[for more info, visit Glass-SteagallNow.com] In response to the failure of thousands of banks across the country, Congress enacted the Banking Act of 1933, commonly known as Glass-Steagall, during the height of the Great Depression. This statute safeguarded the American economy for decades by legally separating commercial and investment banking. Such a common sense system provided greater security to banking deposits in commercial banks. Additionally, investment banks were only able to leverage their own funds, limiting the systemic risks of the American citizenry. For decades, Glass-Steagall was a cornerstone of the U.S. financial system, until the Gramm Leach Bliley Act unwisely completely ended this important financial regulation in 1999. With the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act over a decade ago, the U.S. economy was exposed to an intolerable level of risk, and the recent financial crisis was certainly exacerbated by the removal of these safeguards. We must limit the potential for future economic collapses by returning to a more prudent banking system in which banks must once again choose between investment activities or commercial lending.

Today large businesses have unfair economic advantage over small businesses. Yet small businesses are major contributors to jobs, innovation and community economics. We petition the federal government to enact laws and regulations to ensure that small businesses have the same costs as large businesses in the following areas: 1. Percentage tax paid 2. Per capita health care 3. Shipping costs such as FEDEX and UPS

Senior Home Owners are hit hardest by Real Estate Tax increases. They dutifully paid their taxes during their earning years but because of the weak economy, many were forced into early retirement with Social Security as their main or only source of income. Even with the Senior Real Estate Freeze and Exemption policies, annual R/E tax increases to them of 15% are not uncommon. Current assessments can equal more than 30% of a senior’s Social Security income while all seniors have not had a COLA increase in 3 years. In Bensenville, IL R/E taxes were raised astronomically for the school budgets even though thousands of Bensenville families were displaced outside the school districts due to the O’Hare airport expansion. They actually raised taxes for schools even though there are less students to teach. This is an example of extreme government greed that hurts seniors the most. It’s time to stop penalizing those who can afford it the least before they are forced into foreclosure. Stop the government from stealing the quality of life Seniors have earned. Give Seniors a break and remove them from the tax rolls entirely. They’ve earned it.

For the last 30 years, churches have been more and more political, telling their parishioners who to vote for, what issues to vote for, etc., all the time growing wealthy on tax-free donations. The Constitution assumes that churches will be apolitical, small organizations: but today they are corporations, and, like all corporations, they should pay taxes.

Congress has been focused on transfering medical costs to seniors rather than reducing the total cost. Negotiating drug prices, just like the Canadian government does would save medicare, medicaid, other federal and state health programs Billions of dollars.

The Illinois Legislature is currently considering SB512 - a measure that would break the promise of a secure retirement to workers who have paid into the pension system and have worked for years on the front lines to improve our communities. We stand with workers across Illinois in calling on our legislators in Springfield to honor their commitments to public employees and vote "No" on SB 512.

Obama is trying to meet the Republicans halfway in their proposal to cut federal programs to trim the deficit. This gives him little room to negotiate to save federal programs affecting the poor and the elderly. What's really needed are higher taxes on the rich and elimination of tax breaks for large corporations.

Deep program cuts will halt our economic recovery and escalate already high unemployment rates in the state, especially in the CA Central Valley where unemployment rates already exceed 16%. CSU and UC systems have already been hit with $1 billion dollars in cuts earlier this year, and without a sensible budget they could face $15 billion more in cuts. We have a revenue problem. Tax extensions must be passed and taxes increased on the top 3%. The CA State Assembly and Gov. Brown can stop these cuts, allow the tax extensions and allow tax increases that will solve our budget deficit. We're calling on our elected officials, to stand up for CA working families, stop the program cuts, protect our state education system and solve the budget deficit.

Medicare and Social Security should not be part of the Government's budget cuts if there are no revenue increases being addressed.

Unemployment is rising, while executive salaries stay high. If a product can be manufactured in the United States of America, it must be made in the USA in order to be sold here. We must not allow US companies to outsource manufacturing, shipping, and other production overseas where they can pay less than minimum wage.

Recent news reports on MSNBC say that the long-term unemployed face a new hurdle that is legal - discrimination by hiring employers against people who, because of the recession, have been and continue to be unemployed through no fault of their own. We all need jobs to survive and thrive in the U.S. Let's outlaw this hurdle that the long-term unemployed desperately need to have removed so we can all get back to work.

I would like to see both the Republicans and Democrats come together to support reasonable compromises on both sides to resolve our debt crisis. Specifically, I would like to see the Republicans consider revisions to the tax system so the wealthy and corporations pay a fair share, and I would like to see the Democrats look at reasonable entitlement revision such as means-testing. I think the bipartisan Debt Reduction Commission is a good starting point.