To many lobbyists, 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.
''We have a president who gets it,'' said Dean Garfield, the president of the Information Technology Industry Council, which recently identified the Senate initiatives in a short list of its top priorities.
A 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 the most from the proposed legislation were also working to help shape it before Obama had even won the election.
''We have a president who gets it,'' said Dean Garfield, the president of the Information Technology Industry Council, which recently identified the Senate initiatives in a short list of its top priorities.
A 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 the most from the proposed legislation were also working to help shape it before Obama had even won the election.
