Seven Billion People

By the end of 2011, it is expected that the world population will exceed seven billion. With more people in the world, we must plan. The world's problems will grow larger if we do nothing. We must ensure access to clean drinking water and make sure we do not waste, as our fresh water reserves are just going to decline. Probably most important of all, we must invest in cleaner, greener energy. Seven billion people are going to need more energy than ever before and peak oil looms. The tar sands are a symbol of our desperation to find oil. This non-conventional way of exploiting oil shows how far we have to go to get our oil. We must shift the economy to use alternative energy that will not peak and at the same time, does not pollute as much.

Stop the Filibuster!

In the U.S the system to pass a bill is as confusing as it is difficult. It may sound easy on paper just make a bill, propose it to the Senate or House, then have a committee vote on it, Then wait for it to appear on the floor, and it has to pass, Then it goes to the opposite body and they like to make some changes, Then it goes back to the body were it came from to either make new changes or pass it, After both bodies pass the same piece of legislation then it has to go to the president to either sign or veto. If the president sign's it the bill is then a law unless the supreme court says it unconstitutional. If the president veto's then the bill has to go back to the chamber and either the bill passes in both chambers with 2/3 of the vote or it dies. The problem today is that passing bills are very hard to do. The major problem comes from the Senate. In order for the Senate to pass a bill it needs 60 senators I say destroy that and make it 51 like the House. Then also try to limit filibusters by stooping the ability of one senator ( who can remain anonymous) to hold a bill from arriving to the floor. The senate needs to be changed. The longer the Senate waits to reform itself the harder it will be for it to be able to do it in the future. Unless reform is done now the Senate will not be able to move as fast as it could be and make major reforms and major actions take so much longer then needed.

Congress is coming back.

On Wednesday the senate and congress is coming back. It seems a mix of issues are going to come this year. the Deficit will be big news today, the health care bill will be very interesting how that plays out. many Republicans ran on repealing the health care bill thing is that there is no way the health care bill will be repealed. It seems that the only thing that could get done this year would be major reforms I hope, both the Republicans and Democrats believe in some way of reducing the deficit why not then make a compromise that actually would work. Cut spending in : the military, government programs and increasing the retirement age. The Republicans could possibly agree with that and if Obama can really sell it maybe he could push in minor taxes like a national sales tax starting at 5% which would be one of the lowest sales tax in the developed world. These plans could lower the the deficit dramatically and increase revenue while doing these actions slowly over the course of time to not hurt the economy. Although I still believe that the U.S must raise income tax I think that the income tax increase to the Bill Clinton era should include extended unemployment benefits,tax relief to small business and more relief to states. Yes it is true some of the stimulus I stated are already in the tax deal Obama passed ( thank you Anonymous), but I think then you should increase relief to the states like California who really need it, while still telling the state to cut in the budget by giving 1$ of new spending for every 2$ of cuts the state makes. Without increasing the income tax I think the U.S will never reach surplus without even more dramatic cuts in the budget.

Some Great Year

In Prime Minister Stephen Harper's New Year's message, he went through all that was accomplished in 2010. Indeed there have been accomplishments, but also many failures. The year began with the prorogation of Parliament for the second year in the row. This time, it was designed to get away from the Afghan detainee scandal while gaining more support while the Olympics were happening. The Olympics were a great event that brought Canadians together. Congratulations on that, Mr. Harper. Following this was the G20 G8 double summit, plagued by useless pork-barrel spending, protests, a fence and a fake lake. So much spending led the French president to publicly state that next year's convention in France will cost substantially less. Along with the Tories' war on freedom of information and reducing emissions, Canada's international reputation is suffering. Election, please.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper toasted Canada's solid successes in 2010 in an undramatic New Year's message that contrasted sharply to those of global leaders who face continuing economic or political crises.

Despite a massive federal deficit, Mr. Harper offered no call to Canadians for common sacrifice, as British Prime Minister David Cameron did. Despite a sluggish economy, he felt no need to reach back to the achievements of previous generations to urge Canadians to renew their country's greatness, as U.S. President Barack Obama did.

Read more at the Globe and Mail.

Related articles

• Messages from world leaders (theglobeandmail.com)
• 2010 was Canada's 'year to shine,' Harper says (ctv.ca)

Deficit's still there Obama.

There will still be a deficit when Obama comes back home to the white house the country will still be in deficit. In fact not a surplus will even be predicted in next 10 years and even by then the U.S GDP will be the same as there debt. Meaning that the U.S will owe the same amount as they are worth. At that point countries don't tend to continue to lend money to a country that can't get a surplus ever. Obama needs to cut the deficit, but how? Well he should have eliminated the pointless Bush tax cuts. Now he will increase the debt another 850 billion. Clearly the U.S can't afford this. create a national sales tax that the U.S doesn't have reduce consumption in the U.S so the country's economy isn't so dependent on consumption. Raise the retirement age create a carbon tax and reduce the military budget and stop building more missiles. End subsidies to big oil or fossil fuels. To all this and pass one more stimulus that actually works by first giving relief to states, extend unemployment benefits, give small business tax relief and that's it no more spending after that. Unfortunately the Republicans are more for cutting, which is fine with me cutting spending is a good idea, but cutting will never be enough the U.S may need to realise this now or face major consequences that they need in order to balance the budget increase taxes.