WASHINGTON — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) is pressing federal officials to accelerate federal water projects in Mississippi as one way to create greater economic activity in a state with a 12 percent unemployment rate.
Cochran, vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, addressed the new Mississippi unemployment rate during a March 12 hearing to review the [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is proposing a new agency to study and report on the changing climate.
Also known as global warming, climate change has drawn widespread concern in recent years as temperatures around the world rise, threatening to harm crops, spread disease, increase sea levels, change storm and drought patterns and cause polar melting.
Commerce [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — Toyota has friends in high places in Washington, including some of the very people now investigating the Japanese automaker.
The company has sought to sow goodwill and win allies with lobbying, charitable giving, racing in the American-as-apple pie NASCAR series and, perhaps most important, creating jobs.
Lawmakers on the committees investigating Toyota’s massive recall represent [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this week expanded by 90 days the amount of time salvage yards have to harvest and reuse non-engine components under the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program. Engines were required to be permanently disabled for environmental reasons.
Under the new rule, disposal facilities now have a total [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced yesterday that the Department of Energy has closed its $1.4-billion loan agreement with Nissan North America,Inc. to retool its Smyrna, Tenn., factory to build advanced electric automobiles and an advanced battery manufacturing facility. The two projects are expected to create up to 1,300 American jobs and [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) has joined the new Senate Aerospace Caucus, in part to promote the growing aerospace sector in Mississippi.
The bipartisan caucus has been organized to promote a “strong, secure and competitive” aerospace sector within the United States.
“The aerospace sector is growing in Mississippi because the state has dedicated itself to providing [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — Now that the U.S. economy is on the mend, the Federal Reserve this year can focus on how and when to pull back the stimulus money pumped out to fight the financial crisis. With his prospects for another term brightening, Fed chief Ben Bernanke will lead that effort.
At their first meeting of the [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s push to create jobs includes a new tax credit for small businesses that add employees, an idea that has appeal as the nation struggles with an unemployment rate topping 10 percent.
It is an idea, however, that fell flat in Congress when Obama first proposed it last year because lawmakers didn’t [...] [...]
TUPELO — Republican Alan Nunnelee has formally announced his campaign for Congress in Mississippi’s First District, making stops Tupelo, Southaven and Columbus, The Associated Press reports.
The 52-year-old Nunnelee wants to run against U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, a Democrat who has held the First District position since winning a special election in 2008.
While never referring to [...] [...]
WASHINGTON — The latest congressional budget estimates due today predict a $1.35-trillion U.S. deficit for this year, a top legislative aide says.
The Congressional Budget Office figures confirm the massive problem facing President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies just days before his Feb. 1 budget submission. The White House says Obama will propose a three-year [...] [...]