GDP Up: Will Recession Fear Fade as Economy Shows Signs of Life?

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With just two months until the first primary contests officially kick off the race for the White House, politicians have unleashed a flurry of proposals designed to fix the ailing economy, encompassing everything from tax-code reform to student loan relief to a large-scale mortgage refinancing initiative.

And it sure seems like we need it, right? A string of bad economic data and policy failures in the first half of 2011 have severely weakened consumer and business confidence—more than three in four Americans now believe the country is on the "wrong track" according to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll. That attitude has made virtually everyone clam up and become super-cautious when it comes to spending, a persistent obstacle in this non-recovery.

Not only do Americans feel uncertainty about the U.S. economy in general, plenty of doubts exist when it comes to their own financial situations as well. Even with a weak "recovery" taking place, personal income growth has receded to levels not seen since 2010, making Americans feel less wealthy and increasingly pessimistic about the future.

But while no one is arguing the economy is in tip-top shape, a slew of recent data shows encouraging progress and support for the argument that although weak growth might be in the future, a double-dip recession most likely isn't. Here are a few reasons why things might be looking up for the U.S. economy:

[Read: Recession Fears Fade But Euro Debt Crisis Still Looms.]

Gross domestic product. After a series of gloomy forecasts for the U.S. economy, real gross domestic product—a measure of the output of goods and services—increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011 according to the advance estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Thursday. In the second quarter, real GDP increased 1.3 percent and first-quarter numbers came in at a measly 0.4 percent. While economists emphasize that 2.5 percent isn't exactly robust growth, it is a huge improvement from first- and second-quarter estimates and a sign that the much-anticipated economic recovery could be finally finding its footing. But, other economists warn that growth above 2 percent doesn't appear to be sustainable. "Business investment, inventory, and exporting hold the key to how much growth can be anticipated through the first half of 2012," Kathy Bostjancic, director for macroeconomic analysis at the Conference Board, said in a press release Thursday.

In any case, simply the perception that things are getting slightly better could generate a rebound in consumer and business confidence, which could ultimately help steer the economy further away from the cusp of another recession.

Housing. Pretty much any way you slice it, the housing market is in the dumps. And while 2011 is shaping up to be one of the worst years on record for the single-family housing market, green shoots might be growing elsewhere. It seems counterintuitive given the constant talk of overbuilding contributing to the massive housing bubble, but a rebound in multifamily unit construction—think townhomes or apartments—has given the housing market a shred of hope to cling to.

Thanks to building activity in that sector, housing starts jumped 15 percent—the best reading in 17 months, according to IHS Global insight—to a 658,000 annual rate. Single-family starts were up 1.7 percent, according to IHS, a modest but encouraging change.

According to IHS forecasts, a housing market recovery initially driven by an uptick in multi-family unit construction through 2013 will eventually make way for improvement in the decimated single-family home space as pent-up demand builds.

In some ways, that demand may be reappearing already. On the heels of strong gains in August, existing home sales—while down 3 percent in September—clocked in at more than 11 percent above figures from September 2010, according to the National Association of Realtors.

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Debate Shows GOP 2012 Contest Is a Two-Man Race

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It's hard to say for sure who won Wednesday night's debate. But the debate proved what most polls show, that the 2012 GOP contest is shaping up to be a two-man race, between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and incumbent Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The two took turns taking shots at each other, while other candidates spent the night trying to get their own jabs in at the duo. While Perry enjoys sizable leads in the polls, Romney still carries the aura as the anointed pick of the party establishment. At this point, it really isn't either man's race to lose.

Romney's clear, competent answers and incisive jabs earned him the "winner" label with most pundits. Perry didn't exactly lose the debate, but he didn't behave like a front-runner, either, and may have disappointed some by failing to seize the moment in his big stage debut.

[See a slideshow of the GOP contenders.]

And the pair's battle over Social Security may have exposed a vulnerability with Perry, whose march to the Republican nomination was beginning to look inevitable. Romney was able to keep Perry on the defensive about comments he made in his book, Fed Up, blasting the program as a "Ponzi scheme." "Our nominee has to be someone who isn't committed to abolishing Social Security, but who is committed to saving Social Security," Romney said. But while the onslaught may have put Perry back on his heels--leaving some to wonder if he hadn't been fully prepared for the question--Perry may have impressed his rock-ribbed conservative base, by refusing to back down from the comments. He sidestepped the "intellectual" discussion of whether founding Social Security 70 years was a good idea, claiming that its current funding structure and future outlook is, indeed, a sham. He said he made no apologies for using "provocative" language. "It is a monstrous lie, it is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, 'You're paying into a program that's going to be there,'" Perry said.

[Read Robert Schlesinger: Rick Perry's Double Talk on Social Security and the Constitution.]

As is often the case, the actual daylight between the two candidates' stances is much less stark than the rhetoric. Perry hasn't fully articulated his stance on Social Security in this campaign cycle, but in his book he said he supported a retirement safety net which "will allow individuals to own and control their own retirement." Romney has said he opposes privatizing the Social Security, but would allow enrollees to invest some of their money into the markets, although he also supports trimmed benefits as a way to address projected shortfalls in the program. But Romney clearly believes that setting himself up as a defender of Social Security will aid him with GOP voters who are spooked that their benefits may be in jeopardy.

[See cartoons about the 2012 Republican primary.]

Debates aren't necessarily zero-sum contests with clear winners and clear losers. Candidates hope to achieve different reactions from different audiences. Perry's answers opposing the scientific consensus on man-made climate change, his criticism of Obamacare and the individual mandate, and even his strongly worded blasting of Social Security's future will appeal to the most conservative GOP primary voters. Romney's focus on his business background as the key to unraveling America's economic mess aims to appeal more to voters in the GOP establishment. And the clear distinction he sought to draw between Perry's ideological opposition to Social Security and his own pragmatic desire to save it also aims for this key group. While GOP voters are certainly worried about the size of government, many of them, especially older voters, aren't eager to overhaul America's central entitlement programs. The next few months of the GOP primary could be a battle between pragmatic, issue-based voters supporting Romney, and more passionate conservatives rallying behind Perry.

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Police: Video shows the body of the mother of Florida Dump Suspect in car

Published September 09, 2011| FoxNews.com

Florida exits authorities new video say shows the man accused of the murder of her mother in July stuffing her body in the trunk of his Lexus, has WSVN.com.

Police said the video was shot a neighbour and shows the adopted son of Natalie Belmonte, Gerard "Grey" Belmonte, remove his body from their house in Pembroke Pines after he celebrated a part of his studies, according to the report.

His body was discovered three days later decomposing in a wooded area near the House, according to the report. His son was finally arrested when the crime scene DNA samples came back positive, the police said.

Days before the death of his mother, Gerard was detained for an incident without report and said detainees at the prison of Broward County that he had dreams of killing his mother, according to a police report, reported WSVN.com. He told fellow inmates that he would follow through dreams.

Police say they have found clothing the suspect was hours before the murder of blood on them within a dump garbage, according to the report. When Gerard Belmonte learned police discovered his mother died, he told police, "more I hear, more I think that I was involved, but I can't just remember something...". I want to, but I can not simply. »

Gerard Belmonte was charged hours of first degree murder after the discovery of body of his adoptive mother.

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Report shows Spike in cases of terror Homegrown but Intelligence gaps remain

By Catherine Herridge published September 07, 2011| FoxNews.com

A spur to domestic terrorism and attacks by American citizens, made abroad are top concerns for police forces across the country, according to a new survey by the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.

"Radicalization and jihadist terrorism directed foreign and homegrown are perceived as a threat by the police authorities in the United States", according to the report, "fighting terrorism Intelligence: Law Enforcement Perspectives." The survey covers the police chiefs of intelligence for the 56 largest cities of the United States in advance of the 10th anniversary of the attacks of 9/11.

The survey identifies 21 cases of domestic terrorism of September 11, 2001, in May 2009, but 31 case in the last two only years - more than one new case of domestic terrorism each month.

Speaking to the Intelligence and national security Alliance in Washington, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said that the plots are real and credible.

"Yes, it is a threat." Yes, worry about someone striking a firearm, and then down to a place and do something terrible, "Rep." Mike Rogers, R-Mich. said the forum. "But they will never just.". In all cases, that you have seen, there are indicators leading to this particular event. They have been radicalized to do so. »

After 9/11, the US intelligence community believed should be person-to-person contact for an individual to cross the threshold of violence. Now, it would be possible to virtually. Social networking is to create a new generation of digital jihadists.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, also speaking at the event, recognized that the web is the pilot of radical Islam and the new generation of Al Qaeda 2.0.

"The more informed Internet use, traditional and social media and information technology groups adds an extra layer of complexity to an already complex image threat," she said.

The new report also found that intelligence believe gaps remain a decade after the attacks. Believe that the United States does not have "a proper understanding of the business of counter-terrorism intelligence", the leaders cited a lack of access to certain intelligence products and said, in some cases, the details of the information did not: it is not shared adequately, or data have been tainted or there was just too much of it.

Philip Mudd, researcher at the foundation of new liberal America who worked in the world of the fight against terrorism for more than two decades and was used in the Obama, and Bush administrations said Fox News that marrying federal law, States and local application systems was not an easy task.

"We must have rules and regulations if get us something in San Francisco can give us in Topekam"he says. ".

Added Mudd that Al Qaeda has evolved and homegrown plots are the most recent manifestation. He said, it is unlikely that the number of cases has peaked.

"This is a new art form, and it is not even the form of art that we would have had five or six years ago," Mudd said, referring to the analysis of the information. "This homegrown phenomenon is really only about three or four years." It is not only how to answer us after 10 years of the problem of terrorism, it was how do we respond to the problem of the revolution of Al Qaeda when we have not even case with members of Al Qaeda anymore. »

National bestseller corresponding Catherine Herridge "the next wave: on the hunt for American recruits for al-Qaeda" was published on June 21 by the Crown. It is based on her reporting for Fox News in al-Awlaki and its new generation of recruits homegrown - Al Qaeda 2.0. It is the first book to explore full American life of al-Awlaki, its connections to the pirates of the air and how the clerc double crossed the FBI after 9/11.

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