Taking It To The Limit: Which Bills Will The U.S. Treasury Pay For

In The Arena 'Choose To Pay'


In the video located in the link displayed above, Congress-woman Gloria Borger, also host of the CNN show, In the Arena discusses the tough spending choices that the U.S. treasury will have to make if the debt ceiling is not raised. Currently the nation's cost of spending is at a soaring $306 billion while the country's incoming revenue is only $172 billion which means that we will not have $134 billion to pay for expenditures. These expenditures include; interest, social security, medicare /medicaid, defense vendors, food/ nutrition services, HUD programs, veteran affairs, unemployment insurance, education funding, tuition assistance, military active duty pay, federal salaries, and IRS refunds. We can certainly pay for these expenditures, yet we can not pay for all because no matter what there will be sectors that will suffer. Many Americans are not aware or simply do not care about what is currently happening with the nation's debt, but it actually has a tremendous impact on all Americans.

We Need to Re-invent the Toilet

Currently 2.5 billion people do not have direct access to toilets. On the contrary, we could not envision a world without them. Unfortunately this lack of toilets most commonly leads to the spread of diarrheal diseases which are connected to the deaths of 1.5 million children each year. The problem is that it is too expensive for people typically in third-world countries because it requires water and a sewer system hook-up. Too add, today’s toilet does nothing to treat human waste.

The toilet was invented in 1775 and ended up saving millions of lives. However, its benefits did not reap in two-thirds of the world’s population. Now, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $41.5 million worth of grants which will be given to a list of universities who will be reengineering a toilet that will help improve wastewater treatment and the current sanitation systems associated. Even though these reengineered toilets are intended to aid third-world countries, some of these ideas would be helpful in United States and Europe, as well.

Many people that use this commodity are not aware of the extreme assistance that it provides in comparison to the other two-thirds of the world which lacks its existence. I believe if a cheaper, greener toilet is invented, then there will be a second revelation of the toilet that will be shared with a larger population. It will improve hygiene, health and recycling efforts across the globe. People do not suspect this, but the toilet is a sensational part of our lives and if we did not have access to them, then our culture and individual lives would be significantly affected.

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South Sudan: Independence is just the beginning

Today Southern Sudan will become the independent country of South Sudan. This historic event follows the compilation of an atrocious civil war that caused the deaths of millions. Although their fight for independence has been difficult, the people of Southern Sudan are excited for what the future awaits. This is an exciting time in the new nation, but after today comes the tough work of building a country that already faces substantial obstacles.

South Sudan will face many economic issues. Because their economy is predominantly dependent on oil, there is a strong possibility that it will lead to the corruption of other industries. The people of the south also rely upon trade from the north for food and fuel. With strained north-south relations, trade has come to a halt, creating severe shortages, price spikes, power outages and long fuel lines. Also, the government will issue a new printed currency in the next few months without sufficient cash reserves. All of these factors could create economic instability.

These challenges have led some analysts to call South Sudan "the next failed state." That doesn't have to be this new nation's future, and for the sake of the 8 million people who live there, Mercy Corps and other groups are working to ensure that it's not.

I believe that South Sudan can defy the doubts against them by starting to establish trade relationships with African countries and gradually expand as a nation. Although the country is poor, there is an ultimate possibility that they can grow by introducing new resources and adopting new technology within their culture.

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