Existing home sales on the rise

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/25/news/economy/existing_home_sales/index.htm?hpt=T2



According to this CNN article home sales are once again on the rise. This is the second straight month of improving home sales. During September, over 4.25 million houses were sold, each averaging about $171,000 in price. Over the past two months home sales have steadily rose, after July, where home sales plummeted. This is good news according to many economists, but home sales are no where near what they were before the recession, and still lower than even last year.



This seems like very good news to me. After like three years of hearing all negative things about the economy, it is nice hearing something good. I think you have to put this all into perspective though, the housing market is up 10%, but it was very low before this month. I believe that many people probably won't want to buy a house until they get a better job, as many people were laid off. Hopefully, the market continues to rise.

As rescue drill nears, miners in Chile still have long way to go

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/05/chile.miners.rescue.plan/index.html?hpt=T2

The Chilean miner's ordeal might finally be coming to an end. Within a few weeks the the 2047 foot hole will be down to the miners. For months the miners have been receiving food, water, and other things they need through a smaller hole. They have also been in contact with their families through satellite computers. The miners have been stuck in the collapsed mine for months. The last step of the project will be to reinforce the tunnel and to make sure all of the trapped miners can fit through it.

This is truly an amazing story of human survival. First off, these people had to survive the explosion that mad the mine collapse, then before they were found they had to eat whatever they could find. I hope that they all get their jobs back and maybe some form of compensation for their ordeal. Finally, I hope that all the families are able to be reunited.

Federal Budget Blog: Issue One

The President, part of the executive branch, is the commander and chief of the military. Congress though has the power to declare war and to decide how the country's money is spent. This is called The Power of the Purse. Many times throughout history the President has wanted to go to war or make changes to an on going war, but Congress has stopped them. Even today many people think the President is unfit just by himself to dictate how a war is run. These people tend to think that Congress should use it powers to stop the spending spree that we are currently on. On the other hand, some people think that the President should have the power to run a war without the interference of Congress.





I believe that Congress should have the power to make decisions about war because there is more than onbe person in Congress. If only the President made decisions he could become corrupt with power, which is why we have checks and balances. Many people think the same as I do, for example http://www.freecongress.org/ this group believes in Congress's power. It is called the Free Congress Foundation.

Issue Two Lucas Beireis:http://beireis.blogspot.com/2010/10/issue-2-spending-what-we-can-afford.html

Issue Three Andrew Strater: http://astrater.blogspot.com/2010/10/issue-3-social-insecurity.html