Think you can spend the public's money better than the government has? Well, you should check out the National Priorities Project here to find out how your congressional district could have spent the money we gave to the richest 1% in tax cuts this year. And for an example of how federal budget cuts are affecting local communities, take a look at this article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cleveland has lost a quarter of the federal money it gets to spend each year on community development over the past decade -- close to $10 million annually -- while consistently claiming the title as one of the nation's poorest cities. Because the flexible Community Development Block Grants can be steered to an almost unlimited array of programs, from AIDS prevention to vacant-house demolition, the money is particularly crucial to urban areas trying to fight the widespread damage poverty inflicts. The money helps people "make the connection to the economic mainstream," explained Bruce Katz, director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington.