Technology's fingerprints on the stimulus bill

To many on K Street, the stimulus bill was the clearest guide to the new administration's closest friends in the business world. What oil was to President George W. Bush, some say, clean energy and technology are to the Obama White House. close look at the history of the stimulus bill — the first major product of the new administration — shows that the industries that stand to gain most from the proposed legislation were also working to help shape it even before Obama had won the election. For months, the industry officials had been talking with Obama advisers about how to use taxpayer aid to jump-start the economy while laying the groundwork for both the new president's and their own goals of building a high-tech infrastructure. Obama's advisers say that the administration was only following through on the public promises he made in a campaign that began with a call two years ago to curb America's dependence on foreign oil and extend broadband access "through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America." And they emphasized that Obama had taken unusual steps to disclose what those firms were saying, like posting any proposals submitted to the transition on its Web site, in contrast to the Bush administration's fight to keep secret how fossil fuel company executives shaped its energy policy in 2001. Campaign finance records also show that executives at many of the energy and technology companies that stand to profit from the stimulus bill were also big contributors to Obama's campaign. His promises about a "smart grid" and universal broadband dovetailed with the dreams of many in the technology industry, as well as allied fields like renewable energy and electric power.