I, like every working American, have seen a 2% cut in my pay because Congress voted not to extend the payroll tax holiday. However, our politicians in Washington just gave themselves a .5% raise. A member of the House of Representatives makes $174,000. Do the math.

Sign this to urge Steve Wilson to challenge Mitch McConnell for Kentucky's US Senate seat in 2014. We'll make sure he knows about your support. Progress Kentucky has over 20 petitions set up to draft candidates from across the political spectrum to run against Mitch McConnell. Get links to the complete list at http://progresskentucky.com/index.php/campaigns/3-draft-petitions. Progress Kentucky http://progresskentucky.com http://facebook.com/progresskentucky Twitter: @progressky

Fairness and clarity will best be served by treating income adjustments, tax breaks and exemptions like any other government expenditure. Political tricksters and hired poets use language to make the tax deductions for business lunches seem very different from government payments to help the poor feed themselves. Or to make deductible mineral exploratory costs very different from payments to support education.

Taxing income punishes strugling people. Wealth, above a certian level, can and should be taxed for the benefit of the whole nation.

North Dakota is the only state in the Union with it's own State Bank. If all states were to establish their own, it would go a long way to break up the banking monopoly and give the power back to us.

Only Ron Paul can help reign in our massive spending problem in DC and finish what he started with his "Audit the Fed" bill, which garnered bipartisan support and was passed by the House

During this past Summer, Metro implemented a 'new rush' schedule which eliminated most of the Blue Line service and increased the Orange Line service. The public needs more Blue Line service in order to reach such destinations as Foggy Bottom/GW University/GW Hospital, Farragut West, Arlington Cemetery, Ronald Reagan Airport, The Pentagon and Pengaton City Mall all of which are on the Blue Line, some are popular tourist attractions. We need this service returned.

Since Democrats took over control of the Senate in 2006, Republican abuse of the filibuster has skyrocketed. In 2011-2012, there were more than 400 filibusters. Important progressive goals like a health care public option, immigration reform, climate change legislation and the Employee Free Choice act have all been stopped by the filibuster. It's not right for a minority to be able to gum up the works, without even having to explain why. Senators Merkley and Udall want to change the rules and fix the filibuster, and at least require a Senator to hold the floor and explain why they're blocking movement on legislation. Just like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Already, at least 48 Senators support the plan, which only needs a simple majority to pass. But California Senators Feinstein and Boxer are standing in the way. Californians deserve a Senate that works, that can address our nation's problems. California's Senators must support the Merkley/Udall plan to fix the filibuster.

The violence displayed in commercials that air during any televised sports game at any time should be stopped. It should also be stopped on regular cable and TV programming until after 10pm. This restriction should include movie trailers with a PG 13 rating and above and video games with an E 10 rating and above.

The United States and Canada are among only a few countries in the world that doesn't require labeling on our vegetables and fruit notifying us that the product is genetically modified. The DNA modifications can affect our bodies causing all sorts of problems. We need to know what we are eating in order for us to stay healthy and keep our medical costs down.

As a Pediatrician working mostly with youth taken into State custody, I find that a large fraction of the children are from substance abusing families, and that a large fraction of the teens evaluated are abusing tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other harmful substances. I firmly believe that youths become dependant on, or addicted to chemicals more quickly than adults, and that the history of an individual's chemical dependency is generally a progression from tobacco to alcohol to marijuana--then sometimes tragically to harder drugs.

This is an idea that we should address. For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform... in all of its forms. Also, their children do not have to repay their college loans. What a racket. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.