Issue Number 1: Reducing Taxes.

Taxes are said to be important in an economy. They can help stimulate the economy, giving money to the government so that they can help support certain programs. Taxes can help get the federal budget from a budget deficit to a budget surplus, improving the economy. But they also can hurt people and businesses. Taxing too much can make is so that people and businesses do not have extra money to spend. The lack of extra money would hinder them from splurging, causing less money going into the economy, making a deficit.

People that want the taxes to be cut believe that if we lower the taxes, this could persuade businesses to enlarge their operations and feel more confident to hire more works. This in turn could lower the rising unemployment rate. It is also said that if taxes were reduced, it can give the best possibility of long-term economic growth and job creation. People that are for tax cuts say that at one point in history, actually brought an end to the recession. If taxes are increased, people will be less likely to spend money. If the taxes are decreased, businesses and people have more money to spend, which will help stimulate the economy. Those against reducing taxes say that it will put the government from a surplus budget to a deficit. They argue that when President George Bush made tax cuts, the budget went from being a surplus to a deficit. It is also disputed that if there were a rise in profits, automatically tax revenues will increase, making the budget deficit lower. When President Reagan reduced taxes, the economy grew at a steady pace, but the budget deficit tripled.

In my view, taxes should be lowered. Maybe not all together cut, but some change does need to happen. We can keep or increase the taxes for the wealthy businesses and people, but then at a certain level, the taxes can be cut. Allow people to gain more money so they have money to buy goods, and help the economy grow. If we keep taxing people when they do not have money it might help the economy, but in the long run it will hurt the economy. People will not buy as much due to the fact that all of their money is going towards taxes. Businesses will not be as likely to hire people if they are lacking funds, they might even have to fire people to save the businesses. If businesses are not hiring people and letting people go, that will add to the unemployment rate.

President Barack Obama has a similar idea that middle class families should not have a tax increase. Obama does not think the plan will not need to last for years upon years, but just long enough for people to bounce back. He also does not think that the plan will increase the deficit. “The framework agreement includes a mutually agreed upon solution to the impasse over taxes by extending the 2001/2003 income tax rates for two years and reforming the AMT to ensure that an additional 21 million households will not be hit with a tax increase. These measures will provide relief to more than 100 million middle-class families and prevent a tax increase of over $2,000 for the typical family.” For more information about Obama's view on tax cuts, go to the link below.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/12/07/president-obama-tax-cuts-and-unemployment-extension-right-thing-do

For the outsourcing blog, go to:

http://cassiesamazingblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/issue-2-offshore-outsourcing.html

For the budget deficit and social security blog, go to:

http://ksteffss1.blogspot.com/2011/02/budget-deficit-and-social-security.html

Officer gave boy, 7, a ticket for throwing ball at his truck

After giving a 7-year-old boy a ticket for throwing a ball which hit an officer's truck, that officer has now been suspended. Cody Chapelle claimed he wrote a citation for third-degree criminal mischief as a result of the incident, taking place on October 16, 2009. Another officer, Police Chief Robert White, said that after an investigation on Chapelle's truck, there was no damage to the truck due to the ball hitting it. Why was the ticket written? It was stated by White that the ticket was an attempt in trying to persuade the child's mother to discipline the seven year old.
White also said that, "One of our greatest attributes we have as police officers is common sense," and he also said that Chapelle had "showed absolutely no common sense." Chapelle was suspended for 15 days, and his attorney was planning on appealing against it. It was also reported that the suspension letter included a statement that claimed that Chapelle yelled at the mother and told her she was a bad parent, which Chapelle was disciplined for doing so.

Can we say "Overreacting"? Honestly, a 7-year-old kid just threw a ball at the truck. If it was a rock, if somebody had the intention of seriously injuring the officer, then yes, a ticket would be reasonable. Yes, sometimes kids need to get taught lessons, but by giving him a ticket? There was no damage to the officer OR to his truck. A warning that throwing things at cars can be dangerous and outright rude would suffice. If the police officers are starting to get picky over the little things, what are they doing about the big issues going on? People will start to wonder if they are spending this much time and effort on a small issue, do they have enough time to fix bigger problems Sometimes, you have to pick your battles. Is a 7-year-old throwing a ball at a truck a battle worth fighting? How about trying to tackle things that are bigger, things that actually hurt people that are causing deaths? Wouldn't trying to stop people from going into stores and shooting people be a better problem to try and fix, rather than a child throwing a ball?



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41172540/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Global bake sale is "sweet" vegan activisim

Vegitarieans hold bake sales, having sweets that are made with vegan food. They are trying to get their message across about how you can be a vegan, and not kill animals without doing it in a violent matter. Many people bought the sweets, in some places, those sales will go to research. In California funds will go to breast cancer research and education. Vegans are trying to let other's know that you can have good tasting food if somebody is considering becoming a vegitarian. Some people become vegans because of animal wellfair, others to try to reduce their cabon footprints, and others do it for a healthier life style.

I think that it is a good way to get others informed about being vegitarian. They are not bieng violent or forcefull and they are not forcing others to become vegans. They are not making others feel bad if they are not vegans. These people are just informing others of the lifestyle of being a vegan, and how it can help not only you, but the planet and animals as well. The bake sales are a good way to show others that being a vegitarian does not mean boring, tastless food. There can be good tasting food when you are a vegan. I do think it is a good thing to help animals, to reduce our carbon footprints and to have a healty life style. Doing anything, if it means giving up meat, can help. You do not necissarily have to give up meat to help the earth, but it can help.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/30/vegan.bake.sale/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Koreans' crash gives Ohno a Skating silver; Kearney claims gold

In the 1,500 meter race at the Winter Olympics held in Vancouver the American skater, Apolo Anton Ohno, got a record-breaking silver while on the final lap two of the three South Korean races crashed, giving Ohno a chance to get a medal and Ohno, being 27 years old, gained his sixth Winter Olympics medal, which makes him the most successful U.S. male competitor. One of the three South Korean racers was disqualified from the six-man final cut across his teammate on the final turn, and his teammate, escaped the mishap, claiming the gold ahead of Ohno. J.R. Celski, another U.S skater, finished with a bronze medal. Kearney, for team U.S. won her first Olympic medal with points totaling 26.63, giving her a lead over Heil's 25.69, a Canadian Olympic racer. Other Olympic competitors, Schilerenzauer from Austria has a total of 268 points, and Malysz from Poland has a total of 269.5 points. Russian, Ivan Skobrev won a bronze medal in 6:18.05 in the 5,000 speed skating, while U.S. racer Chad Hendrick finished in 11th place. Weather has had its say in the Olympics, due to adverse weather the men's alpine skiing downhill competition, at Whistler Creekside, was postponed until Monday, it was originally set to occur on Saturday. Also, the women's super-combined and slalom skiing events, originally planed for Sunday, were postponed as well; the competitors were unable to finish practice runs on Saturday.

So far, team U.S. is doing fairly well, taking some medals is always a good thing. Other teams are doing a good job as well. Although weather has been an issue for some events, sometimes an extra day to practice might not be a bad thing for the competitors. Sometimes luck is a good thing as well, Ohno got a medal because two people in front of him happen fall. As of now, the Olympics have be very entertaining to watch, and hopefully team U.S. continues to do well.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/13/winter.olympics.medals.ammann/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

3 Killed When Two Planes Collide Near Colorado Airport

On Saturday, two planes crashed in Boulder, Colorado, that killed three people. One plane was a single-seat Piper Pawnee that was towing a glider, in the crash, the pilot died. The pilot of the glider, which had two passengers, detached from the plane, and had a safe landing. On the second plane, a Cirrus SR 20, holding two passengers, died as well. There were reports of the crash, people said that they saw flames in the air that was 5 or less miles from the Boulder Municipal Airport. They also said that it looked like a fireball in the sky, referring to the crash. In the article, Jennifer Rodi, who is an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, stated that pilot in the glider saw that the planes were going to crash and he chose to separate the tow strap from the Piper Pawnee. She also stated that the Cirrus was going south and the Pawnee was going west when they collided. The Cirrus aircraft has an airframe parachute system that sets off when there is an in-air emergency.

It is sad that people died in this crash. What i want to know, though, is why did they crash? The article just said that the two planes crashed, but not what caused it. If there was a problem with fight systems, hopefully that it can be fixed so that this does not happen again. If there was something like a wire or some sort of object in one plane's way that made it change its path, then that object might need to be moved or have something done so it doesn't lead to another crash. I hope that the families of those who died are hanging in there.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/06/colorado.plane.collision/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Toyota: Fix coming 'soon' for recalled gas pedals

There is a recall in the U.S. of multiple Toyota cars, to fix an issue that may cause the gas pedal, while it ages and wears out, to stick partially down under certain situations. There were about 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. recalled for the problem. Some of the cars include Toyota's 2009-20012 RAV4, Corolla and Matrix; 2005-2010 Avalon, certain 2007-2010 Camrys (though not the Camry Hybird) , 2010 Highlander; 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia. The Toyota president Akio Toyoda told Japanese news that they where planing to "give an explanation that will take away the customers' concern as soon as possible" and that they where sorry for the concern. Cars in Europe where recalled by the Japanese automaker, it involved about eight different models, and the number of recalled cars was roughly said to be as much as 1.8 million automobiles. There was a recall that started in November, one that involved the gas pedal that could be caught on the edge of the removable floormat, which had about 5.3 million vehicles recalled. For the November recall and the newest recall, there are similar vehicles are affected by both recalls.

More recalling? There are so many things being recalled nowadays, how do we know if what we are buying is going to be safe? The article did not say anything about injuries or deaths due to this problem, but thats does not mean that there where none. Hopefully, though, that Toyota caught this problem before anybody got hurt. The Toyota president said that they were going to fix the problem 'soon', the article said that as early as next week hopefully. This may hurt their business having to recall about 3 times already, the consumer trust might fall, and go to other car companies, which seem to have safer cars. Toyota might need to get their act together, and not need to recall any more cars to try to prevent a drop in their business.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/30/autos/Toyota_fix_recall_gas_pedal/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29