I believe that Congressional pay should be cut and no person in Congress should get paid just as those classified as non-essential don't get paid. Since you are getting nothing done and you allowed the government to shut down, you should be classified as non-essential.

Walmart is not the right fit for Tinley Park. We think other businesses would offer more benefit and less disruption. Stop them from coming in.

There have been different versions of the idea of a 28th Amendment floating around the internet since the last government shutdown in 1996 (I can't take credit for all the text here, but some of it). Somehow we become complacent and end up doing nothing about it. This last shutdown just serves as another example of how "we the people" are the furthest things from the minds of our representatives. Let's take the power back by creating a very specific amendment to the constitution that gets ratified by the states and doesn't need congressional approval. This has NEVER been done before, so let's make it happen for the 1st time! This is America after all - as Lincoln said: a "government of the people, by the people, for the people". 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office. 2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. The Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in options provided by The Affordable Care Act. 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/13. Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

Houston Park is a community park where our kids go to ride bikes, skateboard, scooter and play baseball. It is the only park with a flat surface. It has been taken over by street hockey players who are abusive and intimidate kids and parents out of the park each weekend. Many have been hit by flying puck including my son and the NYC parks dept. has decided to allow them to continue to play a dangerous sport and take the park away from the kids and community. This must end.

I am a clinical psychologist and have had the experience of working with a potentially dangerous delusional patient with access to a gun. Because this patient's delusions did not focus on one particular, identifiable person, I was unable to take any action to protect others or myself. The recent episodes in Washington, D.C., as well as other recent acts of violence by the mentally ill, such as the the Newtown, CT massacre, make this an urgent issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

The across-the-board cuts set to go into effect at the end of the week will hurt the economy, and they should be stopped. But if Congress insists on cutting anyone's salary, they should cut their own paychecks first. In fact, they have proposed a 20% across-the-board pay cut for 800,000 federal employees--all while leaving their salaries safely intact. If hardworking employees will see an unexpected pay cut because Congress can’t get its own job done, shouldn’t our Congress members also see a pay cut? After all, we pay their salaries. As a family member of several government employees, I am seeing firsthand the devastating impact these cuts have on our local communities. Why should our congressional representatives and our President not make the same sacrifice, if they're really representing the best interests of their constituents? The least they can do is cut their own salaries first. Because of the 27th amendment, Congress can't change their salaries until 2014, but if the sequester happens, it'll cut public services for the next ten years. So Congress needs to make sure that the next Congress, and every one after that, also feels the cut. Instead, they specifically exempted their own salaries.

Give the people a greater, louder voice in and on what is happening in our Congress, other than what is communicated by corporate media and pundits. We stand with President Obama! Put all people in our government back to work!

Convince our Congresspersons to think for themselves. End grandstanding "Games" that only play with governing and GOVERN.

The effects on the economy from the government shutdown are much further-reaching than most people realize. We are in the process of selling our home. The purchaser is getting a federal FHA loan. The sale of our home has been stopped as no loans are being processed due to the shutdown. The shutdown is damaging our already fragile economic recovery. The forfeiture of pay is the least Congress can do to prove they are sincere in their efforts to provide a government worthy of our citizens and to prove that we are all in this together. It's time they start making decisions that not only affect us but also them.

The government shutdown has cost 800,000 individuals their paychecks. Lawmakers should not be able to furlough other government workers while being paid for their political tantrum. Locally, here in Colorado, the government shutdown has significantly slowed our rebuilding efforts after a devastating flood. The shutdown has also made access to Estes Park--a town hard hit by the flood--even more difficult by closing one of two two-lane roads left by the flood for access. Personally, my husband was hired into a government position after a year and a half of almost no employment. He was working his government job for six weeks before the shutdown. If government officials want a shutdown, they should have to experience what a shutdown means to all the lives they are affecting.

Passenger service in northwest Connecticut was alive and well until 1971. After the service ceased much of the area has suffered and become a modern day ghost town. Freight cars utilize the existing rails on a daily basis and this project is "shovel ready" and has been on the back burner in Hartford. Restoring passenger service would not only boost the local economies, but attract tourism, give families easy access to children at area private schools, and create a pathway to the Massachusetts line which has been funded and is underway. Let's fill in the gap. Toot Toot!!

Fracking poses enormous dangers to our food and water supply, air quality, and soil, and therefore to human health and welfare. It involves known carcinogens and neurotoxins and does irreparable damage. It poisons wildlife.