Tanya Snyder

The president’s six-year transportation plan [PDF], included as part of the administration’s FY2012 budget proposal, weighs in at a hefty $556 billion and lays out several policy reforms that, if enacted, could help the nation transition to a more multi-modal, less oil-dependent transportation system.

The White House has released a fact sheet on the transportation provisions in the President's budget. [PDF]

The White House hasn’t released its FY2012 budget request yet. What we know so far is that it’s a $3.7 trillion budget that would reduce the deficit from $1.6 trillion projected for 2011 to $1.2 trillion next year. President Obama “trims or terminates” more than 200 federal programs, according to the Washington Post, but has big plans for transportation: his budget envisions a $556 billion transportation bill. The Hill reports that the proposal includes "$50 billion in up-front investment that 'creates hundreds of thousands of jobs in the short-term.'"

On Valentine’s Day, President Obama’s heart-shaped box of chocolates to Congress will come in the form of his budget request for 2012. It will include the president’s proposal for a six-year transportation reauthorization.

Bill Lind is a big man. The director of the Center for Public Transportation at American Conservative stands well over six feet tall, and when he really gets going, he seems to loom even larger. Maybe that’s why he hates buses so much. “Those seats are designed for garden gnomes,” he said.

What do the president of FedEx, the former Director of National Intelligence, and 19 other business and military leaders have in common? They’re urging the U.S. to adopt less oil-intensive transportation habits. They say our national security depends on it.

Tell that to Americorps volunteers, who will see their entire program eliminated, along with the entire federal allocation for public broadcasting and family planning and about 60 other government programs, according to the Associated Press. The plan takes an enormous bite out of transportation programs, eliminating $1 billion for high-speed rail and $224 million for Amtrak (notably, not as severe a cut as the one proposed by the conservative Republican Study Committee, which would have axed Amtrak’s entire federal subsidy). The HUD Community Development Fund stands to lose $530 million. Energy and environmental programs are taking a big hit too, with many EPA programs on the chopping block.

Hasn’t it felt lately like Capitol Hill is in some kind of bizarre vortex?

The Obama administration is taking its infrastructure push on the road. First stop: Philadelphia, to announce a $53 billion plan to invest in high-speed rail.

President Obama paid a visit to the Chamber of Commerce this morning, trying to make nice after a hot-and-cold couple of years.