Issue #1 - War Dollars

In 2008 President Bush added $4 trillion to our national debt to bring it to nearly record highs of over $9 trillion. Now it is over $12 trillion and is continuing to rise. Over the last 8 years, the number has done nothing but rise and it is nearly all due to our decision to go to war. Every American knows that we are at war and have been ever since 9/11, but people were so caught up in the idea of getting back and Iraq and Afghanistan that they didn't realize just how much this war would cost. People still believe that the cause is good but now the majority of people believe that we have done nothing but waste money. We did put away some terrible people and have most likely brought the terror threat way down but for the most part it was just money being wasted. In the past, Congress has used its power to put more control on the amount of money being spent for a war. All war bills or requests cannot take effect until Congress has approved them and if spending is getting out of hand from what has already been approved, Congress can intervene and put a stop to it. This whole idea is called "power of the purse". This has been the case before during the Vietnam War when Congress put a cap on the amount of troops and also in 1982 when they wouldn't allow President Reagan to fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. With Congress having the ability to do this, people are starting to wonder why they are not doing it now. This war has not done much for our country other than put us deeper in the hole. If Congress is thinking the same way as the people are, they should step in and put a stop to all this unneeded spending.

I think Congress needs to step in and stop our countries spending overseas. I believe we have done our job over there, especially in Iraq, and it is time to make some changes. I think that the real problem is in Afghanistan now and that we should be more focused on that country. We are only wasting our money and our troops' lives in Iraq. I think we should send most of the troops from Iraq into Afghanistan and the ones that stay behind should only be there to help out the rebuilding of the country and its infrastructure. By doing this we are balancing our spending out way more and will no longer need to increase the amount of money being used over there. Al Qaida is more of a problem than anything right now so it should be focused on. About a year ago, President Obama had the same idea. He backed the pentagons plan of sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. He believes that not enough has been done in Afghanistan and says "we've got to ramp up our development approach." This is the same way I think things should go because it just a big waste over in Iraq.

Issue #2 - Spending What We Can Afford

Issue #3 - Social Insecurity

Who will light Vancouver's Olympic flame?

There are many names out there right now about who will light the Olympic Torch this year in Vancouver. Names such as Terry Fox, Wayne Gretzky, Rick Hanson, Cindy Klassen, and even Sidney Crosby are all being considered. I, personally, do not know much at all about Terry Fox and honestly don't have a huge preference as to who should light it. If I had to choose, though, I would definitely pick Gretzky. He is one of the greatest hockey players of all time and would fit the role perfectly because of him being a Canada native and it being the winter games. I think Rick Hanson would fit the role well also but I don't see him being the one to do it considering he has already traveled thousands of miles with the torch around the world. I feel as though he has already had a great opportunity and does not need to be in the glory any more. I think someone else deserves to do the lighting of the torch. I also think any other previous Olympic athlete from Canada is a great candidate for the lighting and deserves to do it. Still, though, I think Gretzky should be doing it because he is the most widely known and was such a great player that he really would be the perfect person for it.

Read more about these people at:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-features/news/newsid=384587.html

Haiti: UN launches largest-ever appeal for natural disaster

The massive earthquake in Haiti last month caused some of the worst damages following a natural disaster. This extreme quake has resulted in the need of the largest appeal ever following a natural disaster. The $1.5 billion will go to the need of the people living in Haiti with such things as education, emergency shelter, telecommunications, agriculture, and health and nutrition.

I think this appeal is extremely important and a very good thing. The money is needed unbelievably to help out Haiti in its recovery. I am in very much support of this appeal because of how much it is needed. I like the idea of this whole appeal because it is coming from the UN so it is a combination of countries supporting the cause. I believe the U.S. has helped out extremely by sending troops there and many volunteers and other support such as supplies, food, water, and various education supplies. Many times when the U.S. supports another country is after a war or something and a lot of the times I am not in support of it because the country does not always deserve the aid. In this situation, though, I am giving all my support because there was nothing that could have prevented this earthquake. It was all natural and I believe that Haiti deserves all the support that everyone and anyone can give.

More information at:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33815&Cr=haiti&Cr1=

Toyota posts $1.7 billion quarterly profit

Toyota has recently just announced that they have produced a $1.7 billion profit in the last quarter. This number is very large considering the companies recent car malfunctions with the sticking gas pedals and brakes. This large profit is also due to the fact that many other major car companies are struggling right now. Toyota is also expecting a profit through March when they were earlier expecting a huge loss. This is somehow being expected even though their stock has tumbled about 22%.

This article surprised me very much because of the major issues Toyota has been having. I figured with all these problems they have been having, the companies sales would be way down lately. Apparently, though, I was wrong. I am not surprised, however, that Toyota is probably doing a bit better than other major car companies. Those other companies are on the downfall and are having more problems than just a few malfunctions. This whole recession just started problems and they continued to grow and get worse and worse. It doesnt seem like there is a company out there right now that is not having problems so it shouldnt be too surprising to see Toyota's stock on the downfall. I think that they really need to solve their problems in their cars or their problems will get extremely terrible because people will begin to stop buying their cars.

Read more at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35230344/

Fewer unauthorized immigrants in U.S. in 2009, government says

In 2008 there was 11.6 million illegal immigrants in the United States. In 2009 there was 10.8 million which is 800,000 less. About 62% of this number were immigrants coming from Mexico while the other 38% consist of people from Asia, Canada, and other various southern countries. California is the state with the leading number of illegal immigrants with about 24% of the total. The falling numbers of illegal immigrants are said to be due to our countries recession in the past few years.

The falling number of illegal immigrants in the United States is a number that, in my opinion, should continue to fall. I don't like that there are millions of illegal people in our country taking our jobs and eating our food. I have absolutely no problem with anyone coming here legally because it is just the right thing to be allowed but when it is illegal it is not right. I think we need to have better restrictions and security on our borders to reduce the number of incoming illegal immigrants coming into our country. The thing that probably annoys me the most is how these people are taking our jobs. Our country is having major problems with unemployment and our economy lately and I think that any available jobs should be going to those unemployed people that are actually citizens of our country. It does not seem fair at all the people living here illegally can even get a job in this country when we are having problems like we are.

Please read more at:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/10/illegal.immigrants/index.html?npt=NP1