Abortion

Abortion is a topic that its frequently debated in the United States and was an issue that complicated the passage of the healthcare bill. In this issue, you are either pro-choice (for abortion) or pro-life (against abortion). You will often find that most democrats will take up the pro-choice side of the argument and that republicans will side on the other.

Recently, house republicans have been urging Florida Governer Charlie Crist to support a bill that prohibits the use of public funds for abortions. Although I am entirely pro-choice, I agree that tax payers should not have to pay for elective abortions. Getting elective abortions should not be a process that comes without any sort of penalty or cost because then there would be no incentive for many try to not get pregnant when they could always get a free abortion. Women should always have the choice to get an elective abortion, but it should not be something that tax dollars are used for.

Republicans

The Republican party often receives a lot of criticism. Some of the many stereotypes of a typical republican include: old, rich, white, red neck, highly religious, racist, pro-life and against gay marriage. It seems that many of the stereotypes out there are more negative for the republicans than for the democrats.
One of the major things that I like about the republican party is their history of being fiscally conservative. Government spending can get a lot of things done, but it can also lead to trouble. When it comes to taxes, I like how the republicans tend to limit taxation, but that is probably based largely on the fact my family doesnt face too many large financial problems, and that I work and have to pay taxes. Since I am young and want all the money that I can get my hands on, and it is no fun to look at the deductions on the slip of paper that I receive with each paycheck that I get. Its even worse when I get to see the totals when I file tax returns and what my parents have to pay to the government. This may seem very selfish, but I realize to an extent that taxes are needed. This probably will not change until I am a little older. The republican party's unity is something that should be respected, as it is truly impressive that a party can operate as a unit and come together on an issue like they can.
I am not a very religious person and believe in evolution, so in just about any issue where religion is brought into play, I almost always end up siding with the democrats. As I said in my previous post, I side very strongly with the democrats on the issues of gay marriage and abortion. I feel that what the republicans use to justify some of their arguments is based upon old thinking that they try to apply in a changing world.

Democrats

Finding out which political party best suits you is not a clear cut decision most of the time because often, people find themselves somewhere in between the two. I often find myself siding with the democratic party on many issues, although on different issues, I feel myself being more convinced by the conservative point of view.

There are things happening in the Democratic party that I agree with, and other things that disapprove of. The stereotypes of democrats often include: hippies, weak in terms of defense, pro-gay marriage, pro-choice...and the list goes on. Democrats are often seen as people that are young and/or poor. I find many of these stereotypes ridiculous and I side with this party's belief on the issues of gay marriage and abortion.

One of the cons of the Democratic party in my opinion is the party's weakness in the area of defense spending since I feel that this is an important aspect of our nation that should be taken seriously. Another thing about the party is that it seems to be full of people who I find annoying or borderline insane, but that isn't to say that there aren't a few people like that in the republican party. Another problem with the democratic party as a whole that is commonly brought up is their lack of togetherness or unity that the republicans seem to possess. A quote from humor columnist Dave Barry describes this problem:

The Democrats seem to be basically nicer
people, but they have demonstrated time
and again that they have the management
skills of celery. They're the kind of people
who'd stop to help you change a flat, but
would somehow manage to set your car on
fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them
with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy.

Poverty and Homelessness

Part I:
Poverty is a widespread problem throughout the world and in the United States. The issue of poverty will never go away, but the situation can always be improved. Over the past few years in the United States, the number of people below the poverty line has been growing. More recently, these numbers have been increasing much more rapidly as a result of our current economic situation. According to data from the 2009 Census report, the poverty threshold for a single person under the age of 65 in 2009 is $11,161 per year, any person earning less than that is considered to be in poverty. The poverty threshold for a family of four with two kids under the age of 18 is $21,756 per year. According to the most recent census report, the poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2%, the highest since 1997. This was an increase over 2007’s poverty rate which was 12.5%. This was the first large increase since 2004 when the poverty rate increased from 12.5% in 2003 to 12.7% in 2004, a much smaller increase than that between the years 2007 and 2008. The census report estimated that in the year 2008 39.8 million people in the U.S. were below the poverty line, up from 37.3 million the previous year. Poverty is a very important issue, as it can lead to many other problems in a nation. The overall health of an economy, as well as the nation as a whole, can be indicated by the number of people that are below the poverty line.
Poverty and homelessness are two issues that are very closely related as poverty often leads to homelessness. Addressing either of these two issues can help out the other because they are so closely tied together. In the United States, home and rental vacancies have also been increasing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, home vacancy rates are 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009. In comparison, the home vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2000 was 1.6%. The rental vacancy rate for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 10.7%, while in the fourth quarter of 2000, the vacancy rate was 7.8%. It is clear that we are facing a problem in the housing market and the economy, indicated by the rising vacancy rates. Poverty and homelessness is looked upon as an issue that needs to be fixed. There are many programs and organizations dedicated to addressing these issues. Poverty also has a way of affecting communities; helping out the poor can have a positive effect on the community that they are in and can often result in greater improvements in an area’s education, house prices, and happiness of the members in that community. People often look down upon those who are homeless or poor because they are often seen as lazy or not willing to work and the visual aspects poverty are not desirable in communities. Many of these people are actually struggling to support their families and could use a little help. An NPR article about poverty in America found in a poll that they conducted that half of those surveyed believed that government programs designed to help the poor are not having much effect on improving their situation. Despite this, people still believed that the government should continue trying to help the poor and supported the government’s programs, however, support dropped considerably when asked whether they would be willing to support these programs through increased taxes.

Part II:
There are many government programs that are in place that are designed to help out those who are in poverty. This issue is getting larger and larger as more and more people fall under the poverty threshold. The Obama Administration and the previous Bush Administration have noticed this and have been trying to address this growing problem. Countless organizations also join in to help out the poor as well. The way that these programs help the poor are very diverse in the ways that they provide aid. The Obama Administration has announced recently that they are going to adjust how poverty is measured. An article from the Washington Post on the subject said that the way that the government determines the standard for whether someone is in poverty is outdated and was created in the 1960’s and was based on data gathered during the 1950’s. This system was based solely on income and the cost of food. The new system would take into consideration that food has become less of an expense for people and families and that other expenses in life such as housing, medical care, child care, and utilities. The old system will still be used, but the new system will also be used to help the government gain a better understanding of who needs economic aid. Community service programs are also a large source of aid for those who are poor or homeless. AmeriCorps is a large community service program created under President Bill Clinton in 1993 and later expanded by President George W. Bush with the Strengthen AmeriCorps Program Act which doubled the number of members in the program. AmeriCorps works on addressing a wide range of issues through projects and volunteer work in countless communities. A large number of these projects address both the issues of homelessness and poverty. AmeriCorps members can be found in many projects working on solving these issues. I got to work alongside a couple AmeriCorps members while doing my community service with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is not a government organization, but it received participation from U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1984 and his wife, Rosalynn, took their first Habitat for Humanity trip to New York for the Jimmy Carter Work Project. There are countless other organizations that share a similar goal of helping the poor and the homeless.
Economics and poverty are intertwined as poverty and homelessness are part of our economy. What I learned about how our economy is one big system that is affected by each and every thing that happens in it. The collapse of the housing market was one of those things that are just one crucial part of the economy that affected the rest of the economy. A lot of the increases in vacancies and increase in overall poverty can be attributed to the irresponsible lending of the banks and collapse of the housing market that led to the economic situation that we are currently in.

Part III:
There is no one solution for poverty and homelessness, as it is a problem that cannot be simply dealt with. We may not be able to completely get rid of the existence of poverty, but we can work to improve this issue. The government has already created many programs to help out homeowners in need of help with paying their mortgages that has not been as successful as promised, but it still helped some that were struggling. If the government were to create a better program for those who are struggling to support their families by providing some sort of financial aid for goods like food. A better way of dealing with food needs of a family might help ease the problem, but it definitely will not solve it. Another problem with a program such as that one is that it would require funds that the government just does not have. That would result in the need for further taxation, and that would not gain a lot of support among the public. Another alternative way to tackle the issue is through the building of more affordable housing. Housing is one of the most important, as well as costly, needs of an individual. It is hard for many to deal with paying for a house and supporting a family while working a job that does not pay much. By providing affordable housing, we can take the burden off the shoulders of those in poverty by giving them a house payment that they can handle. Organizations like Habitat for Humanity tackle the issues in this way. Habitat for Humanity will go into a community that would benefit by the construction of community service. The organization gives the houses to those who qualify for them and works out a payment that that homeowner can handle. Making sure that they give the houses to the right people is important for the success of the program. This ensures that the person that is receiving the home has the desire and will to turn their life around and that the payments for the houses will be made. This method of dealing with the situation provides those in need an opportunity to get out of their current situation by lessening the financial load that they need to cope with. Programs such as this one can work to help change a community in addition to changing the lives of those who get the homes. Another added benefit of a program like habitat for Humanity is that they are not a government program, so there is not a lot of government spending going on trying to keep the program going.
I learned a couple things from working at Habitat for Humanity. One thing that I learned is that there are people out there that actually care about this issue. Never before had I seen so many people, almost all of them volunteers, work together as a whole to help others. What was also amazing was that everyone went throughout the whole day with a smile on their face and enjoyed helping others. Working in that environment made doing community service that much more enjoyable and I could honestly say that I enjoyed myself and had a great time working with and meeting new people. It was very satisfying feeling that I was helping out others and that I got to work among those who were actually going to be living in these houses that we were constructing. If more people would try out participating in organizations that serve to help out communities, I feel that more people would find that they enjoy that kind of work and the satisfaction that it brings. The world could use more people that enjoy helping out others just because it makes them feel good. Experiences like this give me hope that we could help make this issue better through more programs and organizations like Habitat for Humanity which rely on the good will and intentions of people.

Bizarre Japanese Commercial

umm...thank you cheese and pepper aliens?

President Signs Bill on Student Loans

President Obama signed a bill today to make college more accessible to young Americans by bringing changes to the federal student loan program. A blog post about this event from The Caucus, a NY Times blog, said:

The new law will eliminate fees paid to private banks to act as intermediaries in providing loans to college students and use much of the nearly $68 billion in savings over 11 years to expand Pell Grants and make it easier for students to repay outstanding loans after graduating. The law also invests $2 billion in community colleges over the next four years to provide education and career training programs to workers eligible for Trade Adjustment aid.

The law will increase Pell Grant grants along with inflation in the next few years, which should raise the maximum grant to $5,975 from $5,550 by 2017, according to the White House, and it will also provide 820,000 more grants by 2020. Including money from last year’s stimulus program and regular budget increases, the White House said Mr. Obama has now doubled spending on Pell Grants.

Students who borrow money starting in July 2014 will be allowed to cap their repayments at 10 percent of their income above basic living requirements, instead of 15 percent. Moreover, if they keep up their payments, they will have any remaining debt forgiven after 20 years instead of 25 years – or after 10 years if they are in public service, such as teaching, nursing or serving in the military.

There are many who oppose this bill as there are those who oppose the health care bill. One person argued that the federal loan program would overcharge the students for their loans. It was argued that this bill would result in the loss of many jobs in education and that students would have to rely on 4 federal call centers instead of the 2,000 community and non profit lenders that are available. As with any bill that calls for more government control or aid, there is a controversy. We will have to see whether this program will indeed help college students pay back their debts.

California Home Prices Rose Unexpectedly in January

Housing prices in California for January unexpectedly rose slightly. Although this seems like a great sign that the housing market could be on its way to recovery, some analysts say that another fall could be possible.
expectations about housing's direction remain mixed as a series of government initiatives intended to bolster sales and stabilize values begin to expire. An article from the Los Angeles Times said:

Concern over a potential wave of foreclosures also remains high despite new efforts by the Obama administration to keep struggling borrowers in their homes.

"Forces that will bring home prices back down are mounting," said Patrick Newport, an economist for IHS Global Insight. "Our view is that despite this report, prices have further to fall -- about another 5%."...

...Though many economists expect the extended tax credit to give sales a further boost, they also expect another fall once the government incentive ends.

"It is way too early for this market to have rebounded the way it has," said Christopher Thornberg, principal of Beacon Economics.

With all of these mixed views and opinions on the recovery of the housing market, it is hard to say what is in store for the future. Whether this is a small sign of an improving housing market, or false hope is unknown. The only way to find out is to see how this situation unfolds.

Second Attempt at Mortage Relief

The Obama administration is still working on providing relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. The administration hasnt seen much success in trying to do this in the past, with their last attempt falling short of promised numbers. This new plan is similar to the last one where lenders would be encouraged to reduce payments for the homeowner for six months while they tried to find a job and have the lenders write off some of the loan to lessen the amount of money owed. An editorial from the Dallas News says:

Last spring, the Obama administration predicted its housing plan would help as many as 3 million to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure because lenders would voluntarily renegotiate distressed loans. Most didn't, and only about 169,000 households have received long-term payment relief. A similar plan and promise a year earlier from the Bush administration to encourage lenders to refinance the loans of distressed borrowers produced even more dismal results.

The Obama administration, however, remains undeterred. Even if 4 million households are aided – and history says they won't be – there are still about 8 million households currently behind on their mortgage payments or in the foreclosure process.

As painful as it is, the administration and American people need to confront two uncomfortable truths. The first is that many borrowers will remain vulnerable to defaulting again because they would still be deeply in debt even after their home-loan payments are reduced. The second is that until the economy begins to produce jobs in sizeable numbers, such temporary housing measures delay the day of reckoning and the eventual recovery of the housing market.

It is apparent that the government will not be able to dig every homeowner out of their debt and keep them from foreclosure, but any help that the government can provide to these homeowners is very important. Although continually asking lenders to lower payments can only help the situation so much.

Constuction of Affordable Housing in California Halted

Construction of housing units in California for low income residents has been halted since July. Money had been set aside for the construction, but due to California's budget problem, the money cannot be put to use. An article from the LA Times wrote:

Plans to build more than 16,000 housing units in California, many of them for low-income residents, have been frozen in bureaucratic limbo since July.

Voters approved funding four years ago. Last summer, state officials chose the 121 projects they want to build. Shovels were supposed to have hit the ground by now.

Yet none of the $714 million in bond money earmarked for construction has been spent -- one of the many results of California leaders' chronic inability to balance the budget.

The funding from the state is a major source of money that fund these projects. Without it, the projects cannot begin and those in charge of the construction need to have all of their money accounted for and available for use. This is not only about the issue of affordable housing in California and the U.S., it is also about California's budget problems and how it affects a lot of projects and programs that rely on the state for funding.

Texting on Motorcycle

This doesnt look dangerous at all...

Bank of America Helping Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure

In hopes of preventing more foreclosures from hitting the housing market, Bank of America has announced a program to reduce mortgage principle for some of their borrowers who got loans through Countrywide Financial. An article from the Los Angeles Times wrote:

Amid increasing government pressure to stem foreclosures, Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday that it would offer to erase as much as $3 billion in principal owed by thousands of severely delinquent borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth.

The bank's plan is by far the most ambitious and systematic effort by a major lender to help homeowners avoid foreclosures while continuing to make loan payments. Unlike previous initiatives, this one will be geared toward borrowers who are so far underwater that they are unlikely to be helped by a government housing relief plan.

This action by Bank of America will hopefully keep the housing market from being hit by a large amount of foreclosures. The current state of the housing market is very fragile at this point and having it face another wave of foreclosures would make the current situation much worse. If other banks and lending agencies made efforts similar to this one to help out homeowners facing forclosure, maybe we could speed up the recovery of our housing market and even our economy as a whole.

Housing Market Recovery on Shaky Ground

The Associated Press opened an article on the housing market with this gloomy statement:

The recovery in the housing market is at risk of collapsing.

Home sales are sliding, prices are stalling and foreclosures are rising. And mortgage rates are likely to go up after next week, when the Federal Reserve ends a program that has driven them down.

The trend could threaten the broader economy, economists warn. People whose home equity is stagnant or shrinking are less likely to spend freely.

With the housing market on shaky ground, we have to be careful with our actions that deal with handling this situation. At the moment, it doesn't seem like the housing market will be drastically improving anytime soon, and that mortgage rates will likely increase as a result of the Fed ending a program that they created to help keep the mortgage rates at an all time low. What we see in the housing market will almost indefinitely affect the rest of the economy; trying to salvage or protect the recovery of the housing market is something that should be taken very seriously if we want to see our economy pick back up in the near future.

Social Security Payouts Exceed Revenue

As a result of jobs disappearing and more people applying for social security earlier, the amount of money being paid out has exceeded the revenues from taxes for the program. Because there are less jobs, there are less taxes being paid because less taxable money is being earned. At the same time, more people are applying for social security, causing the situation that is happening now. A NY Times article says:

The long-term costs of Social Security present further problems for politicians, who are already struggling over how to reduce the nation’s debt. The national predicament echoes that of many European governments, which are facing market pressure to re-examine their commitments to generous pensions over extended retirements.

The United States’ soaring debt — propelled by tax cuts, wars and large expenditures to help banks and the housing market — has become a hot issue as Democrats gauge their vulnerability in the coming elections. President Obama has appointed a bipartisan commission to examine the debt problem, including Social Security, and make recommendations on how to trim the nation’s debt by Dec. 1, a few weeks after the midterm Congressional elections.

It is obvious that we are going to have to make changes to the social security program. We cannot continue to pay out more than we take in for the program because it will just add on to our a;ready growing national debt. Finding a working solution to this problem that everyone will be happy with will most likely not be an easy task, but something will have to be done to tackle this issue in the near future.

Obama Signs Healthcare Bill

President Obama signed the health care bill into law yesterday. After a long battle trying to get this bill passed, the president was finally able to sign something into law. A CNN article wrote:

The bill constitutes the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees in more than four decades, and its enactment was a giant victory for Obama and Democrats after a brutal legislative battle dating back to the start of his presidency.

No Republicans supported the bill in either the House or Senate, and Democratic leaders needed a separate bill that calls for changes in the new law in order to get enough support in the House to pass the measure.

The Senate started debate on the accompanying House bill later Tuesday, with Republican opponents promising to use every possible parliamentary tool or technique to undermine it.

The signing of this bill is an important event in American history. Like the article said, this is the biggest expansion of federal health care in a long time. The formation of this bill took a lot of time and effort and it would have been a shame had it not passed. Although there is strong opposition to the bill from some on the right, I have a feeling that with a few very small adjustments, we could make everyone feel on sort of satisfaction with the bill.

Mental Health Break

everyone loves chatroulette and piano improvs, so putting both of them together should be a winning combo...

Obama to Give Fox an Interview

Tomorrow, President Obama is going to take part in an interview with Fox News. This is interesting after the showdown that the Obama administration had with Fox News last year. The New York Times wrote an article saying:

The interview, with Bret Baier, an anchor and a former chief White House correspondent for Fox, will be broadcast at 6 p.m., at the height of a week in which Democrats, including Mr. Obama, are pressing allies and lawmakers to push ahead to get the health care bill passed in the House despite solid Republican opposition and the lessening of public support for the legislation.

Obama's interview may be able to win over some conservative democrats who watch the news network. It was not mentioned what the president would talk about, but it seems very likely that he will talk about health care. We will be assured an interesting show if any tensions from the past between Fox News and the Obama Administration are carried over into this interview.

Fed Keeps Rates Low

In order to help the recovery of the housing market, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at an all time low. The Fed also decided to stop buying mortgaged-back securities. A New York Times article reported;

...The Fed voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged, at nearly zero percent, citing evidence of economic weakness and little sign of inflation.

The Fed’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities, which will total $1.25 trillion and end March 31, have helped hold mortgage rates to near-record lows, and the Fed left open the possibility that the purchases might have to be resumed, particularly if the housing recovery stalls.

The Fed said it would “continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability.”

Whether keeping the interest rates this low for an extended period of time will cause unforeseen problems or instability is uncertain. The Fed is doing what it can to aid the recovery of the housing market and the rest of the economy. With interest rates at the lowest that they could possibly be, they will have to find other ways to provide some stability to the market.

Housing Starts Decline in February

Housing construction starts fell by 5.9% across the country for the month of February. This is due to the extreme weather that parts of the country have been experiencing and a declining demand for new house construction. An article from Bloomberg's Businessweek said:

Housing starts in the U.S. fell in February as record snowfall in parts of the country hampered construction, while fewer building permits signaled demand is stagnating.

Mounting foreclosures are making it harder to clear inventories, keeping pressure on prices and discouraging new construction. The economy has yet to create the sustained job growth that could invigorate housing demand and is one reason Federal Reserve policy makers will probably keep interest rates near zero after their meeting today.

This is certainly not aiding in the recovery of the housing market. This decline in housing starts hopefully is mostly due to the mentioned weather problems rather than indicating that the housing market is still unstable.

More Programs, Declining Tax Rates

Wagner's Law states that as a society becomes richer, its taxes will increase. Tax rates in the U.S. had been increasing up until the last few years where taxes have stopped growing, even when demand for more government programs has been increasing. A New York Times article on the issue says:

Taxes are no longer rising. They fell to 18 percent of G.D.P. in 2008 and, because of the recession, to a 60-year low of 15.1 percent last year.

Yet our desire for government services just keeps growing. We added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Farm subsidies are sacrosanct. Social Security is the third rail of politics.

This disconnect is, far and away, the main reason for our huge budget problems. Yes, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the recession and the stimulus have all added to the deficit. But they are minor issues in the long run. By 2020, government spending is projected to equal 26 percent (and rising) of G.D.P., mostly because of Medicare and Social Security. Taxes are on pace to equal just 19 percent.

It is apparent that we cannot have all of the government programs that the public wants without increasing our taxes so that these programs can be funded. Many other countries with government programs like the ones that are being called for such as health care have much higher taxes that what we are paying here in the U.S. Paying more taxes would also help keep our national debt from continuing to grow and becoming more of a problem.

Pakistani Legislators Upset by U.S. Security

In a visit to the U.S. to help imporve relations with Pakistani leaders ended in a stir when the Pakistani visitors refused to go through a secondary airport security screening at Ronald Regan National Airport. A New York Times Article says:

Meetings with the Obama administration’s top policy makers on Pakistan, including the president’s special representative, Richard C. Holbrooke, and visits to the Pentagon and the National Security Council, did not allay the anger the politicians said they felt at being asked to submit to a secondary screening on Sunday before boarding a flight to New Orleans. They declined to be screened and did not board the flight.

Pakistan is one of 14 mostly Muslim countries whose citizens must go through increased checks before they fly into the United States, a procedure mandated by the Obama administration in the wake of the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up an airliner flying from the Netherlands to Detroit on Dec. 25.

It is odd that we have a country on a security list that we consider as an ally and are currently trying to improve relations with. One would think that we would at least make an exception to the visitors that we invited into our country. the article says, however, that the Pakistani officials were warned taht they might be subjected to secondary searches and that the U.S. does not make exceptions for so called V.I.P. guests in the country. This still seems like an odd policy when trying to improve relations, although what is more important: national security or hurt feelings?

Habitat for Humanity Helps Chilean Earthquake Victims

Habitat for Humanity has begun providing aid to Chileans who have fallen victim to the earthquake that struck there a few days ago. The organization is doing what it does best and is in the process of building the first of 36 new permanent homes in Chile. An article from The Christian Post reports:

Committed to helping the South American country recover from an 8.8-magnitude earthquake, the Christian organization said the building of homes is just the first phase in its long-term response.

The effort comes as Chile's government said it will need to import temporary housing to aid the 500,000 people whose homes were damaged by the quake last month...

...Habitat for Humanity Chile has provided more than 6,300 housing solutions to low-income families since 2002. After the quake, workers assessed low-income communities where the organization had built houses. None of the homes were affected by the quake.

It was only a matter of time before Habitat for Humanity would start to provide aid to Chile. The issue of housing is a global problem and this disaster has only worsened a problem in a country that was already suffering from problems with affordable housing. Affordable housing is a complex issue that has no simple solution and cant be solved over night. Solving this issue in the U.S. will require a lot of governmental aid and changes in the ways that banks lend out money.

Housing Finance Agency Program Announces Next Steps

Yesterday the Obama Administration announced the next steps in their Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets. 1.5 billion will be added in funding to help housing finance agencies in states where the house prices have fallen more than 20%. An article described the current situation:

Today the Administration released detailed guidance for eligible HFAs to submit program proposals for funding. The HFA Hardest-Hit Fund is designed to allow the maximum possible flexibility to eligible HFAs in designing programs that are tailored to the needs of their state. Today’s guidance provides instruction to HFAs to ensure that program proposals meet basic guidelines and comply with the purposes of EESA. All programs must protect home values, preserve homeownership, promote jobs and economic growth, and provide accountability to the public.

This economic aid in the housing market is much needed. Without a stable housing market, it is not possible to have a stable economy. A key to the re-stabilization of our economy is first securing the housing market and making it possible for people to buy houses again without worrying about decreasing home values.

Iran on Path to Further Enrichment of Uranium

Iran has been enriching Uranium in their nuclear facilitiesusing centrifuges to produce reactor grade fuel, which is at a concentration of about 4-5% (the natural concentration of uranium is about 0.7%). Over time, they were able to produce a stockpile of 2 tons of the concentrated uranium. Iran then announced that they would further enrich this stock pile. A Ney York Times article describes:

...On Sunday, Feb. 7, Iran announced it would begin enriching its stockpiled uranium to 20 percent — ostensibly to make fuel for a research reactor in Tehran. Nuclear experts said that although this might sound like a leap, moving to 20 percent from 4 percent was actually a fairly easy step — not at all as demanding and time consuming as raising the level to 4 percent from 0.7 percent. And the ease of further enriching uranium once it is already enriched made the world take notice.

According to scientists in the article, it doesn't take much to continue enriching enriching uranium to levels needed for a bomb, in fact, the process gets easier as you get more concentrated. The concentration that uranium needs to be enriched to for use in bombs is about 90%. There is no doubt that Iran now has the capability to produce weapons grade uranium because they have all of the equipment and supplies that are necessary. This is a problem that world leaders will have to address in the near future before this gets out of hand. It will be much harder to negotiate when Iran has a nuclear bomb or two in their possession.

China and India Join Climate Change Agreement

China and India, two countries that are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, have finally joined the Copenhagen Climate Change Accord. The agreement aims for limiting the rise in global temperatures to at most 2 degrees celcius beyond temperatures before the industrial era. A NY Times article on the inclusion of these two developing countries in the agreement states:

The 192 nations gathered at the Copenhagen climate meeting did not formally adopt the accord but merely voted to “take note” of it. The inclusion of China and India in the accord has only a minor practical effect but will provide a boost for the agreement’s credibility.

“After careful consideration, India has agreed to such a listing,” Reuters quoted India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, as telling Parliament on Tuesday. “We believe that our decision to be listed reflects the role India played in giving shape to the Copenhagen accord. This will strengthen our negotiating position on climate change.”

The inclusion of these two large greenhouse gas producing countries in the Copenhagen Agreement will not solve global warming, but it will greatly reduce the amount of global warming gasses that we will continue to pump into our atmosphere in the future, that is, assuming that the countries reach their promised reductions in emissions.

Government Housing Program Has Failed

Many Republicans are claiming that The President's 75 billion dollar Housing Program that was designed to provide incentives for mortgage companies to modify the mortgages of homeowners and prevent more foreclosures has failed to accomplish its goal. An ABC news article said:

"By every empirical measure, HAMP has failed," concluded Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., citing a record number of homeowners in foreclosure.

The administration's program provides incentives for mortgage companies to modify the loans of qualifying borrowers. When the administration unveiled the program last March, officials said the plan would help 3 to 4 million homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The two GOP lawmakers that released the report say that the Home Affordable Modification Program is actually hurting the economy's recovery. The progam may have helped reduced the numbers of foreclosures that would have happened had there been no program in place, but it fell far from its intended goal of 3-4 million avoiding forclosure.

Obama Listens to Republican Ideas in Heath Care

President Obama is going to address some of the concerns that the Republicans share about the current health care bill. In a letter, Obama said that he was open to ideas from the Republicans in regards to health care. A New York Times article states:

In a letter to Congressional leaders of both parties, Mr. Obama said he was open to four specific ideas raised by Republicans at the daylong health care forum last week, including encouraging the use of tax-advantaged medical savings accounts and increasing payments to doctors who treat Medicaid patients.

By signaling that he is open to the opposition’s ideas, Mr. Obama struck a bipartisan tone even as the White House prepared the ground for Democratic efforts to pass comprehensive legislation on a party-line vote. Mr. Obama is scheduled to speak about his strategy for passing the bill in remarks at the White House on Wednesday.

Listening to the opposition is a good for Obama, but it is clear that he will not be able to include all of the things that the Republicans want in the bill. Republican suggestions to stop and start over were also rejected once again by the president. At this point it seems that starting over is not an option because the government needs to get something out soon that will fix our poorly constructed heath care system.

Obama to Announce New Plans on Health Care

On Wednesday, the president will most likely share his plans on how a health care bill will be passed. A CNN article says:

President Obama is likely to lay out a political road map Wednesday for passage of sweeping health care legislation, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Gibbs said the president will talk about "the way forward" to pass a bill. Among other things, Obama is expected to advocate for an "up or down vote" in Congress if necessary, Gibbs said.

This will be reassuring news that the government is making progress in getting new health care legislation passed. Obama's speech will also cover some of the most recent changes and provisions to be offered on this new bill.

Vancouver Olympics Worsening Homeless Situation

The olympics are often seen as bringing in business and improving the living in the host city. What people often do not account for is that property values are often increased and as a result, many are forced out of thier homes because they cannot keep up with the payments. An article about the situation said:

The lack of affordable housing in the area despite large investments leading up the games were one of the complaints staged by about 1,500 protesters who ralliedlast week near the site of the opening ceremony. Since the city bid for the Olympics in 2002, homelessness has increased 373 percent.

Some activists and organizations are claiming the Olympics have only exacerbated the problem. A 2007 report by the Pivot Legal Society, a local nonprofit advocacy group, said the 2010 games increased homelessness while decreasing the number of affordable housing units through gentrification and evictions.

The report found housing speculation caused increases in property values as developers purchased properties in Downtown Eastside. Developers then renovated the properties and increased rents, thereby displacing residents; in other cases, landlords simply evicted tenants in preparation for a sale.

Whatever benefits and small economic gains that are made as a result of hosting the olympic games will not outweigh or improve the affordable housing situation in the area. This problem will become increasingly difficult to resolve as more and more people lose their houses and the numbers swell.

President's Plan to Handle Housing Crisis Uneffective

A year ago, President Obama introduced a plan that would "keep as many as 9 million people in their homes by lowering their monthly mortgage payments. Not with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying things like, "You'll start to see the effects quite quickly." However, the president cautioned that the plan wouldn't be able to save all homes. An Associated Press article described the plan:

The numbers show a program that failed to deliver. About 116,000 homeowners have had their loans modified to reduce their monthly payments, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. Only about $15 million in incentive money has been paid to more than 100 participating mortgage companies. That's 0.02 percent of the $75 billion available...

Interviews with officials in the Obama and Bush administrations, bank executives and housing experts show the government launched the effort without thinking through many of the details of such a complex program.

One large problem with Obama's plan was that the mortgage companies were not prepared for the plan. Mike Heid, the co-president of Wells Fargo's mortgage division, said that "The program was announced long before a true program existed". The government is having a hard time tackling such a large an complex issue. It will be difficult trying to find the solution to the housing crisis as house prices continue to fall.

Numbers of Homeless Outside Cities Increasing

This winter, homeless shelters are feeling the strain as more and more people lose their jobs as a result of the sinking economy. A few people were quoted in an Associated Press article saying:

"We are seeing many families that never before sought government help," said Greg Blass, commissioner of Social Services in Suffolk County on eastern Long Island.

"We see a spiral in food stamps, heating assistance applications; Medicaid is skyrocketing," Blass added. "It is truly reaching a stage of being alarming."

The article also later stated:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's annual survey last year found homelessness remained steady at about 1.6 million people, but the percentage of rural or suburban homelessness rose from 23 percent to 32 percent. The 2009 HUD report, which reflected the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2008, also found the number of sheltered homeless families grew from about 473,000 to 517,000.

The problem of homelessness is growing and becoming more apparent throughout the country. One official said in the article that the problem was caused by a combination of foreclosures, unemployment, and a shortage of affordable housing. The issue of affordable housing is a problem that can also be seen actively being tackled. It is important that we help try to solve this issue to help get those that are homeless and in shelters back into houses that they can afford so that they can function as a consumer and help get our economy up and running again.

Mental Health Break

Rebuilding Haiti Could Take as Long as 10 years

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said that it could take up to ten years to rebuild the 250,000 houses that were destroyed by the devastating earthquake that struck the Caribbean island nation. It will be a challenge getting the citizens of Haiti prepared well enough for the hurricane season which starts on June first. The last thing that Haiti needs after being struck by a devastating earthquake is a devastating hurricane to make matters worse in a an already broken nation. In an article about the situation in Haiti:

Bellerive said shelter remained the biggest problem for the government to address. Residents whose homes were damaged, or who are afraid to sleep indoors, have set up camp on the edges of the capital's airport, the main city square downtown, a golf course, open fields, courtyards of businesses and sidewalks.

Gibbs Takes a Swipe at Palin

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made fun at Sarah Palin's use of her hand as a list of topics to cover in a speech of hers. Gibbs' hand had the word "eggs", "milk", "bread"(crossed out), "hope" and "change" listed. He jokingly said:

"Eggs, milk and bread," Gibbs read from the black ink stains on his palm, claiming he was going to "make pancakes" for his son Ethan.

"But I crossed out bread," he added, pointing to the line that, indeed, x-ed bread off the list.

"Then I wrote down hope and change just in case I forgot them."

A part of Palin's speech took a jab at Obama for relying heavily on a teleprompter, while she herself had a list written on her own hand. Palin's list contained the words "Energy", "tax", "lift American spirits", and "cuts" with the word budget crossed out before it.

More on Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that takes on the issues of poverty housing through building affordable housing in areas stricken with poverty. The organization was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller. In 1984 the former president Jimmy Carter took a 'habitat work trip' and helped gain the organization national attention and in turn, caused the organization to grow dramatically in size. The organization now has many affordable housing projects across the country currently and worldwide. "Today, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300,000 houses, sheltering more than 1.5 million people in more than 3,000 communities worldwide." More information about Habitat for Humanity can be found at their website: http://www.habitat.org/

Habitat for Humanity Helps Families in Haiti

Habitat for Humanity is setting a goal of providing 50,000 families with aid. The organization is planning to provide help and build shelters and housing for Haitian citizens affected by the earthquake over the course of a couple years. The Habitat for Humanity chief executive said that its a "bold goal for Habitat for Humanity, but the level of destruction and the number of families affected demands a bold response". The aid plan with the distribution of 10,000 emergency shelter kits. The workers will help citizens repair houses and clear debris. Ultimately the organization will build houses that are hurricane and earthquake resistant. After working with this organization, I feel that they will be able to obtain this goal easily based on how well they are able to stay organized and accomplish what they set out to achieve.

Alito and Obama Criticized

Both President Obama are being criticized for "alleged breeches of etiquette" last night at the State of the Union address. A shot of Justice Alito is what much of the controversy is about. A Wall Street Journal article says:

The shot caught Justice Samuel Alito wincing, shaking his head and apparently mouthing "that's not true," as the president contended that the ruling would lead to a flood of special-interest money in elections, including money from foreign corporations.

Justice Alito's reaction departed from the traditional expressionless, stone-like pose the justices take when attending politically tinged events.

The article said that the conservatives attacked Obama for making a swipe at the Supreme Court that "represents the worst of Washington politics". Liberal columnist Glenn Greenwald went so far as to say that Justice Alito's protest "was a serious and substantive breech of protocol". Both Obama and Justice Alito may have "misbehaved", but we cannot let such a tiny issue become such a big deal.

Haiti Relief Efforts Still Struggling

Food and water distribution in Haiti has been described by U.S. military commanders as being uneven. In a Voice of America article on the issue:

U.S. military commanders overseeing food and water distribution in Haiti acknowledged Thursday that the effort remains uneven and that there are places they still have not been able to reach. Food prices on the open market are surging, causing tempers to flare.

Although there is a massive relief effort going on in Haiti, there are still places that haven't received any aid at all. The article continues to say that a couple of times there have been instances of running out of food and supplies to give to citizens because they had not anticipated the demand at each distribution site. And although the country's food networks have restarted, the prices of food have increased tremendously, angering many people and obviously not helping the situation. Hopefully we can get our act together and start providing a more thorough of a relief effort that will more effectively provide the aid that Haitian citizens need right now.

Habitat for Humanity

On January 16th, I devoted my saturday to volunteering at the Habitat for Humanity East Bay site in Oakland, California. I went with my friend and classmate Grant and we worked from 8am until 4pm building houses. Our particular job for the day was setting up the walls in the second story of a house being built. I enjoyed participating in the building of these houses and everyone working at the site was very friendly and helpful.

The Habitat for Humanity site was located in a very poor neighborhood of Oakland and it will be interesting seeing what the impact of these new houses being built will have on the area. I was told by my friend that one of these homes was actually set on fire at night by a molotov cocktail that was thrown at one of the houses during construction over the summer.

Obviously affordable housing is a current problem in America and it affects many people throughout our country. Habitat for Humanity is a large organization that works to help this situation across the world by creating affordable housing for people earning low incomes. Through is organization, more and more people are given the opportunity to live in a house of their own that they can afford.

Brad L. Graham: The Blogosphere

As this is a blog, I find it appropriate to honor the man that coined the term "blogosphere". Brad L. Graham, the creator of this word, died at the age of 41 on January 4, 2010. He coined the word on September 10, 1999 as a joke, and in the years to come, the word's usage gained popularity. You can visit his site here.

Terror Suspect Radicalized in Britain

Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, a terror suspect in the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines passenger jet coming from Amsterdam and arriving in Detroit on Christmas Day was found to have been radicalized in Britain. A CNN story reports:

AbdulMutallab had been flagged by federal agents who were getting ready to meet his plane when it landed in Detroit, according to a U.S. official briefed on the investigation into the botched Christmas Day terrorist attack.

Al-Alemi emphasized at Thursday's news conference that AbdulMutallab lived in Yemen, but did not pick up his radical views there, instead saying that happen when he resided in Britain between 2005 and 2008.

This attempted terrorist attack attack shows that even though we have drastically increased our security around airports, our system is not perfect. It is impressive that this guy was able to get that far considering the security that we have to get through when traveling through airports. Hopefully we will be better able to prevent things like this from happening, although it is assured that attempts like this will happen in the future.

Shifting Spending from Bars to Books

Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to reduce the spending put toward prisons and relocate the money to be spent on education. The governor also mentioned plans of saving money through the privatization of services and possibly even prisons themselves. Schwarzenegger said in a speech to lawmakers:

“The priorities have become out of whack over the years,” ... “I mean, think about it, 30 years ago, 10 percent of the general fund went to higher education, and 3 percent went to prisons. Today, almost 11 percent goes to prisons, and only 7.5 percent goes to higher education.”

“What does it say about any state that focuses more on prison uniforms than on caps and gowns?” he continued. “It simply is not healthy.”

It is interesting, but not surprising to learn that California's funding is divided up to that more money is spent on the prison systems than on education. Especially with the budget cuts that are facing schools, it is important that we find a way to keep money going into the schools.

Community Service: Habitat for Humanity

For a community service project, I am interested in volunteering for a group called Habitat for Humanity. The group works on building housing for people with low incomes across the world. The area that I am looking at volunteering for is in Oakland, California. I am currently working on contacting the organization and waiting for a response to see when I would be able to volunteer. If i end up being able to work for this organization, I am sure that this will be a great, if not eye opening experience for me as I don't see many of these problems in the community that I live in.

Same Sex Marriage Compared to Marrying Your Cousin

Admittedly, I found this while exploring comedian Daniel Tosh's Tosh.0 blog. Daniel Tosh jokingly says that:

...people are missing the most important thing this map teaches us: If I lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey or Vermont, I could marry my first cousin even if he was another dude!

This map caught my attention though, because it really helps visually depict the current situation on gay marriage and compares it to something that is equally looked down upon as gay marriage is by many people. It was shocking to discover that marriage between first cousins is legal in more states than gay marriage is, as a matter of fact, I had no idea that marriage between first cousins was still legal at all.