Census shows slowing US growth, brings GOP gains

Republicans are gaining about six senate seats because of the 2010 census. The biggest gain was Texas, gaining four seats for Republicans. For the first time California did not gain any seats. Also the census showed that the population is increasing slower than in the past. Some of the reason for the slow population increase is because of the economic down turn causing births and immigration to slow.
This involves government because the census shows how many seats each state gets in the Senate. Whether the state is more Republican or Democrat will determine what decision they will most likely make.
Having a regular census is very beneficial to our country. By having a census each state gets a fair amount of seats in the Senate. This also showed me how much the economy has an impact on each of us, influencing the things that you buy and even impacting decisions on whether you have a baby or not.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101221/ap_on_go_ot/us_census2010_count

Gay Republican and possible 2012 presidential candidate Fred Karger talks to the DC

America might have its first gay president if Fred Karger runs in the 2012 election. Karger is a unique Republican who plans to run in the middle. He calls himself an independent Republican. He has no experience running for an office, but has helped with campaigns before. He helped legalize gay marriage in California. He supports the legislation of medicinal marijuana and sensible gun control. He has also supported both Republicans and Democrats in the past.
This deals with government because this guy could be our next president and in control of our country.
I do not think Fred Karger should run for president. He does not have a lot of experience to run our country. How would he run American when he has never run a state or even a town? I also do not believe in the legislation of medical marijuana and he does.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20101231/pl_dailycaller/gayrepublicanandpossible2012presidentialcandidatefredkargertalkstothedc

Jobless Claims Lowest in Two Years -- Bad News Is: Still 388,000 Applicants and a Near 10 Percent Jobless Rate

The jobless rate has dropped to the lowest point it has been since 2008, almost 10 percent. There were however 388,000 jobless claims this past month. The economy is still in trouble. There are 150,000 new workers joining the work force each month and only 39,000 job openings each month. For every job opening there are five applications. The economy has been going downhill for 3 years and the government says that they are not in the business of creating jobs.
This has a lot to do with the government because they say they are not responsible for creating jobs. They have an impact on the economy and what is done about it.
I think that the government is being wishy-washy. They say they are going to fix the economy and then they say it is not their job. Something needs to be done. We can’t just ignore the fact that the economy is in trouble. The government needs to be very careful with their spending and more jobs need to be created.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20101231/bs_ac/7480892_jobless_claims_lowest_in_two_years__bad_news_is_still_388000_applicants_and_a_near_10_percent_jobless_rate

Despite bloodshed, Obama touts Afghan war progress

President Obama says that we will begin to bring troops home from Afghanistan in July of 2011 and that we will be totally out by 2014. On the other hand Robert Gates says that it is too early to tell and Hilary Clinton thinks that Obama needs to be a little more realistic.
It sounds like President Obama is just saying this to make people happy like the left wing of his Democratic Party. No one really seems to believe him. I feel like the government needs to be honest with us. They should not be telling us something that they don’t even believe to make people happy. I think they should make a plan and a goal for the war that is realistic and then work towards that goal.
This has a lot to do with government because the government decides whether or not a nation is involved in war. Also war is usually about who is in control of the government and political issues.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_usa_afghanistan;_ylt=AnjocX6.m7pQcMVAPhoKxBWyFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTJuMGhtNmUyBGFzc2V0

Obama calls for 2-year freeze on federal pay

Federal workers may not be getting any raises or bonuses any time in the next two years; this would affect about 2 million people. This is the first of many ways to help with the budgets shortfalls. This freeze would affect all civilian federal employees, but not military personnel. The budget cut is expected to save 5 billion dollars in two years. This proposal still has to be approved by Congress.
I think that we do need to make changes in the way our country spends its money. Our country is 14 trillion dollars in debt. The article said, “It would not affect members of Congress or their staffs, defense contractors, postal workers or federal court judges and workers.” Well if this proposal does not affect any of those people who does it affect? Why can’t we just stop spending so much money and not freeze pay?

Palin hits back at Obama, media after slip-up

Sarah Palin says that the media is singling out her word slip-ups. Palin urged people to "stand with our North Korean allies," by mistake. Sarah Palin quickly corrected herself afterwards. Sarah Palin also pointed out that President Obama has had many slip-ups. Many people don’t know about these verbal slip-ups because the media has not made a big deal over them. An example would be on May 9, 2008, Barak Obama said, "I've now been in 57 states, I think one left to go." He meant to say 47 states though.
I think that it is not right that Sarah Palin gets treated harsher and every mistake she makes is pointed out and so quickly judged. If you are going to be so hard on her then why not be hard on Obama too? Everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect. So you can expect slip-ups and mistakes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101126/pl_afp/uspoliticsmediapalin

Plane with student pilot violates DC air space

Two fighter jets had to cut off a plan that went into the restricted zone over Washington, D.C. area. The plane was being flown by a student pilot and no one else was in the plane. The plane landed without any problems and was met by law enforcement. The plane went into the outer ring of the restricted area but not the inner ring.
This incident deals with our government because the reason there is a restricted zone over Washington is in order to keep our President safe. If a plane is flying over D.C. the people who protect the security of our government officials will know something will be alerted to potential danger. I think it is a good idea to have a restricted flying zone over Washington D.C. So many government officials work in D.C. and this is a way to try to protect them. The events of 9/11 have shown us how important it is to secure our airways.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101122/ap_on_go_ot/us_small_plane_dc_airspace

Somali-born teen plotted car-bombing in Ore.

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a 19 year old teenager in Portland plotted to blow up a van with bombs in it at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The bombs were fake, supplied by the FBI. The teen dialed a number on his cell phone to explode the bombs but really just called the FBI and police, who came rushing to him. The FBI was given a tip about it and so was able to get in on it. He had been think and planning this since he was 15 years old. Mohamed Osman Mohamud could get life in prison for attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
I am so glad the FBI was in on this and was able to stop it from happening. This guy could have killed so many people like he wanted to. Terrorism is a big problem in our country and needs to be stopped.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_portland_car_bomb_plot

Va man charged in fake bomb plot against DC subway

A bomb plot was being planned by a Pakistani-born man in Virginia and he was arrested on Wednesday. He was arrested for trying to bomb the metro system around Washington D.C. The man was going to use a rolling suitcase to care the bomb and try to kill as many people as he could. He wanted to also donate money to al-Qaiada. The FBI says that people were not in danger and that they knew about this man. The man thought that government workers were al-Qaiada operatives. The man was arrested and charged with multiple bomb and terrorist charges.
I think it is so good that the FBI caught on early to this. This could have been a really bad situation if the FBI did not catch on. Many people could have been killed. I think it is horrible that someone would want to kill people for no reason, People who did nothing to hurt him. I think it is good that we are watching out for terrorist and not ignoring it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101028/ap_on_go_ot/us_terror_arrest

Palin gives strong indication of 2012 presidential run

It looks like Sarah Palin will be running for President in the 2012 presidential election. Palin was governor of Alaska and left midway through her term to run for vice president with John McCain. Sarah Palin and her family have been bashed more then most people in politics. Sarah Palin is 45 with 5 kids. She has written a book about her life and now has a TV show about her.
I think Sarah Palin should run for president. I think she would make a great president. It would be so cool to have our first women president. She has gone through so much with the media and not given up or lashed back. She would be strong and have good ideas for America. I think we should give she a chance and see what she has to offer. I think Sarah Palin is so brave to go after being president even though all the criticism she has gotten.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101028/ts_alt_afp/usvotepoliticspalin

Tests warned of cement troubles before BP blowout

BP's blowout of their oil well, causing an oil spill, is being investigated. The blowout of the well caused 11 deaths and the biggest oil spill in US history. The cement used to seal the well is being investigated. A foam slurry created by injecting nitrogen into cement was used for the well. Some people have disagreed with this choose. An e-mail sent to BP by Halliburton stated that the cement could fail. Test show that the cement was flawed. Many are blaming the design of the well and BP’s decision not to run a test to make sure the cement was set properly as well as the cement.
I think it a shame this happened. I think that when a company could potently be dangerous and could hurt many people, actions need to be done to keep those bad things from happening. Is a serious matter, there is great danger from this. I think we can learn a lot from this event. I think oil wells need to have stricter laws to keep the wells from exploding. We can’t walk away from this without changing something so it will not happen again.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101028/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_cement

72,000 stimulus payments went to dead people

What is the government doing with our tax money? 22.3 million dollars from the stimulus payments just went to dead people or people who were in prison. 18 million dollars went to people who were dead and 4.3 million dollars went to people who were in prison. A little over half of the money given to dead people or people in prison were returned. The stimulus payments went to people to try to increase
consumer spending. In all 52 million people received a stimulus payment of 250 dollars.
This is a lot of money we are talking about, about 13 billion dollars to be exact. The government should be more careful when they are giving out money. They should have spent more time going over reports and checking. It makes me nerves to trust them with my money.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101008/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_stimulus_checks_dead_people

Obama calls for longer school year

Obama wants students to go to school longer. He says that students in America go to school a month less then students in other country. He also wants to evaluate teachers based on students' test performance. He does not want teachers to oppose this idea. Obama feels we can change the school calendar because students to not need to help their family out on their farm like in the past.
I think that a longer school year will not help students. If Obama wants to change the school calender then i think it would be a better idea to have shorter brakes but the same amount of school days. So an example would be two months of school 2 weeks off. Then students are less likely to forget the things they have learned. Students need a brake and should not be going to school all year round. this is just going to get them discouraged. students need a time to just be kids and enjoy them self. life is more then just going to school. there is so much more we can learn out of school like teamwork through sports, community service, responsibility that comes with a job, and so much more.
this involves government because school cost the government money. Obama also says that being behind in our education puts us at a disadvantage in the global economic.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/obama-calls-for-longer-school-year

Carter says Kennedy delayed health care years ago

Jimmy Carter says that we could have had health care years ago if Sen. Edward Kennedy had not stop it. Kennedy, who died in August of 2009, blocked Carters proposed plan of health care. Carter says that Kennedy was malicious and did not want to see him succeed. Kennedy tried to run for president, but Carter beat him out of the 1980 Democratic presidential nomination. Carter then lost to Ronald Regan. Kennedy had a complete health care plan approach and Carter's plan would have taken a few years to work out.
This deals with government because if Carter would have gotten his plan passed then Obama would probably not care so much about his health care bill. I think Jimmy Carter should move on. A new health care bill as been created and all that Jimmy Carter has recently mentioned happened over 30 years ago. I can understand how Carter feels, it had to hurt to have someone try to stop you from succeeding. I also feel like Carter is just trying to get the last word in through this interview. I think he should leave it up to Obama now.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100917/ap_on_go_ot/us_carter_kennedy

Fidel Latest to say Cuba's Communism Doesn't Work

Fidel Castro just shared some news with the world. Cuba's Communism doesn't work. In the first interview Fidel gave to America since he left the office four years ago he says that they need to change. This is not a surprise because Fidel's brother, Raul, has been saying the same thing. But everyone is surprised to hear it come from Fidel Castro. Raul wants slow and widespread change. The government controls just about all of the economy. The government pays workers a monthly salary (how would you like to be payed around $20 a month?) and then pays for health insurance, housing, education, and transportation. Cuba's economy has been hurt because of the world wide economy fall, three upsetting hurricanes, and other reasons. Cuba does not want to leave their socialist system but wants the people to except less from them.
This really shows how the whole world is hurting from the economy not just the US. So communism does not work. Maybe it would be worth Cuba trying a democracy.

Republicans Eye McCain's Millions in Excess '08 Funds

With money tight and the economy uncertain, everyone wants to know where big money from politicians will go. Everyone wants money to go to their favorite organization or their company. Now everyone wants to know where John McCain's extra money will go. McCain used 7.5 million in his victory of the Arizona Republican Primary. But there is still a lot of money left over, about 17 million left as of June 30th. McCain had to submit a post-election audit because he participated in public financing program. McCain’s fund was known as McCain-Palin Compliance Fund Inc. Many people think that he should give the money to the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee.
This topic has a lot to do with the government because money and politicians have a lot to do with it. I think that the money should be used for a good cause like charity or even to help the Republican Party to help get more republics in office. This is a hard decision because so many are in need of help.