Cities Begging for Stimulus Funds

This ought to make for some nice, country driving: Big city mayors and county politicians say that a disproportionate amount of stimulus spending benefits rural areas, the Los Angeles Times reports. According to a report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, cities have gotten a comparatively small amount of the $18 billion of stimulus money earmarked for road and transportation improvements. Apparently, the 85 most populous metro areas account for 63 percent of the U.S. population and 73 percent of gross domestic product but received only $8.8 billion for transportation improvements, or 48 percent of the $18 billion set aside for transportation. The mayors chalk this up to the way money is portioned out; stimulus money is portioned to the states, where legislators favor politically important rural areas.