Balance of Power

Maybe too vivid a story. On Tuesday, Caterpillar reported its first net loss in 16 years and lowered earnings forecasts due to uncertainty about the effects of the stimulus. Even worse, the bulldozer manufacturer's CEO, Jim Owens, a trained economist who's a member of the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, called the stimulus "disappointing" and praised recovery efforts launched by China, which initiated its own stimulus plan and dramatically cut central bank interest rates.

"We think China has it right," Caterpillar Chief Financial Officer Dave Burritt told Bloomberg. "The majority of their package is on infrastructure spending. We are seeing life there. We are seeing the turnaround. We would like to see a more robust infrastructure package in the United States."

The administration defends the stimulus as the biggest public investment in infrastructure since President Eisenhower launched construction of the Interstate Highway System in 1956.

But they know the climate change plan will be an even tougher sell. Among the sticking points is how to sell carbon emissions allowances, and how to distribute the proceeds to various clean-energy programs. Bet the administration leans toward subsidizing wind power through mandates that require utilities to buy a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources like wind farms.