Cities, states and other local governments have been effectively shut out of the bond markets for the last two weeks, raising the cost of day-to-day operations, threatening longer-term projects and dampening a broad source of jobs and stability at a time when other parts of the economy are weakening.

At $700 billion, the defense budget is about equal to the combined military spending of the rest of the world. Add in the cost of caring for our veterans, arms aid in the State Department budget, homeland security measures, and more, and actual spending climbs to over $1 trillion a year.

2007 was Earth's second warmest year on record, tied with 1998. The eight warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, and the 14 warmest years have all occurred since 1990.

The Pentagon’s budget accounts for more than half of all “discretionary spending”— that is, half of everything the federal government spends after paying for entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, and interest on the national debt. .

The federal government has authorized $656 billion for the Iraq war. Of that total, $152 billion was appropriated to fund the Iraq war during the current fiscal year. That amounts to more than $12 billion per month and $416 million per day.

A record number of private contractors are used in Iraq--receiving almost 20% of funding for operations or $85 billion-- these contractors are often not held accountable for their use of the money.

Every day, America has to borrow $2 billion from foreigners to finance our nation’s trade deficit. Last year’s deficit was $711 billion, up from $365 billion in 2001.

In 2007, the United States’ trade deficit with China alone hit a record $256 billion.

Cities, states and other local governments have been effectively shut out of the bond markets for the last two weeks, raising the cost of day-to-day operations, threatening longer-term projects and dampening a broad source of jobs and stability at a time when other parts of the economy are weakening.

At $700 billion, the defense budget is about equal to the combined military spending of the rest of the world. Add in the cost of caring for our veterans, arms aid in the State Department budget, homeland security measures, and more, and actual spending climbs to over $1 trillion a year.

2007 was Earth's second warmest year on record, tied with 1998. The eight warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, and the 14 warmest years have all occurred since 1990.

The Pentagon’s budget accounts for more than half of all “discretionary spending”— that is, half of everything the federal government spends after paying for entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, and interest on the national debt. .

The federal government has authorized $656 billion for the Iraq war. Of that total, $152 billion was appropriated to fund the Iraq war during the current fiscal year. That amounts to more than $12 billion per month and $416 million per day.

A record number of private contractors are used in Iraq--receiving almost 20% of funding for operations or $85 billion-- these contractors are often not held accountable for their use of the money.

Every day, America has to borrow $2 billion from foreigners to finance our nation’s trade deficit. Last year’s deficit was $711 billion, up from $365 billion in 2001.

In 2007, the United States’ trade deficit with China alone hit a record $256 billion.