Carl Crossman

A new report came out today about the money it costs to make a penny. It turns out that it costs 1.62 cents to make each penny because of the cost of raw materials. That means the taxpayers are losing money at an alarming rate.

There has been some talk about eliminating pennies altogether. The idea has not been popular and so things will continue as they are for now. The budget is busting though and the pressure is building to eliminate the penny or change the materials it’s made of. For now, all we can do is turn in your pennies!!!

I was extremely happy to hear today that the number of unemployment applications dropped off this month. I believe that the job market is getting better and this is good news for millions of Americans. Getting people back to work will help the nation recover from its economic woes.

The only problem is that there are still millions of Americans without work. I do hope that these numbers will decline as the economy gets better. Our nation has struggled with unemployment long enough and its time we get going again!

The president of the United States announced today that he intends to freeze the pay of nearly two million federal workers for two years. The move comes after the recent republican victories in the last election. He hopes to trim the deficit by five billion dollars over the next two years.

The only catch is that congress must approve the move. It is unclear whether the bill will pass but many believe it will. Another problem is that many federal workers and labor unions are against it. I don’t like a pay freeze myself, but I think it’s needed at this point.

The news came in today that the national deficit for the last year was $1.4 trillion dollars. This is the second largest deficit in U.S. history. The deficit is in large part due to the fact that unemployment is up and tax collections are down. The slow economy has not helped anything as government expenditures have remained the same or slightly larger.

The money going out of the government is growing as we are supporting two wars and rising costs in Medicaid. Other factors such as rising discretionary spending and food stamps are enlarging the deficit. I hope the government can find a way to balance the budget.

There is some good news on the economic horizon. Gas prices are expected to fall now that the summer is over. Many experts believe that prices will fall dramatically after Labor Day. The drop in prices will reflect the demand that is put on gas by Americans.

Families going on vacation during the summer have driven up costs. Other factors such as the overall supply have played a role in the price drop. The stock market has reflected the change and oil company stock has dropped. I am glad that some of the economic strain on people will be lifted.