Worldwide Recession Coming to an End?

With recent improvements in the economy of Europe, Asia and the U.S.. hopes are being raised that the worldwide recession might be coming to an end pretty soon. But experts believe it might not be over as soon as we hope it would. Many question if the top economies of the world can actually maintain recoveries after stimulus spending and easy-credit policies have been in place for quite some time now and there has been a considerable absence of consumer spending. It is also believed that it will be really hard for other countries to come out of their recession if the U.S. doesn't come out of its recession and begins growing again. After an alarming fall in Europe in late 2008, France and Germany have reported a small improvement in their economy this year. Other European countries have also reported a small improvement even though they are still struggling and having a hard time with their economy. China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea have also began seeing recoveries thanks to government stimulus spending. Russia, one of the hardest hit countries has also began to become stabalize even after oil prices dropped and many foreign investors left the country. According to the Federal Reserve, things here in the U.S. seem to be "leveling out." But until consumers begin spending again and people continue to lose jobs, any recovery or improvement is still questionable. Retailers in the U.S. reported that consumers continue to control all of their spendings and consumers haven't seen any change in their lives despite everything. So many jobs have been lost since the recession first began that many experts belive that the unemployment rate will remain high even after the economy really begins to show improvement. Many unemployed Americans have lost unemployment and other benefits and are now spending their savings and others are saving more than they are spending. the latest statistics suggested that the recession is already in its final moments, while others suggest that it is already over. But economists continue to have mixed feelings and some continue to be optmistic about what the future holds for the economy. We still have a long way to go and we don't know what the future might hold for us but it is always important to remain optimistic in times like these. We have already began to show a slight improvement and maybe things will be back to normal really soon.

"Public Option" Important?

The debate over health care reform has become the dividing line between Democrats and Republicans. Most Democrats argue that any health care reform must include the choice of federal coverage, while Republicans can only see it as a step towards "government takeover" and Obama seems to be in the middle of everything. Policy experts believe that the federal plan will eventually become one of the largest insurer providers in the country, this would mean a large expansion in the government's responsibility. But despite everything, Democrats continue to debate whether health care should be available to all Americans or through private insurers for most Americans like it has for the past years. As a former breast cancer patient, Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Senator John Edwards, can see that so many people can't afford any type of health insurance and she feels like it's really important to do something about it. She became a strong advocate for a health care plan with a public option proposal that was first unveiled in 2007 by her husband. Before the 2008 presidential campaign a health care reform bill was only talked about, but now it has a become a major issue that needs to be addressed. Jacob Hacker, a political scientist, proposed a plan he called "Medicare Plus" in 2001, ths would give employers the choice to either offer private insurance or coverage through a government health plan similar to Medicare. Estimates showed that his public option plan would actually end up covering most of workers and their families and the government would have an important role in all of this. It's definately a tough job for everyone in the White House, but I think that a solution will definately come soon.

Deficit Increase to $9 Trillion

Senior administration officials believe that the White House is more likely to have an increase of nearly $2 trillion in its estimated 10-year budget deficit nest week. The Obama administration has concluded that the economy last year was much worst than expected and tax revenues are extremely lower than what they had expected. This means that the estimated deficit will escalate from $7 trillion to about $9 trillion in the coming decade. This new revision will definitely be taken as really awful and terrible news for the Obama administration as Republicans have already began accusing Obama of "budget-busting" spending. Even Obama political supporter and billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, wrote in a letter that massive amount of spending leaves the country in unknown "fiscal territory" and that the government needs to take aggressive and essential steps to cut back on spending after the economy begins to blossom again because spending is only necessary in the short term. This is the reason any increase or worsening of the deficit is very much likely to be seen as negative for the White House. Everyone needs to understand that in order to overcome this recession it is necessary and important to do some stimulus spending to help the economy and everyone else. This is the only way the economy can be helped and everyone just needs to relax and be patient to see what happens next and only hope that the best will come in the coming years. The economy will prosper in the future once the administration takes all of the necessary steps and measures.

Coming Soon... Health Care Reform

Obama recently addressed the debate over health care reform guaranteeing people that a health care reform will get done in no time. He has recently been struggling to regain force on a bill that would extend health care coverage to almost 50 million Americans who don't have health insurance and face extremely high costs. Opponents have overwhelmed supporters for the past month in town halls all around the country and public supporters for Obama's health care reform have recently reduced in public opinion polls. He also addressed untrue claims that a new health care reform will provide health care for illegal immigrants, create "death panels" and pay for abortion with taxpayers' money by simply saying that we must "cut through the noise and misinformation" and continue "pushing the truth." I think it's important for everyone to know what exactly this health care bill would do before they start protesting or complaining about something that isn't even true because it just makes them look like ignorants. He admitted that health care is the toughest fight he has faced in office since becoming president as he faces many opponents who insist that any type of health care reform must include a government-run insurance option and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared that the House of Representatives won't pass any bill without it. But Obama assured everyone that he is doing everything he can to create a bipartisan plan where both parties can come to an agreement. Who knows when they will finally come to an agreement but it will hopefully come really soon because many are waiting for a health care reform to happen now. While Obama is still looking for Republican support, Democrats are preparing for a one-party push they feel is inevitable.

Increase In Poor and Uninsured

The number of poor and uninsured Americans are increasing greatly with now more than 38.8 million Americans believed to be living in poverty. It is estimated that the release of the 2008 census data will show a large increase of the poverty rate to at least 12.7%. In 2007, the poverty rate was up to 12.5%, that is 37.3 million people, compared with last year, this means an increase of more than 1.5 million people. The number of uninsured Americans is also very likely to increase because of the rising unemployment numbers and the deterioration of private coverage paid by employers and individuals, this is compared to last year when the number of uninsured dropped by more than 1 million because of government programs for the poor like Medicaid. But these numbers are more likely to be "the tip of the iceberg" of the actual number since the poverty rate has the tendency to grow rapidly over time and it was estimated earlier this year that poverty could eventually be up to 14.8% or more if unemployment reaches 10% like many analysis predict. Many believe that the numbers will keep increasing and as much as no one wants this to happen it seems like that is more likely to happen because more and more people are losing their jobs and many continue to be uninsured. We, as a nation, have the tendency to look the other way when so many people around us are poor, but now as we go through a recession we seem to focus more on the rising numbers and we forget that we can all do something to help those who have been less fortunate because of the recession. It will take a lot of time for the Obama administration to do something about the growing number of people who continue to lose their jobs, but they are doing everything they possibly can to help the nation and those who are unemployed. The release of the rising numbers of the poverty-stricken and uninsured could have a great impact as Congresses addresses health care reform, its cost and the way to pay for it.