Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell Doesn't Like Obama's Stimulus Logo

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was pleased to see the Obama administration liked his idea of creating a logo to mark projects funded by the stimulus package. He wasn't so keen, however, about how it turned out. "I don't think it was a particularly attractive logo, but I've never been accused of being an art critic," the governor said today at a luncheon with reporters. Rendell proposed the idea while visiting President Obama at the White House when the nation's governors were in town. "I had seen on TV the night before that when Roosevelt did the CCC program, every project had a CCC logo on it, and I said to the president, 'We need a logo so that every time a citizen passes a bridge that's being worked on or a road that's being worked on, they know it's coming from the stimulus itself,' " Rendell explained.

Other than the unfortunate-looking logo, Rendell thought the $787 billion package was a good first step, though he didn't conceal the fact that it's a huge test for government. "I think this is the biggest test of government in my lifetime," he stated. The boisterous Philadelphian gave Congress advice: Don't pass another one until we see how this one goes. And advice for us reporters, too: "Try and refrain too much from [writing] the stories about the one program here that screwed it up or the one bridge that was built hastily and couldn't sustain the weight limit," he offered. "Try and focus on whether in fact the stimulus meets its goal."

And since President Obama is tackling more than just the economic crisis, Rendell gave his take on that, too, addressing critics who have said Obama has bitten off more than he can chew. "How hard do you think Congress works?" the governor asked to laughs. "Until you can show me that you bust your hump every single day of the week—that you're working 10 hours a day, five days a week, and you have meetings on Saturdays—until you tell me that, don't tell me you're working too hard."

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