Yesterday, the president announced a $50 billion plan to invest in America's infrastructure, but Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich says that Congress will not act on this quickly, if at all; headlines.

Standing before a crowd of union members and leaders at the Milwaukee Laborfest yesterday, President Barack Obama called on Congress to pass a $50 billion public works plan that would rebuild and modernize the country's transportation systems; it's a move designed to create jobs and help jump-start the economy.

The president's critics, particularly Republicans, are calling his actions too little, too late.

Housing prices have dropped an average of 26 percent since last July, and many economists and realty analysts are recommending that the federal governement do... nothing.

How much money do you need to have a happier life? New research says you stop getting happier after you reach a salary of $75,000 a year. After that point, according to the study from Princeton, "life evaluations" level off. We look at why this is, and we want to know from you, When has having more money made you LESS happy?

It's the end of summer, and that means that businesses around the country are being emptied of their interns. Early this summer, they arrived with their youth and their ambition. As the air turns crisp, they go home, leaving behind neatly stacked piles of folders, well organized databases, and, perhaps, a good impression.  

But a small group of those interns left something else behind: a wad of cash. Today, a growing number of young people – or their parents – are paying thousands of dollars for the privilege of working an unpaid internship.

The international community has pledged $250 million to anti-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan, but the money and the structure to integrate it has not been secured and the program has stalled. Foreign correspondent for The New York Times, Rod Nordland, explains that everyone agrees that this program is a necessary part of the anti-insurgency strategy in Afghanistan, where Taliban foot soldiers get paid higher salaries than the country's policemen.

Sometimes a word is just a word. But other times, it’s an indicator of something more troubling on the part of the speaker. Take, for example, the word “boy.” When being used to refer to a small child, most of us don’t think twice. But when the word “boy” refers to an adult black man, and the speaker is his white supervisor who’s just passed him up for a promotion, it takes on a much different meaning.

It’s for this reason that John Hithon, an employee of the Tyson chicken processing plant in Gadsden, Alabama, sued his employers for workplace discrimination.

President Obama has pledged $50 billion to invest in America's infrastructure, saying that this will also create jobs; headlines.

President Barack Obama is talking about the economy all week. Yesterday, he delivered a jobs speech before a whooping crowd in Milwaukee, Wis., where he called on Congress to swiftly approve a new stimulus plan: one that would devote at least an additional $50 billion to upgrade the nation's infrastructure.

As the debate over immigration rages on in the political spotlight, and candidates all over the country use the sensitive topic as a platform to gain votes for coming November election, Robert Rodriguez’s new movie, "Machete" does the same. Op/Ed pages contributing editor for The Los Angeles Times and creator of  Ask A Mexican, Gustavo Arellano, joins us to discuss Rodriguez's film and its satirical look at the immigration issue, corruption in politics and drug trafficking. He also revels in the revenge fantasy.

President Obama spent his Labor Day in Milwaukee, announcing big plans for the nation's infrastructure. The plan begins with an initial investment of $50 billion of taxpayer money, followed by increased spending over the next six years. It aims to build or repair 150,000 miles of roads; 4,000 miles of rail and 150 miles of airplane runways.

Concerns about the effects of the chemical bisphenol-A have grown in recent years. The chemcial can be found in the linings of cans and is used to make plastic bottles and containers. Half a dozen states have already banned it from children's products over fears that BPA mimics the effects of hormones. But the scientific community has not come to a clear consensus on how BPA affects human beings. Denise Grady, reporter for The New York Times, explains that the fight over what to do about BPA is now becoming political.

All summer long we've been compiling a list of great summer reads. Now that Labor Day is behind us, we tack one more book onto the list: "Getting to Happy." It's the highly anticipated sequel to author Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale.

Yesterday, The Takeaway asked you to distill your summer into six words. Lizzy Schmidt, called The Takeaway to say, "Peaches. Women's softball won championships! Woohoo!" Her enthusiastic recap of the summer intrigued us and we called her to hear the rest of the story, which involves horses, softball, and broken bones. (And ends with a trophy.)

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the latest suicide attack, whcih killed 19 people. Today the group threatened to continue to target Pakistani security forces with suicide attacks. This comes at a time when Pakistan is still struggling to recover from massive flooding, which has killed more than 1500 people and destroyed infrastructure and agriculture. Issam Ahmed, reporter for the Christian Science Monitor is in South Punjab, one of the regions that has been hit worst by the flood. He says that the government is taking the Taliban's theat very seriously and describes the mood of the country. "When the state can't protect its own people, you have that ongoing fear that they could strike at any time," he says.

All morning we've been talking about President Obama's plan to spend $50 billion on infrastructure to stimulate the economy. Takeaway listeners have some of their own ideas about the money would best be spent.

Brandolon from Dallas says:

"Biking, walking, and mass transit infrastructure, for example, would reduce reliance on the automobile, and thus the dept that comes along with it—auto loans, payday loans to pay car notes and gas, etc. All that money goes to banks and bank execs who are more likely to invest it in other nations than our own. That rationale should be key in the decision-making process."