Economy -- Housing Starts Lowest in 17 Years: Housing starts tumbled nearly 12 percent in March to their lowest level since March 1991, with big declines in all four national regions, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000, a decline of 11.9 percent from February, according to a joint Commerce and Housing and Urban Development report released yesterady. The year-on-year decline is 36.5 percent. Story. War Spending -- FY 08-09 Combo in the Works: CQ is reporting that House Democratic Leadership is putting together a war supplemental package that would combine the remainder of the president's FY 2008 war supplemental request ($102B) with his FY 2009 request ($70B). The $170+B measure would likely be the last funding request by President Bush for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Earmarks -- Coconut Grove Earmark Vote Today: A Senate vote is expected today on an amendment by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) to the "technical corrections" highway bill that would create an investigative committee to figure out $10 million for expanding I-75 near Fort Myers, Fla. got into the 2005 highway bill. A Florida developer with ties to the project had helped raise $40,000 for the re-election campaign of Rep. Don Young (R-AK), then the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Story. Stimulus 2.0 -- UI Extension: By a 23-13 vote, a bill (HR 5749) that would extend unemployment benefits for 13 weeks (beyond the current limit of 26 weeks) was approved by the House Ways & Means Committee yesterday. The extension will likely be part of a broader measure designed to stimulate the economy and mitigate economic hardship.