illegal. supporters calling it an attack on arizona s hispanic population. we ll talk about that and gift cards are the number one item on holiday wish lists. so why do billions of dollars on them go unused? all that and a whole lot more coming up at the top of the hour on news nation. we re following all the developments as the candidates criss-cross iowa. jur lookiyou re looking at live pictures of rick santorum in due buick and ron paul in newton, iowa. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc, but we have plenty more for you. the housing market is where we re talking now. it s still a mess, and the latest data isn t encouraging. home prices fell in most major cities for the second straight month, and a national home builders group calls this year the worst it s ever seen for new home construction. one would think the republican presidential candidates would be all over the topic, right? not exactly.
absolutely. we saw a lot of bad data starting in the spring. what happened essentially is that the government spending started to contract. the economy started to slow down. that basically we know about now in the summer. we re looking to the fall to see whether the economy has continued to expand. consumer spending has held up. the data isn t clear whether the economy is growing again or whether we ve really just completely sputtered out. all right. annie lori with slate. hopefully some good news around the corner. we ll keep our fingers crossed. thank you. there is a critical shortage of medicine for some serious diseases. at least 180 drugs have declared in short supply this year. that s according to the new york times . that s a new record. these drugs are crucial for treating colon and breast cancer, childhood leukemia and other diseases. a nationwide stockpile of cancer medications is being proposed as a solution to the problem. we ll be right back.