Morning Cup of Stimulus: Whips and Grants

March 12, 2009, 9:24 a.m. EDT

South Carolina's Republican governor, Mark Sanford, just said no yesterday to stimulus funding, saying it signaled a Zimbabwe-esque economic decline. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., the majority whip, urged state legislators to circumvent Sanford.

Even as Democratic lawmakers in Washington backed away from the idea of a second stimulus, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., the Republican whip, said his door was open -- assuming the next bill includes lots of tax cuts.

Grants.gov, the main marketplace for federal grants, may not be up to the task of managing the stimulus's added workflow. Peter Orszag, the Office of Management and Budget director, expects a 60-percent increase in traffic at the site, and ordered an immediate review of all money-giving computer systems.

Project of the day: A weekend electrical outage prompted University of Illinois' Urbana campus to ask for a new stimulus-powered power plant.

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