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First question: Is that 13 trillion dollars in 1 dollar bills or 100 dollar bills? Just kidding, I’m sure either option would circle the earth’s equator a couple of times.
In your blog, you have two arguments that actually contradict one another. The first argument explains that our country should stop our involvement in foreign conflicts until we are “much better shape financially”. The second argument explains that our government creates projects that are wasteful because the government doesn’t complete them. You argue that you want to stop one project, foreign involvement, but yet you say that the government should complete projects so that they don’t become wasteful. By stopping military spending, the country essential has left another project uncompleted. Although your two arguments contradict one another, I would have to agree with your overall argument that this country needs to stop “draining our imaginary bank accounts.” The government is in a lot of debt and it needs to be reduced. However, it is not as simple. In order to lower debt, we must leave some projects uncompleted and focus on the ones that are more important. This of course would create sunk costs and these are the costs that the government has been trying to avoid. They therefore try to complete these projects by funneling in more money and hope that there would be no consequence. However, they are wrong and angry protesters demand the end of spending. This leads the government to cancel these projects. The government tries to juggle more than it can handle and tries to complete these projects to avoid sunk costs. Unfortunately the government completes neither the projects nor the avoidance of sunk costs. This explains the 13 trillion dollars of debt. So to end the accumulation of this large debt, we must not attempt to complete all projects at once but rather focus on the ones we can handle.

http://smlange3291.blogspot.com/

Response to Kaya Bay on Illegal Immigration

I do agree with you that the law is the law however some laws are immoral. I feel that there are better and moral ways to fight illegal immigration. When I first heard about the Arizona’s new immigration law, it reminded me a lot about internment camps in the United States. It was still the law but it was immoral law. I too am a US citizen. I was born and raised in the great state of Texas. However I feel that this law has become a way of labeling people. I fear that it may become very similar to what the Nazi did in World War II when they labeled the Jewish population with golden stars. Hopefully it won’t become anything similar or even close to that but even then it does have a similar approach. To me I feel that there are more effective and efficient ways to target illegal immigration.

http://kbbnewtothenews.blogspot.com/2010/08/illegal-immigration-is-just-thatillegal.html

Faster Government Action

I am sure many you have heard of the Deep Horizon oil spill. It has changed the face of the Gulf Coast and affected the many inhabitants within the area. Currently the Deep Water Horizon oil spill is the greatest offshore oil spill in US history and it was only recently contained on July 12 when BP put a replacement cap that prevent further contamination to the Gulf. Many are asking how to recover from this disaster. I on the other hand would like to ask if that question would be even necessary if the containment would have been accomplished a lot soon with more resources.

I typically don’t like to dwell in the past but if there is a giant gaping hole in the ground that gushes out 1,500,000 to 2,500,000 oil a day, shouldn’t everyone come and help. The environment is shared by everyone and we only have one world to spare. I feel that the government’s involvement is crucial now but would have been even more important in the beginning phases of the oil spill. Quick actions should have been taken sooner by the government to prevent the Deep Horizon oil spill from becoming one of the largest oil spills in history. Early containment was crucial to this disaster because it would have prevented bad weather from impeding workers from fixing the oil pipe. Containment before this would have dramatically increased the oil spilled. The government should have taken quick action and provided more resources into the containment of this oil spill. Like any natural disaster, the prolonged providence of resources increases the chances of a long and costly recovery.

A Vaccine to Cure

In the article “Where Is the H.I.V. Vaccine,” Seth Berkley and Alan Bernstein discuss the funding the Obama administration has given to the fight against AID. In their argument, they discuss the economic impact of AIDS which has been “estimated between $20 and $50 billion every year.” They feel that the cost to fund research for a vaccine would be much more economically friendly and more beneficially to the world as a whole. The intended audience for this article targets people who are searching for a solution to the spread of AIDS. The authors hope to the reignite the support for a cure and hope that people have not forgotten the problem of AIDS. I feel that their agreement is credible because they do support their arguments with relevant facts and figures. They have made it clear that the economic benefits to finding a vaccine for HIV would be tremendous and eliminate the financial support that is already being used to management it. In addition to this, they also provide a counter agreement. They also understand that the “advocate for more spending on AIDS vaccines in the midst of a global economic crisis” is difficult but feel that “IDS vaccine research are small when compared to the enormous potential benefit”. The only doubt that I have against these authors, is that they both are executives from a company that researches for a cure to HIV. I feel because of that, this article can be bias and quite one sided. Although they have provided an excellent argument with reputable information, I still feel the need to have a second viewpoint to full understand this argument. I however agree with this article and believe that a vaccine for HIV would be an incredible accomplishment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/opinion/21iht-edberkley.html?_r=1&ref=global

Financial Bill Is Set to Pass After Clearing Senate Hurdle

The article written by David M. Herszenhorn from the New York Times explains the new Financial Bill set to pass after a vote of 60 to 38 in the Senate. This Financial Bill that Herszenhorn discusses will be a major bill that President Obama has tried to pass while in office. Much like the Health Care Bill, it will have a tremendous impact on the American people. This 2,300 page legislation is a response to the 2008 financial crisis that brought the powerful US economy to its knees. The bill chief aim is to “widely expand the regulatory authority” and discourage risky behavior on Wall Street. In addition, to this a “powerful consumer financial protection bureau, to be housed in the Federal Reserve” will be set in place to manage these regulations. The passage of this bill will be a “clear turning point” in the financial industry and a major change in the government’s involvement since Great Depression.

Here is a link to David M. Herszenhorn's article
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/business/16regulate.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp