More Tax Cuts?

This week, President Obama and the Democrats agreed to extend the Bush Tax cuts in an effort to prevent any further damage to the U.S. economy. Although some democrats are angry that Obama did not give up with a fight, many economists believe this may provide results for the bad economic situation,

"Forecasting firms on Tuesday upgraded their estimates for growth and job gains over the next two years. Economists at Goldman Sachs, who have been more negative and more accurate than most Wall Street forecasters lately, called the deal “significantly more positive” than they had anticipated.  "     Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/business/economy/08leonhardt.html?src=me&ref=business

 Policy experts, including major leaders in Washington such as Robert Greenstein approve of the tax cuts and believe they will bring jobs to America. Although this package may offer some relief to the economic crisis, some still believe even more should have been done. The financial Crisis has caused serious unemployment issues, and may continue to threaten our economy unless kept checked and under control.

Arnold Takes a Stand for the Environment

Although Arnold Schwarzenegger will be leaving office soon, making room for Jerry Brown, he is continuing his stand for clean energy and saving the environment. At a meeting at UC Davis on tuesday, Schwrzenegger met with the Oregon Governor and British Colombia Premier to talk about environmental goals for the future.

"Action is needed now. We can't afford to wait for national and international movement," said Schwarzenegger.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgif=/c/a/2010/11/17/BU761GD0QR.DTL#ixzz15iEMrjkd

California must continue to lead the United States in clean energy regulations and goals for saving our environment in the future. Meetings such as those in Cancun and Copenhagen, must continue to take place between the major countries of the world in order for the world to see any positive hopes for its future.

New Minority Speaker in the House

Nancy Pelosi was elected the leader of the minority group in the House of Representatives. After a 62 seat loss for her party in the previous election, there was much controversy over weather or not Pelosi would be reelected for this position. Although she did crush her competitor Heath Shuler, many moderate voters were upset with the decision.

"Angry moderates who lost their elections ripped into the soon-to-be-former speaker, but they are on their way out, leaving behind a smaller but more liberal minority."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/17/MN2E1GDK0A.DTL#ixzz15iADtdRa

Many believe Pelosi is dedicated to her party, and will continue to make a stand against republican leaders, just as she did as minority leader of the House during the Bush administration. With only an 8 percent popularity rating, it is obvious that people do not see what they may have seen from Nancy Pelosi in her previous years of government, but only time will tell if she will recover from it.

The Battle of Major Corporations

In Economics the past week, we have been working with the stock exchange, and becoming more familiar with trading and watching stocks. So far, it seems that major corporations offer a safe bet for investors, with a stock value that does not fluctuate as much as some small businesses. Microsoft and Facebook have recently announced their collaboration, in an attempt to challenge the major search engine Google.

 "When you add all of these (collaborations) up - and there seem to be more of them every week - then it really is a very substantial threat to Google," said Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner Inc.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/18/BUGL1GDJNC.DTL#ixzz15i6Mb7Aj

It will be interesting to follow the stock prices of these companies and watch the results the new software ideas have on the market. It is important for companies such as Microsoft and Facebook to challenge leaders in certain industries, and promote the development of new products and ideas.

Solar Energy for the Future

 California has finally started to build large scale solar systems. These systems, that companies such as BrightSource Energy out of Oakland, provide reliable, and renewable energy to the state of California, while reducing our reliance on foreign oil. The Ivanpah project, started by BrightSource Energy, will provide enough energy to power 140,000 homes.

"Projects like this one are helping us meet our long-term energy and environmental goals, while creating jobs and moving us toward a cleaner, more sustainable future - a future where California leads the nation and the world in a clean energy revolution," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who attended the groundbreaking."                             Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/27/BUS91G2T46.DTL&type=business#ixzz13d28XZnB

The project has already received investments from companies such NRG Energy, as well as grants from the federal government. Companies must continue to develop new, more efficient ways of supplying clean energy. The government must do its part as well to support clean reliable energy that will reduce our reliance on foreign oils.

Comic Relief

Bill Gates Supports Prop 23

Bill Gates has made a $700,000 donation against proposition 23, which would cut back state requirements on green energy as well as continue California's reliance on oil. Gates made this donation from money out of his own pocket in an effort to end our reliance on foreign oil.

"Prop 23 opponents, like Gates, have given nearly $30 million to defeat the proposal, outraising supporters by almost three to one, according to Bloomberg.Prop 23 would freeze California’s stringent requirements that aim to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, until the state’s unemployment rate is at or below 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters. The state’s unemployment rate now stands at about 12 percent".

                                        Read more: Bill Gates joins California Prop 23 battle 

It is becomes more and more important to cut our reliance on limited foreign oil as we continue to see the devastating effects greenhouse gases have on our environment. Prop. 23, and the Texas oil companies supporting it,  threatens to set back all of the regulations California has imposed to stop our reliance on oil, and invest in renewable energy.