Congress and the president should be subject to the Truth in Advertising law when it comes to the Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus package passed earlier this year by the Democrat-controlled Congress.

The gigantic spending plan was called a stimulus package and was promoted as a way to create or save millions of jobs by funding so-called shovel-ready projects to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats rushed it through Congress quickly, stifling any debate or questioning of the massive piece of legislation.

The Associated Press reported in the past week that "the public face of the stimulus package has been the worker in the hard hat, getting back on the job to rebuild the nation's infrastructure."

But, the article continues, "The reality of how the vast majority of the stimulus money will be spent is quite different, and that raises questions about how much help the Recovery Act will be to the economy in the long run."

Most of the $300 billion going to states so far has been spent on existing social programs in health care, education, unemployment benefits and food stamps.

An expert from the Council of State Government estimates that states will get three times more money for education than for transportation.

A Truth in Advertising standard would have required that the larger part of the stimulus bill be called the States Bailout Package. Many would argue that such financial support for struggling states is appropriate during the severe economic slowdown. But hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars are not being spent as advertised by Obama and most members of Congress.

Talking about a "stimulus package" was politically expedient, making the massive spending plan an easier sell. Telling the truth, and talking about two bills, a States Bailout Bill and a Stimulus Bill for infrastruture and energy spending, would have been the honest approach, but one that might have met with more public resisitance.

It's always encouraging to see a Main Street storefront being spruced up. The corner of Main and North streets has seen activity in recent weeks as the former Christina's Pub building is being painted and renovated to house a gourmet pizza shop by Vince Tavolario, owner of Natili's and Natili's North restaurants.Funding for the nearly $30,000 in improvements is a partnership effort involving Tavolario and the Redevelopment Authority of Butler as well as grant-procurement help from Butler Downtown, Butler's Main Street program.The corner building received a little more façade grant money than other buildings because, as a corner building, it had two sides or facades to improve.Tavolario says the pizzas produced in the new location will be made using a recipe that his mother used when he was a child. And while there plenty of places to get pizza in Butler, having an attractive new, gourmet pizza outlet on Main Street will be a nice addition to downtown Butler.And having a formerly empty Main Street building renovated and occupied by a business is another plus. Cheers to all involved.

A state-of-the-art coal-fired power plan using carbon-capture technology that was shelved late in the Bush administration because of escalating costs gained the support of the Obama administration last week.The experimental plant, to be built in Mattoon, Ill., is known as the FutureGen project and will be the first commercial-scale plant to use carbon sequestration and capture technologies.By capturing carbon and storing it underground, the plant will produce electricity from coal without adding to the atmosphere the greenhouse gases that are said to be responsible for global warming.The Energy Department has pledged to spend $1.1 billion on the project, which is expected to have a total cost of about $1.5 billion. An alliance of coal users and producers, known as the FutureGen Alliance, will raise another $400 million to $600 million for the project.The FutureGen project will be an important measure of whether "clean coal" can be a reality, or whether it's just an empty marketing slogan from the coal industry.

News reports Thursday that North Allegheny school district settled a 3-year contract extension with teachers that included a 2.3 percent annual pay raise and inceased employee contributions for heatlh care was a pleasant surprise.A statement issued by the North Allegheny board said "the agreement is fair to our teachers and also to our taxpayers." Such an attitude of restraint would be a welcome change in Butler County.Earlier this year, Butler School District awarded teachers annual salary increases just under 4.5 percent for three years. In March, Slippery Rock school officials approved raises of over 4 percent. In late 2008, Seneca Valley gave teachers gave wage increases of 4.7 percent.Butler County taxpayers have to wonder why the fiscal restraint witnessed at North Allegheny is absent here.