Thousands protested Obamacare.

According to AOL News, many of the protesters got the push for this movement from the recent tea parties held to discuss similar dissatisfaction, just a more generalized one in how the entire country is being run… Into the ground in my opinion.

Complaints heard were nothing out of the ordinary.

How can we afford this when our country’s more than $11 trillion in debt?

What about the elderly? I heard coverage for them isn’t going to stretch past a certain age. Who’s right is it to put worth on a human life based on age?

Why would I want to put the most important aspect of my life — my health — in the hand’s of someone else? Especially the government’s?

Aren’t there more important items to spend our money on right now? Granted, our current health care system isn’t the greatest, but no one’s dying in the streets because they can’t get health care.

And what about future generations? How will they afford to pay the debt this plan will incur?

All legitimate questions, I believe.

Something positive this protest has accomplished, no matter what side of the political fence you sit, is demonstrate the fact that some Americans do care about what goes on in this country and what policies are being implemented or trying to be implemented.

For a while there I was beginning to believe no one would stand up to this sickeningly sweet idea of butterflies and unicorns, this dream world idea, and a country that can live happily with the government paying for everything for its people. Does that mean we don’t have to work anymore too?

It’s about time people started to stand up for freedom.

The 60 Plus Association made its opinion about Obama’s health care reform known in a new controversial TV advertisement.

According to Factcheck.org, 60 Plus Association is running a false advertisement demonstrating its opposition to President Obama’s health care plan. The group claims that Congress will cut more than $500 billion in Medicare money. In actuality, it will be about $220 billion from the “projected growth of Medicare spending over the next 10 years.”

There’s a wide assortment of generalizations and half-truths throughout this ad placed by the AARP’s conservative counterpart. Many of these can be proved incorrect through just a little bit of research.

Perhaps the elderly folks of 60 Plus Association, a conservative “non-partisan” organization, have forgotten their age. In 10 years these people may not even be around to not see this lack of money. The advertisement even says that they’ve made it through many things like the Great Depression and all kinds of war. This wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to “seniors.”

Could it be that the older you get the more “stuck in your ways” you are? I think we all just believe what we want to believe. This is a perfect example. Still, it’s a good reminder that you don’t have to believe what everyone else believes.

“It’s a cruel joke,” the narrator says.

The cruel joke, actually, is on anyone who’s going to believe this ad.

Can you guess it?

Of course, it’s none other than Washington D.C., with 133 job postings per 1,000 residents in the second quarter of the year, according to a report on Indeed.com.

With D.C. No. one, it may not come as a surprise to hear that Baltimore, Md., in close proximity, came in a close second.

And flying in at No. three on the list of super strong city job forces is San Jose. (Yeah, that one shocked me a little, too.)

Here’s what U.S.News pulled off the top 10 from Indeed’s list of 50 largest metro areas ranked according to job postings per capita in the second quarter of 2009:

1. Washington, D.C.

2. Baltimore

3. San Jose, Calif.

4. Austin

5. Hartford, Conn.

6. Seattle, Wash.

7. Salt Lake City

8. Denver

9. Boston

10. Las Vegas (**Charlotte, N.C. shared the same number of postings per capita as Las Vegas.**)

And I’m sure you’re curious to know what city came in last at the No. 50 spot. You may be able to guess this one like you did the first. I’ll give you some hints: 1) It’s been called America’s most dangerous city, 2) it’s been featured on Discovery Health recently with a brand new series about the busiest E.R. trauma centers in the country, and 3) it’s the largest city in Michigan.

Yes, that’s right. The city with the worst job postings per capita in the U.S. is Detroit.

Now that you’ve seen the last, let’s see what cities came just above that:

41. Portland, Ore.
42. New York
43. Birmingham
44. Chicago
45. Riverside, Calif.
46. Los Angeles
47. Buffalo
48. Rochester
49. Miami

Thursday’s report from the Labor Department suggests that, although America may be coming out of a recession, many companies will still be laying off employees. This month, thousands of people will be losing jobs due to the economy, and they aren’t alone.

June welcomed the highest unemployment rate in 26 years, a whopping 9.5 percent. According to the Associated Press, 467,000 jobs were cut last month alone. The worst of it all is that economists expect the rate to reach at least 10 percent this year.

The job losses weren’t concentrated, as you might expect. The AP reported that almost all industries slashed jobs. Surprisingly, there are two industries that actually added positions: health care and education.

For those who have been lucky enough to keep their jobs, you can bet that their pay decreased as well. May’s average weekly earnings were $613.34, but have slumped to $611.49 in June.

So, what can we expect to see in the future for our nation’s economy?

Economists predict that the end of this recession is close at hand. Many are predicting the economy will begin to grow by August and we’ll be headed in the right direction once again. We’re not going to see a change immediately, as something this severe will take years to recover from. Economists are predicting that by 2013 we should see the unemployment rate back to normal at 5 percent.

Regardless of predictions, the present situation remains. Being laid off doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Our nation was built on innovation and new beginnings. That might be exactly what it needs now.

According to USA Today, people who are currently employed are still doing worse than any time prior. Oh, except during the Great Depression. (At least it’s not that bad…yet!) Employed workers who were spending 40 hours a week on the job are now spending an average of 33.1 hours a week, and forget about overtime.

Sure, a decrease in hours would be okay if there was in increase in pay, but we all know that’s not happening. In fact, there’s been drastic wage rate cuts throughout the country, specifically a 6.2 percent annual wage rate cut in the first quarter by business. If you’re lucky and have a government job, the average wage increased by 6.1 percent.

Baby boomers are getting hit the worst. They’re the ones getting fired first, and it’s coming at a tough time for them (right around retirement).

While businesses attempt to stay in working order by enacting pay cuts, there are still some, particularly the baby boomers, who are getting laid off.

This is causing a drastic increase in the amount of people looking for part-time jobs. According to USA Today, “a record 9 million people want to work full time but can find only part-time work.”

Then this, of course, is having an effect on the availability of part-time jobs. So far, this situation appears to be never-ending downhill spiral with no answer in sight.

Thanks to President Obama’s economic stimulus bill and the Wall Street bailout we can look forward to the federal deficit increasing to about $2 trillion (yes, TRILLION). This year, the government plans to borrow 46 cents for every dollar it spends on running the administration plan.

The Associated Press conducted a survey to find out if people are worried about the country’s deficits and debt. You’ll never guess the results: they are worried.

AP also did a poll to see if people are, in essence, blaming it on President Obama. Forty-one percent of Americans disapproved of his handling of the budget, but only 30 percent disapproved of him in general.

We all know that President Obama will be blamed for the insane deficit that the U.S. is dealing with. When this is in the history books, he will be blamed or praised for how he handles the next few years.

We are living history, people. Unfortunately, this history in the making is making it hard for anyone and everyone.

Today, a new concern has made its way from the East.

Is it lead paint again this time? What about poison? Maybe it’s antifreeze? As of yet, no one seems to really know the exact cause.

What is known is that thousands of people are beginning to complain about an array of health problems that appear to be related to Chinese drywall.

Florida has been the state most affected. According to NewsInferno.com, it has something to do with drywall that was imported from China during Florida’s construction boom years of 2004 to 2005. The news blog also reported that whatever is being emitted from these walls – many describe a corrosive gas-like smell, something like sulfur – is corroding metal wiring such as copper, causing heating and cooling systems to fail.

Whatever the instigating chemical, as it appears to be, hundreds of families nationwide are experiencing symptoms such as nosebleeds and upper respiratory infections, with most blaming the drywall.

The concern surrounding this is so great that a new form has been added to many real estate listing agreements regarding Chinese drywall, creating a new legal problem for American builders.

With most American products “Made in China,” this is more than a serious problem. The American people have to ask, “Why?” Is it a simple lack of care or attention, cutting costs, inadvertently cutting lives? Is it a premeditated plot for power? These questions have all been posed, but no solid answers have yet surfaced.

Avoiding products with a Chinese stamp might be your best bet at avoiding these potentially serious health issues, but how do you watch out for something that’s just about everywhere?

Photos of this place are not unlike those taken during the Great Depression, which feature hundreds of rotted shacks with a migrant homeless population walking among them like ghosts. Replace the broken shacks with ratty, synthetic fiber tents and you have Sacramento’s “Tent City.”

These pictures paint a frightening image for our nation as a whole as what else could this story possibly suggest than the fact that this country is in serious financial trouble? So much trouble that many American citizens are being forced to live in tents and scrounge for food..?

News flash! According to Fox News, the entire story of this “Tent City” is a fake, a crock, a lie…an example of poor journalism? It’s true that this story was reported on the Today Show by Matt Lauer and also featured on Oprah. Both reported the story as breaking news and, getting right down to it, as the truth.

This Sacramento “Tent City” has actually been around for at least 10 years, as Fox news found, with many of its inhabitants homeless drug abusers and mentally ill.

Sure, mistakes in journalism have been known to happen, especially under deadline pressure, but to some of the most well respected and well known news providers in American media?

The tent flap’s still open on this one.