Joseph Lazzaro

All of the bad jokes apply: it was easier to build the transcontinental railroad than for Democrats and Republicans to agree on a budget. Or perhaps the Burma Road.

The much-speculated release of the iPhone 5 from Apple (AAPL) in October will make a strong, innovative, trend-setting company even stronger, and institutional investors have been piling in to the stock since July. Is Apple’s stock headed to $600 in 2012?

With less than six days until a possible U.S. Government shutdown, considerable differences remain between Democratic and Republican proposals to fund disaster relief. The GOP wants any Hurricane Irene disaster relief funds to be offset by cuts to other programs. Democrats say doing so would hold disaster victims hostage to partisan politics.

Even as G-20 leaders grapple with the global financial crisis, a larger, over-arching concern is limiting GDP growth in the U.S., and, to a lesser degree, in other developed economies and, by extension, decreasing the capacity of the these nations to counteract the crisis: inadequate wage growth.

In the first half of 2011, the United States registered two straight quarters of sub-par GDP growth, and the risk of a double-dip recession has increased. With consumer spending and business investment lagging, that leaves it up to the public sector to fill the gap. Accordingly, here are five programs to increase U.S. GDP growth.

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon and commander of Apollo 11, said the United States risks squandering 5 decades of space research, work, and accomplishments, if the nation does not find ways to restore hope and confidence in NASA, as part of a unified sense of purpose on space exploration.

Due to the lingering government debt crisis in Europe and a 9.1 percent U.S. unemployment rate, key economic statistics are pointing to slow-growth conditions in the U.S. for the next two quarters, and a double-dip recession is possible. Is there anything Congress can do to create jobs and get the U.S. economy moving again?

For former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, there's no time like the present to jump into the 2012 race for the Republican Party's nomination. But will she choose to join the race?

The Democratic-led Senate Friday, as expected, made short work of rejecting a House GOP-authored, stop-gap funding bill, 59 to 36, thus increasing the likelihood of a U.S. Government shutdown. The current funding resolution expires Sept. 30.

On Monday, the next-generation in commercial aviation arrives, as Boeing will deliver its first 787 Dreamliner to Japan’s All Nippon Airways. To say that there’s a lot riding on the 787 for Boeing and for U.S. jobs and exports would be an understatement.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is on track to record a weekly decline of more than 800 points -- its worst weekly swoon in two years. But the important question for the typical investor is, 'Where's the Dow likely to head in the next six months?'

Will the possible release of the iPhone 5 to Sprint (S) in October spark a renaissance in the wireless sector, including for longstanding iPhone carrier Verizon (VZ)?

Don't have the time to pour over U.S. economic data and related reports? Well, for a quick-read on the U.S. economy, monitor the price of oil and General Electric's (GE) stock price.

The U.S. Federal Reserve intervened in the U.S. economy Thursday – the central bank did what investors thought they would do, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average still fell more than 270 points. What’s going on?

Is the United States capable of tax reform? U.S. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., thinks so. Still, U.S. tax code revisions are arduous because they go to the core of the United States -- commerce -- and a tax code alteration can result in a change to a company's or group's slice of the economic pie.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday announced it will sell $400 billion worth of short-maturity bonds and reinvest in bonds with maturities of 6 to 30 years by the end of June 2012, in a program commonly referred to as Operation Twist.

In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, President Barack Obama said the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own, but this goal can only be achieved via direct talks with Israel.

Many if not most Americans probably concluded that after barely avoiding a spring U.S. Government shutdown, Democrats and Republicans would end their feud. Not quite: a partisan spat on Hurricane Irene could result in a government shutdown on Oct.1 , if an agreement is not reached.

Strong policies are urgently needed to increase economic growth and reduce the risk of a double-dip recession in the developed world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its revised World Economic Outlook. The IMF also decreased its 2011 global GDP growth forecast to 4 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from the June 2011 forecast.

President Barack Obama has thrown down the gauntlet regarding the deficit reduction process -- the only question is, does he have the support of the American people to enact his budget vision, or is substantive action unlikely prior to the 2012 election, due to divided government?

Starbucks' (SBUX) Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said instead of giving money to politicians, CEOs should use the money to create more jobs. Earlier this summer, Schultz urged corporate America to withhold campaign contributions until Congress passed a better, substantive plan to cut the budget deficit.

Unnder President Barack Obama's deficit reduction plan, the U.S. Postal Service would be given the option of ending Saturday delivery in order to cut costs and help the government agency balance its budget.

Violent crime in the U.S. declined for the fourth year in a row in 2010, the FBI announced Monday, in its annual Crime in the United States reported. All four categories of violent crime decreased, despite the fact budget cutbacks resulted in fewer law enforcement staff nationally. Pproperty crimes (excluding arson) victims lost an estimated $15.7 billion in 2010.

Finally, there's some good news for U.S. motorists. Gas prices, down about 10 cents per gallon in the past month to an average of $3.60 per gallon for regular unleaded, are likely to continue to decline, assuming no oil disruptions from major oil producers or a large storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

Although President Obama’s new deficit reduction plan will be portrayed as a tax hike, in reality, it by and large returns the tax code, with a few exceptions, to levels that existed prior to the 2001 Bush income tax cut -- a cut that fundamentally altered the U.S.'s fiscal and economic trajectory. The nation has been trying to recover ever since.

President Barack Obama will once-again try to right the nation's fiscal ship of state by proposing a new tax levy for U.S. taxpayers whose income exceeds $1 million per year. Congressional Republicans have already said they're opposed to the levy, but it remains to be seen whether that latter view will hold amid a public that wants upper-income groups to pay more in taxes.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cautioned Friday that social unrest in the United States could ensue if action is not taken by policy makers to create jobs and lower the U.S.'s high 9.1 percent unemployment rate.

The energy-thirsty United States is on the hunt for a game-changing energy source or energy usage technology -- and batteries and fuel cells are strong candidates. But their mass use could be 20 years away. Meanwhile, a conventional source may bridge that gap, or provide even more upside: natural gas.

Under which scenario could former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin make it harder for the Republican Party to win the U.S. presidency in 2012?