Every opportunity to air the video of Anthony Abbate beating Karolina Obrycka, WGN TV News airs it over and over again. Whether it relates to the case itself (on any small level) or if one or the other of the Abuser or Victim is in the news, WGN continues to show it. This incident occured in September of 2007. It is emotionally offensive to anyone who has been effected by Domestic Violence and is no longer necessary to visually be subjected to watching her brutal beating..

In November 2012, more Americans voted for Democrats than for Republicans for United States House of Representatives. Yet Republicans retain control of the majority of seats in the House. This is because of the way boundaries were drawn, giving more safe seats to one party and wasting more votes for another party, while excluding small parties like Greens and Libertarians. It is time for democracy in the United States of America.

The citizens of the United States of America have the right to know who owns guns in their communities. Whether it be the apartment above you or the neighbor across the street, we have the right to know that a deadly weapon exists within our comfort zone. School officials also have the right to know if a student's family has an arsenal in their home. Police have the right to know if a family member is armed when they approach a home, especially in cases of domestic violence. We have the right to know if a home is safe before we send our children over to a friend's house to play.

Being one of the many retirees in this age, we have paid into this system all our lives, since we began working some of us as early as 16 yrs old while in school. We deserve to be able to have SS and Medicare available for us when we need it! All of us were not as fortunate as others to retire from a high paying job with benefits to have enough to live on and have medical care. This is what we paid for to have SS & Medicare! It should not be cut at all! Find the cuts elsewhere.

Home owners today are encouraged to refinance their mortgages to the new, lower rates in the 3% range. I am a homeowner with a 30 year near perfect credit rating and a 30 year exemplary work history. My job was eliminated due to a corporate global restructure. I have been denied the lower interest rate even though I am not even close to being underwater (I made a substantial down payment). Most people takes jobs at a lower wage once they get a new job, or some are boomers (that's me) hoping to embark on a second career which requires going back to school to learn something new. It makes no sense at all for banks to deny a refinance as they already have a loan with me. I am not a new risk, I'm not even a credit risk. Banks say they do not consider severance pay as income, unless you are an executive and get a 3 year severance package, and they do not consider unemployment as income, nor will they consider money saved in a 401IK Plan as collateral. This is unfair. Banks have used my tax dollars for their bail out and they should be required to refinance existing mortgages when their is no risk of loss to them. Fact is, banks make money off of foreclosing on people, so rather than help homeowners, thereby helping the USA to get out of this recession, they lay in wait like vultures. Sign my petition and let's require banks to refinance mortgages when it can be proved that there is no risk of loss for them.

Wal-Mart can make a good-faith effort to help stop the kind of violence we saw in Newtown, CT: by joining Dick's Sporting Goods in voluntarily stopping sales of assault weapons, which belong in war, not in our communities. As reported by Bloomberg News on December 19, 2012, "Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said yesterday that it would continue to sell guns, including rifles like the one used at Newtown, where 26 people, most of them children, were killed on Dec. 14. Searches of five kinds of semi-automatic rifles on Wal-Mart’s website showed them to be out of stock at stores in five states, including Pennsylvania, Kansas and Alabama...Wal-Mart has about 10 modern sporting rifles, the gun industry’s term for firearms that look like an M-16 military rifle, listed on its website. The retailer removed a description and picture of the Bushmaster AR-15, which was the model used in Newtown, after the shootings." Why not remove the rest of these other dangerous models? Please do put public safety ahead of profit, and stop selling assault weapons.

The Nation is affected.

The key to containing gun violence is to providing and enforce individual accountability for gun ownership. Minimum Federal guidelines should be established. The States can create even stricter standards.

Right now, members of congress are in D.C. addressing tax and budget issues that need to be resolved before the end of the year. One critical issue under consideration is whether to extend the adoption tax credit. As many of you know and some who don't know, the adoption tax credit is ofte a major factor in a family's ability to adopt. Without this financial resource, many families simply can't afford to! That means children are waiting too- waiting to see whether they will be able to join a loving, stable home of their own. And it all rests on whether our government reauthorizes- and makes refundable* the adoption tax credit.

The GOP once again is targeting Social Security to balance the budget. There are too many senior citizens in this country dependent on this income. Cutting Social Security is not the solution to reducing the deficit.

Release the former Marine, Jon Hammar, who is locked up for no good reason in a Mexican prison after he secured permission from U.S. Customs to carry an antique rifle across the border. He then checked in with Mexican officials, who arrested Hammar, threw him in prison, and chained him to his bunk. Let's get him home to his family by Christmas.

Van Buren Township and the City of Belleville need to recruit new and inviting businesses to our community. We have so much to offer in terms of location, the lake, and our people. The residents are eager to welcome new businesses to our community that will enhance the lakefront atmosphere and provide a wider variety of options for dining, shopping, and entertainment. Panera Bread is on the top of the list for 'most wanted' businesses in 48111. We need to tell Panera to come to 48111!