Economy and the Environment at home.
In the State of the Union address the president stressed more than anything, economic growth. With unemployment near 10%, home foreclosures, and restricted lines of credit it's easy to see why such a thing would be the focus. As a focus for job growth "green" initiatives were promoted such ast; clean coal, offshore drilling, and new nuclear plant construction. I can see how those could create some jobs and energy independence however I'd think that the president would stress funds that have already been made available for use in other sectors that could improve the economy.
For instance, currently only $441 million of the $5 billion given to the Weatherization Assitance program has been spent. That's billions of dollars sitting there waiting to go to contractors, design professionals, energy efficieny consultants and building code inspectors that's either hard for consumers to access of which they have little knowledge.
Sitting at this desk I see plenty of those types of firms of all sizes come up looking for insurance. Some are doing better than others. Some up, some down, but universally I think they'd all like a crack at that stimulus money. Maybe it's a good idea to focus on the money the government already has out there rather than spending so much effort deciding what we might or might not spend down the road. From what the talking heads say, this money should start flowing into the economy within 2010 and into 2011. Hopefully some of it lets these contractors and specialists get back to work.