Twenty-three (23) states have moved to amend the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, but not New York. Billionaires buy all the air-time (or, in some cases, signage) they want with both anonymity and impunity in order to influence our elected leaders' behavior in Congress. This is not democracy. New York's voice, added to the chorus of the other 23 states, would go a long way toward real transparency in government.

Currently, the Romney family has majority share in and represents three out of five board members in Hart Intercivic, a company that owns the notoriously faulty electronic voting machines that will count the ballots in several states this November including swing state Ohio. This is clearly not going to be a fair election by any means. Therefore, to counter such obviously biased tactics, every state should have a mandatory paper voting option for those who prefer to vote as we have done for generations - and make sure their vote counts and can be recounted accurately and legitimately. Our Constitutional right to vote was also intended to have that vote count.

My son and his wife owe $340,000 in student loans! They are both employed as optometrists. They are currently repaying their student loans through the IBR plan. Their payments are managable under this plan, but their fear is the exorbitant tax they will have to pay when the loan is forgiven in 25 years. It may be up to $70,000. Currently the debt forgiven through PSLF is not considered taxable. We would like to give this privilege to borrowers who qualify for loan forgiveness through IBR (and Income Contingent Repayment) get the same treatment. After 300 payments, they should not be taxed!!!! It will likely be totally unaffordable.

A 30-minute video has been posted on FaceBook showing Romney telling CEOs to instruct employees to vote for Romney or be fired. An anti-Romney group posted this to make us aware of how low Romney is willing to stoop to win on Nov 6.

Congress and the House have created over the years many rules and regulations that set them apart, and separate them legally from doing things the ordinary citizen would be jailed for. constitutional amendments can only be made by convening a constitutional convention according to Article V of the Constitution. That's either 2/3 of both houses of Congress or by Petition from 2/3 of the states. No convention has been called since 1787 when the constitution was ratified (If I remember). The chances are that no state legislature would submit such a petition as you propose (for obvious reasons of self-interest), and if it would, getting the other 37 states to comply. Right now there are about 34 or 35 states with petitions to hold a convention. Some have been there for decades, but can't get that 2/3rds. Here, take the time to check this out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_to_propose_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution Found this interesting, Children of congress member do not have to pay back their college student loans. How nice! Monday on Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add this to the below, just where will all of it stop? 35 States file lawsuit against the Federal Government Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention. This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please pass it on. 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. Somehow, that doesn’t '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. If each person that receives this will forward it on to 20 people, in three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one proposal that really should be passed around. Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States."

Some of you may have gotten a postcard from Maine DOT indicating planners are thinking of a spaghetti-like interchange and stop-light system for both the east and west sides of the I-295/Desert Road interchange. This is complete overkill. See www.mainedot.gov: on the splashpage click on Freeport divergent diamond link. 1. Sure, a few minutes a day, a few days a week, some congestion occurs. But please! We intelligent citizens can make do with this. 2. If the department insists, let's use a roundabout. These are much simpler and do not involve a traffic light. 3. DOT, whose budget was slashed and whose bonds were refused by the governor, should be spending money on repairs, not new construction. Thank you for considering this,

You have heard of the "Birth-er Movement", this petition is to start a "Tax-er Movement", This petition is to demand that Willard (Mitt) and Ann Romney release their U.S. Federal tax returns for the previous ten years.

What are they hiding? The one tax year they have released was very questionable, even laughable in some circles... Did he over pay his taxes any other years? How much money is in his off shore and Swiss bank accounts?

Nantucket's nightlife and small business are under attack by the Island's Board of Selectman. They are considering banning all outdoor music at Nantucket's many bars after 10 p.m. This would effectively close many of our favorite bars after 10. It would also mean the loss of many workers, and likely the loss of some of those businesses. We're calling on the Board to do the right thing, to say no to this ban and protect the many small businesses and workers affected.

Nantucket's nightlife is under attack by the Island's Board of Selectman. They are considering banning all outdoor music at Nantucket's many bars after 10 p.m. This would effectively close many of our favorite bars after 10. It would also mean the loss of many workers as well, and likely the loss of some of those businesses. We're calling on the Board to do the right thing, to say no to this ban and protect the many small businesses and workers affected.

We who have served with the Peace Corps in nations around the world ask that the Peace Corps celebrate the exemplary life of service to peace of Ambassador Chris Stevens by naming a space of significance in the Peace Corps building in Washington in his honor.

Strategic Allied Consulting, the firm hired and then fired by the RNC is currently under investigation for turning in fraudulent voter registration forms in many states. However, the pending federal investigation has not halted the company's mission to continue their efforts at voter registration as they are now operating under the name Issue Advocacy Partners in many battleground states. This is an important election and our elected officials in this and every election must be reached democratically and not as a result of voter fraud and/or intimidation. We all suffer when the fundamental right to vote is tampered with. Call upon Secretary of State Bennett to investigate all voter registrations turned in by Issue Advocacy Partners - do not allow them to continue to operate by concealing their true identity!