>>>Taxes - How Does the Government Spend Money?

Every year the government collects money from the American people through taxes. However, few people know where their money really goes to. Most of the money is generally given out to fund programs and benefits for the people, but in recent years more money has gone to aid the military and war.
The largest Federal program is Social Security, which will provide monthly benefits to over 45 million retired and disabled workers, their dependents, and survivors. It accounts for 23 percent of all Federal spending.

>>Savings and Debt<<

The article in the New York Times paper about the debt that families such as the Moellering's have reflects the type of situation that many families in America are going through. It is very difficult to save money for many people because there are so many bills that have to be paid and usually people only work to pay out those bills. There are many more things that a person has to take care of and they have many more expenses that also carry on interest rates. The use of the credit card worsens many people's situations because they include interest rates that you have to pay. Reading this article made me realize the amount of time needed to completely balance out living a comfortable life and having to deal with the various bills.

>>Critique of GDP Podcast<<

I decided to critique Ronald and Richard's podcast because it is the one that caught most of my attention. I think that it was very creative and original and it made you actually want to listen to what they were saying. The recording was loud and clear eventhough the pictures weren't that descriptive and relating to what they were saying. Also the information that was given was on point, but they could have given more information about the topic: gross domestic product. This podcast taught me the basic things you need to know about gross domestic product but the background music they had and everything else was very original of them, it wasn't like a lesson but more like normal conversation.

>>>U.S. Trade Deficit: getting better?

Trade deficit generally means a negative situation for the economy, it means there is a trade gap instead of a balance of trade. Recently exports have been the center of a steady lift for the economy and a decrease in the trade deficit.

->>TAXES-How does the Government Get Money?

There are many different types of taxes that Americans pay. These include Federal Income Tax, Local Income Tax, Medicare Tax, Real Estate Tax, Social Security Tax and of course sales taxes. Federal Income Tax is probably one of the most important income taxes an American pays, they are the taxes put on our earnings and the earnings of corporations and companies. The taxes put on the corporations are often called corporate taxes. Taxes are like a "enforced contribution" to the government. This money is usually used by the government to fund many things that need to be done, like protection of property and the expenses of war. Other taxes such as Real estate tax or property tax are imposed on the person who owns that certain piece of property and its value. So the federal government collects money more on our personal income, corporate income and other issues such as socail insurances. While the local and State governemnt tax personal, property and sales.

Student Loans - Beware

I believe that many of the students that entered Culinary Schools were only driven there because of much of what they saw on T.V. , especially the Food Network. They must have thought that they would be in such good positions as the chefs they were looking up to and so they didn't tihnk they would have anwy problem in paying off the loans they took. The article states that many didn't completely pay attention to those packets of letters that they received concerning the student loans and just signed, which was a very worng thing to do. Loans can be very tricky because they include interest and if you are not going to be able to pay it off in the long run, it is better to stay as far away as possible from them. Personally I am not takin any student loans, the scholarship money that I have received is paying off most of my college cost. I really think that students should take minimal loans or none at all.