As Washington battles it out over the deficit and the August 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, there is another important economic discussion happening across the country. Last week, the unemployment rate reached 9.2 percent, and by the end of this year money for many jobless benefits will disappear. As lawmakers haggle over the debt ceiling in Washington, are they failing to address the jobs crisis?

China celebrates its 90^th year of Communist rule today; but in the background, the nation is playing deeply capitalist games with international debts. China owns a large portion of US debt, but a Reuters investigation shows that they may have more than the Treasury could previously report. By buying up US debt through internationally disparate financial intermediaries, Chinese entities hid exactly how much US debt they had acquired—estimates say it is above $1.13 trillion. 

President Obama spoke to the press on Wednesday in his first press conference in three months. He said that Democrats were willing to make compromises on spending, and pushed Republicans to "take on their sacred cows" and agree to tax increases for higher income earners and corporations. But the real sacred cow might be in his veiled threat to ask Congress to stay in session through their August summer holidays, if need be.

Angry protesters gathered in the streets of Athens yesterday, following a vote on austerity measures which the parliament backed with a vote of 155–138. Was any of this avoidable? Is it possible that Greece’s economy was undone by the structure of the Eurozone’s financial rules that demand strict fiscal requirements, but no political unanimity?

With the deadline quickly approaching for Congress to make a decision on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling, President Obama warned that failing to come to a negotiation could significantly impact the nation's economy and investors' confidence in the United States. Beyond that, some experts say Congress's slowness in developing a plan to face the debt crisis may be symbolic of something more—namely that America is in denial over the gravity of its debt problem. 

A new poll by CBS and our partner the New York Times shows that Americans are split on whether owning a home is a safe investment. 49 percent of those polled said it was, while 45 percent said that owning a home in this economic climate is risky. Despite that, nearly nine in ten Americans said that home ownership is vital to the American Dream. We asked Takeaway listeners whether or not they feel optimistic about buying a home right now, or if it's a smarter and safer bet to rent, and rounded up their responses. 

As President Obama announced the draw-down of 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by September 2012, he said it was time for our country to focus on nation-building here at home. The troop reduction could save $10 billion next year, so we asked our listeners: what should we do with that windfall? Many of you told us to invest in education.

Though we're only halfway through 2011, natural disasters have already cost the U.S. $32 billion, and that number will continue to climb. Over the weekend, the Suris River crested in Minot, North Dakota, leaving 4,000 homes underwater. Fewer than 400 residents of the city—the state's fourth largest—have flood insurance. North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate in the U.S., and one of the fastest growing economies. 

Some of the U.S.'s largest corporations—including Apple, Google and Microsoft—have a lot of their profits saved in low-tax countries overseas. Some of these companies are lobbying Congress and the Obama administration for a tax break. In a move these companies say would function as a stimulus to the economy, they are proposing a repatriation holiday, in which their profits could be returned home with a much smaller tax penalty than they would normally incur. David Kocieniewski, tax reporter for our partner The New York Times, speaks with us about which companies are lobbying, and how measures like this have fared in past years.

When Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker threatened the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin’s public sector employees earlier this year, large scale protests assembled almost overnight as the eyes of the world descended on the Badger State. It was déjà vu in the Garden State last week, when the New Jersey State Senate approved a bill which would radically change the health care, pensions and bargaining rights of over 500,000 public sector employees. Just a decade ago, a move against pensions would be political suicide. So why are voters and lawmakers changing their state budget tactics now?

General Motors has announced its second quarter earnings of $1.3 billion. There had been much anticipation surrounding this report, as many were speculating that GM, which came out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year. This means that they earned more than $2 billion dollars in the first six months of this year. This is a major turnaround for the company, even though they have a long way to go to make up for the losses that forced them into bankruptcy.

For the first time this year, the economy lost jobs largely as the result of 2010 census workers losing those temporary jobs in June.

The government reported this morning that the nation’s payrolls fell 125,000 last month as a result of the elimination of 225,000 Census jobs.  Private sector employment increased by an anemic 83,000 jobs.

The Senate is scheduled to vote today on whether to begin work on the finance regulatory overhaul bill, which President Obama promoted in New York last week. If Democrats have their way, the Senate will proceed to a debate on the bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd. Otherwise, the bill, S.3217, will stall and require more negotiations.

On Friday the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a civil suit against Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, after uncovering what the SEC calls significant evidence of fraud during the run-up to the current financial crisis.

Many states across the country are struggling with billions of dollars in budget gaps and several of them are considering expanding some form of gambling to generate much needed revenue. Lawmakers in Massachusetts today are expected to begin debating a bill to license two resort-style casinos in the state and to introduce slot machines at the state's racetracks. Proponents of the plan say expanded gambling in Massachusetts could create as many as 15,000 jobs and reduce the state's buget deficit.

Chinese exports are cheap, but it's not all lower wages or efficient production. The cost of exports has been held down in recent years because the Chinese government has pegged the Yuan to the dropping dollar. But that may be changing. Murmurs within the halls of China's central bank, and central government, are pointing to an announcement in the coming days that the Yuan may move to a more flexible exchange rate against the dollar. This has big implications for trade, for President Obama, and for American consumers. 

Friend of the show Lakshan Achuthan joins us to tell a tale of two economic Americas. Contrary to popular belief, the current recession has not been all that bad for many Americans. Unfortunately, the other 40 percent of unemployed fall into what Lakshman calls the "long term unemployed;" and he adds that their plight may not be over any time soon.

• MONEY TAKEOUT: Lawmakers are taking to action to try and ban employers from running credit checks on potential employees. Louise Story, finance reporter for The New York Times tells us more.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: The NFL's Scouting Combine ended Tuesday. Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Takeaway sports contributor, talks about who he thinks shined in the annual event.

• AUSTIN PLANE CRASH: Joseph Andrew Stack allegedly flew his small plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas after confessing on his website in a rambling screed against the U.S. government. Ian Crawford, news editor for KUT in Austin, Tex. brings us the latest.
• OLYMPICS: We preview a sport that many people didn't know existed: The Skeleton. New York Times Olympics editor Jason Stallman explains.

Newsweek columnist, Dan Gross, tells us how the European Leaders' agreement to give Greece some debt relief may affect the U.S. markets. Among other things, Gross says it might be good news for Americans traveling overseas.