January 27: United States
U.S. President Barack Obama gives the 2010 State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. In his speech, he says that job creation must be the number one policy in 2010. He also gives proposals for federal deficit reduction. Other topics covered in the speech are health care and immigration reform, repealing Don’t ask, don’t tell policy, encouraging American innovation focusing on clean energy, as well as investing in the skills and education of the American people.
February 4: United States
The United States Tea Party movement holds its first national convention, drawing about 600 members. The keynote speaker is Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, Sarah Palin. The grassroots movement gathers people who oppose President Barack Obama’s policies, such as the healthcare proposal and economic stimulus package. The Tea Party organizers say their goal is to get their supporters elected into Congress in the upcoming mid-term congressional election.
February 13: United States
U.S., British, and Afghan forces begin Operation Moshtarak, a military offensive in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, which involves more than 15,000 joined troops. The objective of the offensive is to recapture the area from the Taliban and turn it over to the control of the local authorities. The troops are encountering strong opposition from the Taliban insurgents who use civilian hostages as human shields. It is expected that the operation will take as long as 18 months, but the troops are already working with the local elders to prepare the area for the return of the Afghan police and civilian administration. Operation Moshtarak is the biggest offensive in Afghanistan since the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
March 23: United States
U.S. President Barack Obama signs the historic healthcare overhaul bill into law after months of heated debates and controversy. The House of Representatives narrowly passed the bill, without a single Republican vote. The reformed healthcare expands coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, closes the prescription drug coverage gap, expands Medicaid coverage, prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions or dropping coverage when the insured get sick, and allows people to purchase insurance through state-based exchanges. The bill also allows children to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until the age of 26. Beginning in 2014, Americans will be required to purchase health insurance or they will face fines. Preliminary estimates show that the new healthcare legislation will cut the country’s federal budget deficit by $143 billion over the next 10 years. To cover the cost of the plan, the government plans to tax investment income of the wealthiest Americans and tax high-cost employer-sponsored health plans. Thirteen states file suits against the federal government, claiming the healthcare reform is unconstitutional.
April 6: United States
Brazil and the United States reach an agreement that settles their long-lasting trade dispute over the U.S. government subsidies for cotton farmers. The settlement comes a day before Brazil’s plan to impose $830 million sanctions, including $591 million in tariffs on a hundred various goods. The sanctions were approved by the World Trade Organizations, which ruled in 2009 that the subsidies violated trade agreements and were illegal.
April 20: United States
A powerful explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, a BP-operated offshore drilling oil rig situated about 50 miles off southeast of the Louisiana coast, kills 11 workers and injures over 100 others. A subsequent fire that lasts 35 hours burns and sinks the rig, which starts a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is estimated that more than 1,000 barrels of oil a day are gushing into the gulf, threatening an environmental disaster. (April 28): After BP’s unsuccessful attempts to stop the leak, the spill results in an oil slick that has a circumference of about 600 miles and covers almost 29,000 square miles. It threatens Louisiana’s wetlands and local businesses. It is believed that the Gulf of Mexico will not recover from the oil spill until the end of 2012.
April 23: United States
The governor of the U.S. state of Arizona Jan Brewer signs into law a controversial immigration bill, which requires state police to check people’s immigration status if there is a “reasonable suspicion.” Supporters of the bill say that the law will help bring illegal immigration under control. The opponents, on the other hand, say the law will lead to profiling and discrimination against all Hispanics.
May 18: Canada
Nine leading Canadian environmental organizations and 21 timber companies, which are members of the Forest Products Association of Canada, come to an agreement on sustainable logging, highest standards of forest management, and protecting endangered caribou habitat. Called the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA), this historic deal is the largest commercial forest conservation plan ever that covers more than 76 million hectares of public forests.
June 9: United States
The United Nations Security Council approves new sanctions on Iran in response to its continued nuclear program. This is the fourth set of sanctions, which expands the arms embargo and tightens financial restrictions on Iran’s institutions and individuals. (June 24): The United States Congress approves new additional restrictions on foreign companies that trade with Iran meant to put more pressure on Iran to end its nuclear enrichment program.
June 30: United States
The United States Congress cuts $4 billion in aid to Afghanistan after the Wall Street Journal’s report of billions of U.S. aid funds being siphoned from Afghanistan to foreign bank accounts of Afghan officials. The move is intended to send a message to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to do more to tackle corruption.
August 7: United States
Elena Kagan, U.S. President Barack Obama’s second appointee, is sworn in as a Supreme Court justice. At age 50, she is the youngest Supreme Court justice and only the fourth woman ever to serve on this unelected nine-member highest panel. Kagan replaces liberal justice John Paul Stevens.
August 9: Mexico
Mexico’s former president, Vicente Fox, calls for legalization of drugs, saying that years of prohibition strategies have failed. Since 2006, when President Felipe Calderon took office, more than 28,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence. Fox argues that legalization would weaken the drug cartels. The opponents, however, say that cheaper drugs would lead to millions more addicts. President Calderon calls on the public debate on the legalization of drugs despite personally being against it.
August 9: United States
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates proposes reallocation of about $100 billion in the military by cutting the use of outside contractors, eliminating about 50 positions of generals and admirals, and closing the Joint Forces Command, which trains troops from different branches of the military on how to work together. The saved funds would be invested in other areas, such as modernization. The U.S. Department of Defense’s budget for this year exceeds $700 billion, more than in any other country in the world.
August 31: United States
Seven years after the U.S.-led invasion on Iraq, the United States ends its combat operations and withdraws its last combat troops from Iraq. It will, however, keep 50,000 non-combat troops, which will help train Iraqi troops and support counter-terrorism operations. At some point during the war, the U.S. had 165,000 troops in Iraq, the number that was reduced in January this year. Since the beginning of the war in 2003, 4,421 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed. As many as 1.6 million of Iraqis, about 5.5 percent of its population, have been displaced. By the end of 2011, the U.S. will have spent $802 billion for the war in Iraq. Some sources put this cost at $3 trillion.
November 2: United States
Republican Party candidates make significant gains in the United States mid-term elections. They win control of the House of Representatives; however, Democrats retain majority in the Senate. The Republicans also gain several governorships. The Tea Party’s recent popularity has helped the Republican success. (November 17): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will remain the Democrats’ leader in the new Congress. Republicans elect Eric Cantor from Virginia as majority leader and John Boehner from Ohio as Speaker of the House.
November 9: United States
Israel announces its decision to build 1,300 new settler homes in East Jerusalem and 800 in northern West Bank. The decision is condemned by the United Nations, the European Union, Russia, and the United States. The settlements are the main stumbling block in the peace process. (November 10): The United States says it has allocated an additional $150 million in aid for the Palestinians. (November 14): The United States offers Israel a package of incentives to extend its freeze on new settlements in the occupied territories for 90 days. The incentives include 20 fighter jets and a promise to veto any proposals critical of Israel at the UN Security Council.
December 3: United States
The U.S. Labor Department says that the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in November and the job creation was much smaller than expected. There are 15.1 million unemployed; 6.3 million of them are long-term unemployed.
December 7: United States
After weeks of negotiations, the United States says that it has failed to resolve the impasse of the direct peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The sticking point of the talks has been Israel’s refusal to renew its ban on settlements in the West Bank.
December 21: United States
According to the 2010 United States Census, the U.S. population has grown by about 10 percent in the last decade, reaching 308.7 million. This has been the slowest growth since the Great Depression in the 1930s. The changes in population growth and decline in various states will affect the redistribution of congressional seats. The number of electoral votes each state has in the House of Representatives is apportioned according to the population. Eight mostly southern and western states will gain votes, while many northeastern and midwestern states will lose votes.