CNN 2010-12-05

How can a video game of sorts help train you for real life? That answer's coming up in this Thursday edition of CNN Student News. Hello, everybody, and welcome! My name is Carl Azuz. Let's get started.

First up, it's "The Moment of Truth" for some ideas about how to lower the country's debt. Right now, it is gigantic; the U.S. owes nearly $14 trillion. President Obama put together a commission of 18 people to come up with ideas about how to lower that debt. This group is made up of Democrats 1 and Republicans, so it is bipartisan. Yesterday, it released some ideas in a report titled "The Moment of Truth." These ideas include things like cutting spending, changing some taxes, and maybe even holding a one-year income tax holiday. The commission says these proposals could lower the debt by $4 trillion over the next 10 years.

Here's the thing: they might not be too popular. Politicians who tend to be more liberal usually are against spending cuts. Politicians who tend to be more conservative might not like some ways it proposes to increase revenues. But just because the commission suggests something doesn't mean it's gonna happen. In fact, the commission can't officially make a recommendation to Congress unless at least 14 members vote for it. A lot of experts don't think that's gonna happen, since these ideas are controversial. And even if the recommendations do get made, Congress doesn't have to take them. If they become law, none of the ideas would start until at least 2012.

President Obama seems to be changing his mind about drilling in the Gulf 2 of Mexico. Back in late March, he said he was planning to open up the Gulf region to oil and natural gas drilling. Now, he's saying he won't allow any new drilling in parts of the Gulf for at least seven years. A big reason for the change: this, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. It's forcing the government to reconsider safety standards in the drilling industry. This new ban isn't good news to some officials and people who live around the Gulf, though. They say it'll hurt oil and gas workers in a region that's already suffering.

Parts of the U.S. are cleaning up after severe weather brought heavy rains and floods this week. It stretched from the Southeast all the way up to New York and into New England. At least two people were killed. And here in Georgia, roads were closed, trees and power lines knocked down. Officials confirmed that a tornado 3 ripped across the metro 4 Atlanta area. It did the most damage in a town called Buford. That is where Jacqui Jeras is to check out the impact of this storm.