Housing market stirs, but holds economy back

The housing recession in the United States is already on its third year. It's estimated that it will stay in a recession for many more years. The main problem is from the huge number of homes on the market due to forclosures. There were 3 million houses foreclosed in 2010. Since there's so many homes on the market, there are less being built. On the other hand, since prices on these homes are lower than they usually would be, there could be more sales.
I'm not surprised that this is a problem still. I'm not really sure what I would do to try to fix it, though. Since inflation and unemployment are both so high, options are limited. With so many people still homeless in our country, it would be nice to use these foreclosed homes to give them a place to stay.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41180293/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/

Reform the tax code? Yeah, goodluck with that

President Obama is seriously looking at simplifying the tax code. It's gotten confusing to a point where almost everyone needs help online or from a professional to fill out tax forms. There are so many deductions to both individuals and businesses. On average, a person gets $8,000 in deductions per year. When we have over a trillion dollar deficit, some question whether or not it's wise to be giving back that much money to everybody. It's a difficult decision for the president to make because there'd be so much to do. This would not be an easy task. Not to mention all the people that count on their yearly deductions would be furious to hear that could be coming to an end. Legislatives thought is that if they cut deductions down, then they can lower the overall tax rate while still generating the same amount of revenue.
I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this idea. I know how my parents say things are tax deductible and that's obviously nice for any person. I also see what the government is saying, however. I'm scared to do my taxes for the first time when I'm older because I would have no idea what I was doing. I wouldn't be able to make sense with all the different deductions, and it would be hard to pay somebody when you aren't making that kind of money yet. No matter what they decide to do about the tax code, it needs to be very well thought out.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41181142/ns/business-tax_tactics/

More than a million immigrants land U.S. jobs

Approximately 1.1 million immigrants have received jobs from 2008 to 2010. It's estimated that 35% of these people were here illegally. Businesses tend to hire someone who is an immigrant because they don't have to pay payroll taxes and the person is willing to do the work for a lower wage. This is a problem in the United States because our unemployment is so high. With more people landing jobs here than are available for it's citizens, that 9.4% unemployment rate won't decrease much. Many of these jobs are construction type work or jobs that not many Americans are willing to do. One thing President Obama is considering is tightening the border and being more strict about illegal immigrants.
I definitely think we need to come up with a stronger set of rules for these employers and immigrants. Businesses shouldn't be allowed to hire them if they aren't citizens because they're cheating the system. Plus, they're putting so many more people out of work by not hiring them. This may be a free-enterprise system, but it doesn't mean they can go against the law that way. I understand they're probably just trying to support a family and everything too, but sometimes a country, especially one as strong as the United States, needs to look out for its own.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41182482/ns/business-us_business/

Global food chain stretched to the limit

There's an extreme shortage of food production around the world, which may cause an increase in food prices. People are worried this will lead to riots, like it did 3 years ago. This is a worldwide problem, but particularly in the United States there's a shortage on corn and soybeans. It's guessed that these 2 items are down because our country is selling more of them to China than in the past years. The weather plays a huge role in food production. Obviously when the weather is bad and crops aren't getting proper rainfall, less food is produced. Another reason why food prices may rise is that oil prices are increasing. This causes shipping costs to go up, so when food is being transported from place to place, it costs a business more money and they need to sell it for more to compensate for that price difference. In the United States, we actually spend more of our money on processed food, which includes all the money it takes to package and advertise these products. There are many countries that are worse off than we are, including countries in South America and Africa. They will feel this price change even more.

It's scary to think about our country running low on food when things aren't very good with our economy. With so many people unemployed, how will they be able to buy all the food that they need/want when prices go up? I'm worried for the United States, but even more so for these countries in Africa. They don't have as many options as we do and that can be a scary thing. I think we need to realize the seriousness of the situation and take care of our food supply as best we can.
http://http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41062817/ns/business-consumer_news/

U.S. businesses stepped up hiring in December

The unemployment rate has lowered this moneth from 9.8% to 9.4%. This was due to the 103,000 added jobs. This seems promising for our economy, although there's still a long ways to go. Another reason the unemployment rate fell was because the government changed the requirements for being considered unemployed. Once a person stops looking for work they are no longer considered unemployed. This could have also accounted for the drop in numbers. Whatever reason it may be, this is the largest decline in unemployment for just one month since April of 1998. Obama gave a speech in Maryland that referred to these numbers. He sees this as a slow growth, but cautions that it will indeed take a lot of time. Also, this past holiday spending was the best in the last 4 years. There is predicted to be more spending like this in 2011 due to the payroll tax cut. People will have more money to spend, therefore boosting the economy. It's reassuring to see that perhaps, finally, the end to this recession is in sight.

After talking so much about the unemployment rate in class, it's wonderful news to hear that it is dropping slowly but surely. We've been in a recession so long that it's nice to know that we may be able to dig our way out of it. It's not going to be easy, but America needs to become a more economical threat like we used to be. We're definitely capable of this power if we can become stable again. I felt really bad for people who were looking for work, but just couldn't find any. It's a really good thing that we're making these strides.
http://http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40960689/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/

Navy orders investigation into raunchy videos

Four to five years ago, a racy video was discovered on board the USS Enterprise, which is an aircraft carrier. When the video was found, the U.S. Navy ordered an investigation to take place. Finally, they are able to bring their findings to the public. Captain Owen Honors was in charge of making the video. They are deciding whether or not he will be punished for his actions, but one thing is probable: he won't be in charge for the next deployment of the USS Enterprise. Apparently while on deployment, slightly dirty videos are shown to the crew to "boost morale," but this video crossed the line. Capt. Honors claimed it boosted morale, but it actually offended most of the sailors on board.

I think this is disgusting. Can't people control themselves while their deployed for 6 months at a time? They shouldn't be sending this image to the public. That's not what the Navy is supposed to be about. They're supposed to protect the country, not have crude fun with their buddies on a boat. Owen Honors is an adult, he should have known what was appropriate and what wasn't, and he should have taken charge and never made a video that bad. Personally I believe he should be punished. If people are saying it crossed the line, then it obviously crossed the line.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40877392/ns/us_news-life/

Ohio hospital's 'street med' team serves homeless

Health care isn't the main worry for homeless people. There are so many other things to worry about. In Ohio, there are some medical professionals who travel to these people and offer to help them. One of the places they travel to is Mount Carmel Outreach. Some of the things they do for these people include: tending broken bones or wounds, supplying medicine, check blood pressure, and refer to other places for deeper medical attention. Since the life-span of someone living on the streets is only 62 years old, this health care is much appreciated and much needed. Another positive thing is that the doctors and nurses form relationships with the homeless people. In fact, some doctors/nurses brought gifts for Christmas to these people. Everybody is very grateful for the help.

Reading this article just made me feel really happy that there are people who are doing this. It really shows a lot about their community. I think it's extremely important for everyone to have the chance to receive health care. This made me curious as to whether or not we have something like this here in Alexandria. Obviously we have homeless people living here, nearly every town does, but are we doing anything to help them stay healthy and reach their maximum life expectancy? If we aren't, I think it's time we start.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40874069/ns/health/