Anyone who's even remotely following the narrative impact of our current economic woes on the deficit should be well aware that our government is living way beyond its means. And in fact, it was living way beyond its means in debt and liabilities even before this economic crisis began. Calls for reform have surfaced in many forms and been made more pressing by the multitude of crises on the horizon, from energy to health care, not to mention Medicare and Social Security.
President Obama signed a federal memorandum late yesterday to extend some benefits to partners of gay and lesbian federal employees. This was the first significant move from the Obama administration regarding gay rights, which news sources report comes as a direct result of increasing pressure from advocates of gay rights.
President Obama spoke in Cairo today on the need to improve U.S.-Muslim relations, in a much-anticipated speech that touched upon a gamut of issues, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Islamic extremism, nuclear proliferation, and most of all, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
President Obama announced today new federal standards on auto emissions and mileage for cars and light trucks, the first ever nationwide regulation of its kind. With the help of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department to outline enforcement policies, the rules will go into effect in 2012 and the new standard will be 35.5 miles per gallon (39 mpg for cars and 30 mpg for light trucks), up from the current average of about 25 mpg.
The International Energy Agency is out with a report issuing a cautionary note about the rise in energy consumption from new electronic gadgets like computers, TVs, iPods and other mobile devices. The IEA, a Paris-based, intergovernmental energy watchdog, estimates that worldwide electricity usage will triple over the next two decades -- and points to the rapid proliferation of consumer household electronics and new technology as the primary culprit.
Media pollsters of late have noted the remarkable uptick in public optimism about the economy since President Obama's inauguration. An ABC News/Washington Post poll last week indicated a double-digit rise in those saying the country is headed in the right direction and a double-digit decline in those saying the economy is getting worse.
The beginning stages of a major health care overhaul are underway on the Hill, according to a report today in the New York Times, but time will tell whether the passage of such reform-minded legislation will get mired in partisan disputes in the months to come.
More bad news has emerged from last week's Congressional Budget Office report: the surplus in the Social Security trust fund is now expected to dramatically dwindle next year -- about seven years faster than in the CBO's projections issued just last August.
The United States health care system ranks remarkably low in comparison to that of its global competitors, according to a newly released report. Factoring in cost, coverage and quality among other statistics like life expectancy and death rates, this report comes from the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executives at some of the top U.S. businesses.
On the heels of a rather quiet announcement last week by President Obama to send 17,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan comes the news that Obama is expected to officially announce a full combat troop withdrawal from Iraq by August 2010. (But some residual U.S. forces would remain to train and support the Iraqi military).
