From Tribune's Washington Bureau:

Even as President Barack Obama told the nation's mayors they now have a friend in the White House, he warned that he would use the "full power" of the presidency to expose and crack down on them if they misuse the economic stimulus dollars meant to boost the economy out of its doldrums.

Obama cautioned the mayors that the American people had placed their trust in their political leaders to spend the $787 billion wisely and that such trust would be squandered if mayors and other officials wound up wasting the money on dubious projects.

"If a federal agency proposes a project that will waste that money, I will not hesitate to call them out on it and put a stop to it," Obama told the mayors who were gathered in the White House. "And I want everybody here to be on notice that if a local government does the same. I will call them out on it and use the full power of my office and our administration to stop it."

Great thoughts, but how will abuse be exposed when the nation's newsrooms are shrinking? How will Obama know if mayors are wasting money on dubious projects if enough reporters aren't around to check them out?