.” – Ronald Reagan

Justice David Souter is retiring and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) is no longer pretending to be a Republican. This leaves Senate Republicans with an important question: who will be the next ranking member on the Judiciary committee? This person will have the responsibility of leading Republicans in questioning President Obama’s Supreme Court nominees.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is next in line on the committee, but he has already served and is term limited out. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is next in line, but he’s already the ranking member of the Finance committee, so he’s ineligible. Then there’s Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) but he’s in leadership so he’s ineligible. That brings us to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) — one of the most principled Republicans in the Senate. Sessions earned a 91% score on SCF’s 2008 scorecard and was endorsed by SCF in his re-election bid last year.

Let’s hope Sessions is the next ranking Republican on Judiciary. He’s not only Specter’s rightful replacement; he’s also the best man for the job.

RedState has more on this …

Jeff Sessions, on the other hand, would field a talented team who could educate America on just who America is getting in the next Supreme Court justice . Barring something very odd and unexpected, the nominee will get confirmed. Therefore, our number one goal should be to make sure America knows who this person is and what he stands for – and you need the right people in place to make that happen.

Take a moment to read through this list of events during President Obama’s first 100 days and ask yourself if freedom is important enough to fight back. With the support of a Democrat Congress and liberals in the media, the President is moving quickly to consolidate power. Americans must stop him, and the first step to saving freedom is to strengthen the U.S. Senate with strong conservatives.

Day 1 – Jan. 20 – Obama gives inaugural address, says size of government does not matter

Day 2 – Jan. 21 – Obama bans lobbyists from working in his administration – then selects Raytheon lobbyist for his administration

Day 3 – Jan. 22 – Obama signs order to close Guantanamo by the end of the year – offers no plan to deal with 240 detained terrorists

Day 4 – Jan. 23 – Obama reverses Mexico City policy; allows taxpayer money to be used for abortions overseas

Day 5 – Jan. 24 – Obama uses weekly radio address to call on Congress to pass massive stimulus bill — continues Bush’s failed economic policies

Day 6 – Jan. 25 – Biden says Obama may ask Congress for more Wall Street bailout money – continues Bush’s failed economic policies

Day 7 – Jan. 26 – Obama directs EPA to set stricter emissions standards that raise costs for U.S. automakers facing bankruptcy

Senate confirms Obama nominee, Timothy Geithner, as Treasury Secretary despite his failure to pay taxes and authorship of Bush’s failed bailout policies

Day 8 – Jan. 27 – Obama meets with Republicans on stimulus bill, but ignores their ideas

Day 9 - Jan. 28 – House passes Obama’s $819 billion stimulus plan with no Republican votes

Day 10 – Jan. 29 – Obama signs Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in giveaway to trial lawyers

Day 11 – Jan. 30 – Obama signs order cutting off information to workers in giveaway to union bosses

Day 12 - Jan. 31 – Obama stands by HHS nominee Tom Daschle, despite his failure to pay taxes and prior work as a health care lobbyist

Day 13 – Feb. 1 – Obama tells America the stimulus bill won’t include wasteful spending in pre-Super Bowl interview

Day 14 – Feb. 2 – Senate confirms Obama nominee, Eric Holder, as Attorney General despite his work in pardoning terrorists and opposition to 2nd Amendment rights

Day 15 – Feb. 3 – Tom Daschle withdraws as HHS nominee; Obama admits he “screwed up” nomination

Day 16 – Feb. 4 – Obama announces executive pay caps – begins to use bailouts to take control of private companies

Obama signs children’s health bill – expands government control of health care and raises taxes on low-income families

Day 17 – Feb. 5 – Obama signs order directing faith-based office to keep faith out of public square

Day 18 – Feb. 6 – Obama releases first jobs report showing jump in unemployment to 7.8%, loss of 598,000 jobs

Day 19 – Feb. 7 – Obama uses job losses caused by failed stimulus policies to push Congress to pass more failed stimulus policies in weekly radio address

Day 20 – Feb. 8 – Obama’s economic advisor, Larry Summers, says stimulus plan will create 3 to 4 million jobs – economists remain skeptical

Day 21 – Feb. 9 – Obama uses prime time press conference to tell Americans he inherited bad economy, huge deficits – ignores his prior support for Bush’s bailout and spending policies

Day 22 – Feb. 10 – Obama unveils new bailout plan and Senate passes his $838 billion stimulus bill – stock market dives 382 points

Obama moves to cut off domestic energy exploration – delays 5-year plan for offshore energy exploration

Day 23 – Feb. 11 – Obama adds billions in taxpayer money to stimulus for Las Vegas magnetic levitation train just days after attacking executives for using taxpayer money to travel to Las Vegas using corporate jets

Day 24 – Feb. 12 – Obama says stimulus plan will save 20,000 lost jobs at Caterpillar, but company CEO says it won’t

Republican Senator withdraws as Commerce nominee, says the stimulus plan will not work

Day 25 – Feb. 13 – House and Senate pass Obama’s 1000-page, $787 billion stimulus spending plan without reading it

Day 26 – Feb 14 – Obama waits to sign stimulus bill after spending weeks telling Americans it was “urgent”

Obamas celebrate Valentine’s Day at upscale restaurant with Oprah’s personal chef as Americans struggle economically

Day 27 – Feb 15 – Obama’s senior advisor, David Axelrod, refuses to say when the stimulus plan will begin to work

Day 28 – Feb 16 – Obama spends day traveling, fails to sign stimulus bill he said was “urgent”

Day 29 – Feb 17 – Obama signs stimulus bill at staged event in Denver four days after it was passed

Day 30 – Feb 18 – Obama proposes $75 billion housing plan that bails out bad lenders and borrowers – continues Bush’s failed bailout policies

Day 31 - Feb. 19 – Obama taps lobbyist as urban affairs aide – breaks his own ethics rules

Day 32 – Feb. 20 – Obama meets with mayors – says they will have to depend on Washington to succeed

Day 33 – Feb. 21 – Obama uses weekly radio address to tout stimulus tax relief, which amounts to just $8 a week

Day 34 – Feb. 22 – Obama prepares budget to “cut the deficit in half,” but only after he triples it

Day 35 – Feb. 23 – Obama administration says it is open to nationalizing banks

Day 36 – Feb. 24 – Obama uses address to Congress to push budget that spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much

Senate confirms Obama’s nominee, Hilda Solis, for Labor Secretary despite her work for a group that lobbies for card-check union legislation

Day 37 – Feb. 25 -  Obama pushes budget that includes $634 billion to begin socializing medicine

Day 38 – Feb. 26 – Obama pushes budget that includes higher taxes on charitable donations

Day 39 - Feb. 27 – Obama contradicts campaign rhetoric – tells troops the mission in Iraq was a success

Obama moves to force doctors to provide abortions against their conscience

Day 40 – Feb. 28 – Obama uses weekly radio address to pick fight with “special interests” over his budget despite widespread special interest support for it

Day 41 – Mar 1 – Obama selects Kathleen Sebelius, a radical proponent of the abortion industry, to be HHS Secretary

Day 42 – Mar 2 – Obama continues Bush’s failed economic policies by giving AIG another $30 billion in bailout cash; stock market dives almost 300 points

Day 43 – Mar 3 – Obama denies British Prime Minister traditional news conference – gives him DVD set that doesn’t work in the UK

Day 44 – Mar 4 – Obama stimulus money hits the ground for its first project – $8.5 million for bridge near Tuscumbia, Missouri, population 223

Day 45 – Mar 5 - Obama hosts bipartisan forum on health care – says costly new government entitlement should be created to pay costs inflated by government

Day 46 - Mar 6 – Obama releases second jobs report showing jump in unemployment to 8.1%, loss of 651,000 jobs

Day 47 - Mar 7 - Obama uses weekly radio address to tell America he “inherited” a $1.3 trillion deficit – ignores his support for Bush’s spending policies

Obama tells New York Times his policies are not socialist and blames Bush for socialist bailouts and new entitlements

Day 48 – Mar 8 – Obama’s budget director, Peter Orszag, blames Bush for deficits, but insists on passing Bush’s left-over spending bills

Day 49 – Mar 9 – Obama reverses restrictions on stem cell research – allows more taxpayer funding for the destruction of human life

Day 50 – Mar 10 – Obama proposes to expand government-run education so it’s “cradle to career”

Day 51 – Mar 11 – Obama announces new earmark rules, then signs $410 billion pork bill with 8,000 earmarks

Day 52 – Mar 12 – Obama tells CEOs he supports free markets but they should be heavily regulated

Day 53 – Mar 13 – Biden awards Amtrak $1.3 billion stimulus earmark

Day 54 – Mar 14 – Obama uses weekly radio address to tell Americans that only government can ensure the safety of food and medicine

Day 55 – Mar 15 – Obama’s economic advisor, Larry Summers, calls AIG bonuses “outrageous,” but defends Obama’s bailouts for AIG

Day 56 – Mar 16 – Obama proposes more government loans for small businesses, but continues to support tax hike on two-thirds of all small business profits

Day 57 – Mar 17 – Obama blames Bush for deficits, but pushes budget that doubles the debt in 5 years, triples it in 10 years

Day 58 - Mar 18 – Obama works on NCAA Final Four bracket while economy suffers and Americans lose their jobs

Day 59 – Mar 19 - Obama appears on Leno while economy suffers and Americans lose their jobs

Day 60 – Mar 20 – CBO reports deficit will grow to $1.8 trillion in Obama’s first year in office

Day 61 – Mar 21 – Obama uses weekly radio address to tell Americans his budget will solve the budget deficit; CBO reports it will increase spending by $2.7 trillion over 10 years

Day 62 – Mar 22 – Obama plans to regulate executive pay at all banks, not just those with bailouts

Day 63 – Mar 23 – Obama’s Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, announces more taxpayer bailouts as part complicated scheme to save bad banks

Day 64 - Mar 24 – Obama uses prime time press conference to tell Americans to be patient for economic recovery and to defend tax hike on charitable donations

Day 65 – Mar 25 – Obama ends “war on terror” – begins “overseas contingency operations”

Day 66 – Mar 26 – AP report says Obama’s prediction that the stimulus bill will create 4 million jobs cannot be substantiated

Day 67 - Mar 27 – Obama installs Eric Holder as Attorney General despite his view that America is a “nation of cowards”

Day 68 – Mar 28 – Obama uses weekly radio address to encourage volunteerism despite his politics that crowd out volunteerism with massive growth in government

Day 69 - Mar 29 – Obama says Detroit automakers need to be more “lean, mean,” but continues to bail them out and continue Bush’s failed economic policies

Day 70 – Mar 30 – Obama signs omnibus public lands bill, which includes costly earmarks and reduces supply of domestic energy

Obama forces CEO of General Motors to resign – effectively using bailout loans to take over a private company

Day 71 – Mar 31 – Report says Obama’s TARP program lacks transparency, accountability

Day 72 – Apr 1 – Obama gives Queen of England iPod, but bows to Saudi King

Obama’s tobacco tax goes into effect, breaking campaign promise to not raise taxes on middle class families

Day 73 – Apr 2 – House and Senate pass Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget – include fast-track procedures to pass socialized medicine with limited debate

Day 74 – Apr 3 – Obama releases third jobs report showing jump in unemployment to 8.5%, loss of 663,000 jobs

Day 75 – Apr 4 – Obama apologizes for American “arrogance” in France, but fails to win more NATO troops for Afghanistan

Day 76 – Apr 5 – Obama gives anti-nuke speech, but North Korea launches missile

Day 77 – Apr 6 – Obama tells Muslim world U.S. will show them respect, but Muslim world fails to pledge similar respect for Christian and Jewish world

Day 78 – Apr 7 – Obama tells troops in Iraq their mission has been achieved – reverses position he held during the campaign

Day 79 – Apr 8 – Obama expands government bailouts to life insurance companies – continues Bush’s failed bailout policies

Obama plans to engage in group talks with Iran

Day 80 – Apr 9 – Obama announces plans to push amnesty bill for illegal immigrants

Day 81 - Apr 10 – Obama meets with economic team and plans bigger government role in private economy

Day 82 - Apr 11 – Obama uses weekly radio address to equate Christianity and Judaism with religions of the world

Day 83 – Apr 12 – Obama stays silent on pirate crisis; Navy makes decision to rescue American hostage

Day 84 – Apr 13 – Obama takes credit for hostage rescue and calls for action to end “privacy”

Obama eases restrictions on travel, money to Cuba

Day 85 – Apr 14 - Obama releases DHS report calling Iraq war veterans a terrorist threat

Day 86 – Apr 15 – Obama promises fairness for tax code; thousands of Americans protest growth of government at Tax Day tea parties

Day 87 – Apr 16 – Obama releases classified interrogation memos helping terrorists who want to kill Americans

Day 88 – Apr 17 – Obama shakes hands with Hugo Chavez

Day 89 – Apr 18 – Obama shakes hands again with Hugo Chavez, accepts anti-America book

Day 90 – Apr 19 – Obama moves to nationalize banks by converting bailout loans into common stock equity

Day 91 – Apr 20 – Obama calls for $100 million cut in spending, which amounts to just 13 minutes of annual federal spending

Day 92 – Apr 21 – Obama signs Serve America Act to convert volunteer into paid government employees

Obama says he’s open to prosecution of Bush officials for interrogation memos – panders to Moveon.org

Day 93 - Apr 22 – Fidel Castro says Cuba won’t release political prisoners despite Obama’s policies

Day 94 – Apr 23 – Obama’s DNC launches attack ads against principled Republicans for opposing Obama’s socialist policies

Day 95 – Apr 24 – Obama loans General Motors another $2 billion

Day 96 – Apr 25 – Obama calls for fiscal discipline while ignoring his own budget, which triples national debt

Day 97 - Apr 26 – Obama plays golf while swine flu spreads

Day 98 - Apr 27 – Obama White House approves Air Force One photo op over New York City

Day 99 – Apr 28 – Senate confirms Obama nominee, Kathleen Sebelius, as HHS Secretary despite her failure to disclose contributions from radical leader of the abortion industry

Day 100 – Apr 29 – Obama releases first quarter economic report showing 6.1% drop in GDP

Please vote in the Specter vs. Toomey online poll and post a comment. www.SpecterVsToomey.com

The Senate confirmed Kathleen Sebelius last night by a vote of 65-31 despite her radical support for the abortion industry. No Democrats voted against her. But the following 9 Republicans voted for her. Note that Specter is no longer a Republican so it’s really only 8 Republicans now.

Bond (MO)
Brownback (KS)
Collins (ME)
Gregg (NH)
Lugar (IN)
Roberts (KS)
Snowe (ME)
Specter (PA)
Voinovich (OH)

Last week, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) decided to back Pat Toomey in the GOP primary in Pennsylvania against five-term Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). Today, Sen. Specter switched parties.

Here’s the story from the Washington Examiner:

Did DeMint’s endorsement of Toomey set off Specter?

By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
04/28/09 12:30 PM

Last Thursday night on the Senate floor, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., told Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, then still a Republican, that DeMint would be supporting Specter’s rival, former Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., in next year’s Senate Republican primary. DeMint says Specter “pretty much cut me off and said, ‘I’ve heard enough.’”

DeMint wouldn’t speculate whether this conversation spurred Specter to switch parties, but the conversation came within hours of the release of a poll showing Toomey leading Specter among primary voters 51 percent to 30 percent. “We knew Pat was going to win the primary,” DeMint said in a Capitol Hill interview Tuesday, minutes after Specter announced his move. “This [party switch] shouldn’t surprise anyone. It was a clever political move.”

DeMint had not yet gone public with his support for Toomey by the time Specter switched.

DeMint said Specter’s switch “shows that there were not principles attaching Arlen to the Republican Party, but the Republican Party was the means to get elected.”

DeMint continued: “I would rather have 30 Republicans in the Senate who really believe in principles of limited government, free markets, free people, than to have 60 that don’t have a set of beliefs.”

Toomey had speculated in an interview with National Review’s David Freddoso that Specter might leave the party before the primary, because Pennsylvania has a “sore loser law” that prevents primary losers from running for the same office on a different party line.

Sen. DeMint also spoke with CNN today about Specter’s decision.

Here is Jeff Poor’s take on the interview at Newsbusters:

However, with that response, Sanchez had his Jim Mora moment – when Mora, the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts went into his “playoffs” rant after a 40-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 25, 2001. “What the hell does that mean?” Sanchez said. “I mean, the biggest tent is freedom? Freedom? I mean you got to do better than that!” DeMint explained the concept in rudimentary terms for the CNN host – how freedom incorporated into certain segments of society allows it operate more efficiently, versus the big hand of government directing society.

• Stimulus program’s $38 billion spending for transportation projects has only “created or sustained” 1,288 jobs … MORE

Obama pushed to dedicate $38 billion of the plan’s $787 billion funding to capital projects that could be started immediately in the hopes of allaying painfully high unemployment levels in construction and related work.

Even though the pace of job creation is small so far, it is vital, said a construction workers union.

• Federal investigators have already opened 20 criminal probes into misuse of the $750 billion financial bailout program and warn that the total fraud could ultimately reach into the tens of billions of dollars … MORE

Members of Congress and consumer advocates expressed outrage Monday when they heard about the findings of the report.

“It shouldn’t be a big surprise that a huge pot of honey attracts a lot of flies,” said Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, the senior Republican on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is also examining the program. “I would guess that 20 investigations, while a good start, is only the tip of the iceberg.”

• House of Representatives is not enforcing its earmark transparency reforms; Dozens of congressmen being permitted to keep their earmark requests hidden from the public … MORE

Despite the numerous late entries, the Appropriations Committee is taking a lenient approach.

“We will continue work with offices to bring them into compliance,” said Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Kirstin Brost.

• Corpus Christi plans to spend $3.1 million stimulus grant studying seaweed … MORE

• Department of Homeland Security plans to build a $720 million bioterrorism research facility in Kansas’ Tornado Alley … MORE

Kansas topped the nation in the number of tornadoes for the second year in a row last year, with 187 twisters touching down in the state, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The department’s final environmental impact statement on the bioterrorism center states that a moderate to severe tornado could cause catastrophic consequences, including the destruction of exterior and interior walls – and the release of airborne pathogens that could infect the local cattle populations and cause billions in damage, according to the lawsuit.

The facility would be built to withstand winds of 119 miles per hour, but even a mid-strength F2 tornado can bring wind speeds of 157 miles per hour, according to NOAA. Some even more powerful F3 tornadoes have hit Kansas in recent years.

• Department of Homeland Security is canceling some newspaper and magazine subscriptions to save money … MORE

Spokeswoman Sara Kuban said the agency is expecting the moves to save money but does not know how much.

• $7.5 million in federal stimulus funds to pay to renovate Delaware’s beach boardwalk … MORE

• New York City to spend $15 million of federal stimulus funds to rebuild parts of the Coney Island Boardwalk … MORE

“It’s Christmas in April as far as the Boardwalk is concerned. We didn’t have any of this funding two years ago,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. “We would take more, but the glass is certainly half full here.”

• $1.2 million federal transportation grant pays to construct a riverfront boardwalk with hardwood decking, Victorian-style metal benches and ornamental lights in Massachusetts … MORE

As a businessman, his big question is whether the boardwalk will see a high enough volume of people to make a profit.

“I might be interested in a lemonade stand, or selling ice cream or slush,” he said. “But there may not be enough foot traffic to support anything.”

• Alabama residents unhappy with plan to spend $250,000 federal grant to replace a privately owned bait and tackle shop with a public park and boat launch … MORE

County officials envision a park, boat launch and fishing pier where Jemison’s stands, all paid for with $250,000 in federal grant money. The plans also call for removing abandoned oyster boats from the property and improving traffic flow.

A further plan would add another boat launch, piers and parking on land south of Jemison’s, near an area known as Heron Bay cutoff. The funding source would be $725,000 in federal Coastal Impact Assistance Program money that compensates states for the effects of offshore drilling.

• Federal government spending $5 million to promote farmers markets in Indiana … MORE

These grants would provide assistance with organizing, marketing, training, business-plan development, community outreach and education to improve direct-market opportunities. Grants have been used in the past for educational workshops for farmers-market managers and vendors. Grants have also been used for advertising the markets.

• Department of Housing and Urban Development spent $750,000 on an industrial park that was never built and $450,000 to pay off loan for a deadbeat developer for a waterfront marina … MORE

The feds say they won’t hammer Newburgh for payments the city made to cover for a deadbeat waterfront developer.

The decision comes from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. In November 2008, inspectors for HUD’s Office of the Inspector General released an audit that said the city squandered $2 million in grants that were supposed to help the poor. The inspectors recommended harsh remedies, such as repaying the money within 90 days from nonfederal sources.

But in its ultimate decision, HUD chose leniency. It also rejected inspectors’ claims a waterfront marina and fallow industrial park were ineligible for the grant program.

The inspectors’ audit had focused on loans for those two projects. For the waterfront marina, the city packaged $1.5 million in federal money and loaned it to developer Thomas Glendening. When he didn’t make the payments, the city covered $450,000 with Community Development Block Grants.