On Sunday, October 7, one thousand pastors across the nation are planning on giving political "recommendations" to their congregations of whom to vote for this November. The conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom has formed what they are calling "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" in order to try and get the IRS to overturn the Johnson Amendment (that's the rule that takes away the tax exempt status of any church or charitable organization which endorses a political candidate). Tell the IRS to enforce this Amendment by forcing these churches to pay taxes on their income.

Mr. President and Senate Members, In February 2012, Congress representatives drastically changed the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, first, by reducing it and second, by bringing it to a halt on December 29, 2012. The Extended Benefits program was also stopped in August 2012 affecting every American counting on that income. If EUC08 is allowed to expire at the end of 2012, unemployed workers will only be eligible for regular state benefits or 26 weeks. In order to help, EDD webpages are directing Unemployed Americans like me to look for assistance for their families at other public and social services, such as counseling, CalWORKs, Medi-Cal, CalFresh, general relief, etc. To no fault of our own, we have been laid off, and subjected to presidential candidate's ridicule and misrepresentation while we desperately continue to look for the job that evades us. Do not forget the millions of Americans affected by this legislation during your campaign.

Removing the upper limit on FICA & Social Security deductions on payroll to include the upper management and executives salaries of all corporations thereby maximizing the inflow of money into the system.

When millionairs and billionairs pay a smaller tax rate than orinary Americans, something is wrong! We have a graduated tax rate for income, why not for capitol gains? We ought to tax the first $1000 or $2000 or $5000 in capitol gains at 0% and have it rise to 35% quickly. Warren Buffet supports this idea, me thinks.

During these times of hi unemployment, the Senate on behalf of rich gluttonous corporations, is considering a bill, the (STAR) Act, introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), that would significantly increase the number of work visas issued to cheap foreign Engineers brought into the US. Statistics of the cited deficiency of skilled domestic engineers have been manipulated by technology corporations. Multinationals like Intel, Texas Instruments and others have enlisted the services of hoards of off shore India based tele-recruiters on fixed price supplier contracts to offer engineering jobs that do not exist while permitting them to accumulate statistics on fictitious job vacancies. Passage of this bill will result in increased competition for fewer jobs, even higher unemployment in Engineering for Americans and further depress already abysmally eroded incomes in the field. As an Electronic Engineer myself, I can personally attest to the arduous employment challenges faced by many including myself during the past twelve years, in our once respected profession of choice. This is an affront to the American people and must be stopped.

A tax break for those who do not own a car. As a bike rider I feel it is not my responsibility to have to pay for the expense of our unsustainable transportation system. Oil subsidies are not in my representation of my tax dollars and others without cars should not have to be responsible for the tax burden created by automobiles.

The senate has been plagued for years with this pandering, two faced, flip flopping rich, out of touch liar that keeps acting as the ring leader of Republican obstructionism in the U.S. Senate. Arizona would have received many times more grants and money we needed to get employment stabilized and education improved but John McCain doesn't see any need for us to receive needed funding because he is doing just fine. When did being a U.S. Senator become a life time career? He has been involved in every financial downturn since the beginning of problems in the fifties, was a member of the Keating Five Scandal, was associated with the repeal of the Glass/Steagall Banking Act of 1933, that was put in place to prevent financial corruption like what happened with Wall Street again recently, continues to want more deregulation of all ethical standards, and truth be known, his record in the Navy previous to him getting his fifth plane (that was destroyed) shot down would have gotten anyone else thrown out with a dishonorable discharge but his dad and granddad being admirals kept him from receiving the same treatment. I would like to see him gone and someone who is progressive thinking and not older than dirt in the U.S. Senate to represent Arizona, my state.

Rep. Francisco Canseco says he represents all Texans, but he hasn’t said much about Mitt Romney's offensive remarks defaming 47% of Americans. Texas has been hard hit by the economic crisis and I live in one of the poorer neighborhoods in Bexar County, Texas. However, I see my neighbors every day going out to work long hours. If they don't have jobs, I see them valiantly looking. Many of them intend to vote for Obama, but not all of them. What is clear to me is that ALL Texans were smeared when Mitt Romney stated 47% of Americans think of themselves as victims who are entitled to and dependent on government support. He later went on to say, “My job is not to worry about those people.” Canseco should have stood up for his constituents and made it clear that he respects the hardworking people of Texas, but he has not. We deserve to know what our representatives stand for and what they really think of us.

We are active organizers in the 17th district that believe that Cheri Bustos should step down as the candidate for Congress because she personally invests in companies that ship good American jobs overseas. Cheri has proven that she cannot be trusted to keep American jobs here at home, when she is personally profiting from outsourcing.

In Freeport, Ill. Sensata Technologies, a company owned by Bain Capital, is sending 170 workers’ jobs to China. To add insult to injury, Bain is even forcing the Freeport workers to train their Chinese replacements. A group of the workers have organized to garner support for the “Bring American Jobs Home Act”, a common sense bill that gives American workers an even playing field by replacing tax loopholes for companies that send jobs overseas with financial incentives to bring jobs back to America. On Tuesday, the workers caught up with Schilling but the Congressman refused to answer their simple yes or no question and then walked out of his own town hall meeting to avoid further questions. The video is here: http://bit.ly/SchillingWalksOut Bobby Schilling can run from meetings but he can’t hide from his record in Washington: Schilling supports: • Free Trade deals that ship jobs overseas • Tax break incentives for companies to leave the U.S. • Hiding the number of jobs companies send overseas • Cutting job retraining programs for workers whose jobs were lost overseas Rep. Schilling’s record in Washington shows he has chosen a rigid ideology over the public interest. The Congressman has the wrong priorities and has turned his back on Illinois workers. Join me in telling Bobby Schilling that he can run away but he can’t hide from his record in Washington.

Mitt Romney recently stated that 47% of the American public are "victims" dependent on the government. I am a retired person who draws a meager Social Security retirement benefit check each month, which I am sure I earned through many long years of hard work. This makes me part of Romney's 47%, yet I in no way feel like a victim or one who expects something for nothing. I know Romney's comment is not based on facts or reality. As my representative in Congress I demand that Rep. Francisco Canseco publicly reject Mitt Romney's offensive claim.

I call on John Koster, the Republican candidate for Congress in Washington's 1st District, to reject Mitt Romney's recent comment abandoning 47% of the American electorate who currently don't pay federal income taxes. And I call on John Koster not to support Mitt Romney's tax plan which would RAISE taxes on the 47% while cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires.