Meteorite - like Object Falls in Latvia

A meteorite has created a crater after landing near a farm in northern Latvia. The object fell Sunday in Mazsalaca, leaving a hole of about 65 feet wide and 32 feet deep, Latvian emergency officials reported. A fire was reported in the grassy area where it landed, but there were no known injuries. Scientists and armed forces from the northern European nation will inspect the crater and conduct an investigation.

This is cool, the picture of the hole looks awsome. I think it would be great to see a meterorite fall out of the sky and land in a feild. As long as it doesn't land on a house or something. Check out this sweet picture of the hole!

ISSUE #2 -Spending What We Can Afford

Due to the ridicules amount of debt our nation has, Congress passed a pay-as-you-go budgeting system in 2007. This rule, also known as "paygo," requires that nay tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending be offest with spending reductions elsewhere.

Proponents say it is a good measure to limit deficits and show that Congress knows that too. They also say that it will hold Congress to the standards that most business and families already apply to, where you can't spend what you don't have. The final argument for paygo is that it can be suspended if needed, such as in a time of crisis. Opponents to paygo claim that it will only cause higher taxes for new programs that will hurt the economy. They believe that the national debt should be reduced by economic growth rather than budget cuts or tax hikes. They also believe that in case of emergency, paygo will hinder Congress' response and action.

Although paygo sounds like a good idea theoretically, it doesn't quite work that well in the real world. Sometimes in order to get out of debt you have to get more into debt first. Sure we are already trillions into debt, but now we have to really try to get out, and paygo will only keep us on the downward spiral. The solution is in economic growth and research to spur forward momentum in our economy. Paygo would make major reforms like Social Security Privatization a non-starter. You have to remember that that budget deficits, particularly the ones we're running now at low rates of interest, are not the problem. They aren't because with dollars being fungible, it doesn't matter where the dollars come from. Government spending is government spending. That is why I'm opposed to the "paygo" plan.

Supporting article from John Tamny - http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/03/paygo-congress-budget-reform-opinions-columnists-obama-social-security.html

War Dollars - by John Schwegel
Social Security - by Alexa Goetsch

Guantanamo: Closing Time - Colin's SSII Blog

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the press on Sunday, September 27th that it would be tough to be able to close the Military Prison of Guantanamo Bay. He talked about there being problems with time. Letting the U.S. citizens know that January 2010 is going to be an almost impossible deadline to make. This is going to rub off on President Obama since he was the one who ordered this to be done. Some Republicans are saying that there's nothing with Guantanamo Prison and the prisoners that are there should just be left there.
After reading Colin's blog I'm going to agree with him completely. There is nothing wrong with keeping prisoners in Guantanamo Prison. They deserve to be in prison and it shouldn't matter where as long as the conditions are acceptable. The whole idea of moving the prisoners just because there were questionable practices going on doesn't make sense. Just change the practices of the prison and then you don't have to waste a ton of money on moving a bunch of prisoners for no reason whatsoever.

Colin's blog - http://ss2blogcolin.blogspot.com/2009/09/guantanamo-closing-time.html
CNN article - http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/27/cuba.guantanamo.closure/index.html?eref=rss_politics