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WASHINGTON — If Congress reduces transportation spending to the level of revenue flowing into the Highway Trust Fund, as some in Congress are suggesting, states are likely to spend their federal money to maintain existing roads and raise money for new highways from tolls and private investors, a new report said.

Federal Reserve officials boosted their projections for 2013-2014 economic growth and said they would begin a third round of asset purchases to spur the U.S. economy, Bloomberg reported.

The consumer price index rose in August 0.6%, the most since June 2009, the Labor Department said Friday.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers joined trucking and transportation officials in criticizing the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, saying it targets safe carriers for unfair scrutiny.

The government’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program needs changes in order to be better able to achieve its stated goals, a trucking industry official representing American Trucking Associations told a congressional panel Thursday.

Two prominent groups called on Congress to support the nation’s priority highway safety grant program when it considers federal funding legislation, saying that failure to do so would result in increased highway deaths and injuries.

The political bickering that has engulfed much of the federal government over the past months and months is apparently weighing heavily on the nation’s economy.