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CBS and ABC offered contrasting pictures about the need for federal stimulus funds in the states and municipalities. ABC's Lisa Stark was skeptical, citing a "wish list" of 18,750 urban projects submitted by the nation's mayors. "Pork or paycheck?" she wondered. "That is exactly the kind of debate that is going on in the halls of Congress." Does Washington need its sewers upgraded? Could Shreveport use an aquatic center? Should Lincoln's municipal golf course have a green clubhouse? Will the city park in Boynton Beach Fla be improved by a butterfly garden?
At the state level, CBS' Ben Tracy left no doubt about the desperate need for funds in California. Facing the "chasm" of a $42bn budget deficit this year, state workers are being furloughed without pay for two days each month, tax refund checks are being withheld, college students are not receiving grants and vendors are "being stiffed." In the past, California has been able to borrow to cover fiscal shortfalls but it now "has the lowest credit rating of any state in the country."
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