ISSUE #2 - Spending What We Can Afford

Both the president and congress come up with the federal budget. The president first gives his ideas and then he sends it to congress where they give their own input and approve it. The budget outlines the nation's priorities and explains their goals and how they plan to accomplish them. Over the past few decades, the government has spent more than it has received. By spending so much, entitlement spending programs are threatened. An example of this is that Social Security currently is spending less than it takes in. However, after 2017 it will be spending more than it receives due to the fact that so many more people will be drawing off of it and less people will be paying in. Another example is that Medicare is currently spending more in benefits than it is receiving in taxes. Congress says that in order to take care of this problem they are going to use a spending system called paygo. An argument against paygo are that taxes will increase in order to pay for new programs. An argument for paygo is that it will help congress realize the deficits and that they need to stay on top of it.

I believe that paygo is a pretty good idea. Who knows if its going to work well but why not give it a shot? At least this program would make congress take a look at where the money is actually being spent. Congress has been known to overpay some of its bills. Its no wonder why the national debt is so high! A few months ago, President Obama supported a paygo law and actually proposed one.

President Obama's paygo proposal http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/09/obama.paygo/

ISSUE #1 - War Dollars http://papaschmoltz.blogspot.com/2010/02/issue-1-war-dollars.html

ISSUE #3 - Social Insecurity http://tubs9.blogspot.com/2010/02/social-insecurity-issue-3.html

Coroner: Casey Johnson died of natural causes

Casey Johnson, who was the heiress to the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Company, died because of natural causes due to her diabetes. She was found dead at a friend's home on January 4th. She died of diabetic ketoacidosis, the coroner found. The Mayo Clinic describes her condition as a serious complication of untreated diabetes. Her lover, Tila Tequila, is mourning Johnson's death. Johnson's family also is.

I kind of feel like she deserved what she got because she didn't take good care of her body, especially because she had diabetes. I remember hearing that she did drugs all day, everyday, and that's not taking care of yourself especially when you have diabetes. I'm not saying that her death was a good thing. Just saying it doesn't surprise me since she wasn't taking care of herself properly.

www.cnn.com