The School Board of the City of Alexandria wants to replace our Jefferson-Houston Elementary School - pre-k to 8 with a new building. With that, they plan to open a parking lot that dead ends into our playground and basketball court. They will move both amenities and wrap the new drop off around the current Olde Towne Swimming pool, which will make all pedestrians that use the pool or the playground or basketball at risk from moving vehicular traffic.

Private student loan lenders are not subject to any federal student loan guidelines and therefore impose variable interest rates, stiff late fees, unreasonable repayment schedules; refuse in-school deferments and forbearance for any reason, including unemployment, and they employ aggressive collection tactics. Further, private student loans cannot be consolidated leaving students with multiple, high interest payments that eat up the bulk of their take home salaries. These circumstances prohibit most students from becoming contributing members of the economy because they struggle to support daily living needs. Most students simply have no expendable income. By binding students financially for upwards of 10 years in a life of debt, wealthy lenders and investors are able effectively marginalize an entire segment of the population, a measure that further erodes the economy while they preserve their elite status without effort. Most importantly, this disparity ultimately poses a national security risk as Europe and Asia overtake the United States in science and technology advancements while higher education falls further out-of-reach for most students.

All Senators and Representatives, both serving and retired shall have the same access to health insurance as constituents as stated under the Health Care Reform Act.

The 128/95 & 93 highway Interchange needs an update. Navigating the interchange is dangerous and wasteful. Daily backups waste fuel and motorists time. This impacts the local environment far more than any new construction. Level of Service is an "F" grade, we need to fix it.

A known offender must be persecuted. Stop letting persons go free who are killing innocent individuals. That man that kill Treyvon and the the man that shot the girl in the Carolina should not be free.

I wrote this letter to Nutella, to help curtail the burning down of tropical forests for the production of palm oil. Maybe something can be done along these lines via MoveOn.org.

At present, the Democratic and Republican parties are beholden to entrenched interests and do not truly represent the progressive interests of a growing majority of voters. As both parties have become increasingly corrupted, fighting undeclared wars, impinging on our civil liberties, withholding information from citizens, violating due process and the like, it is essential that restoring democracy requires a 3rd political party. We could call it The Progressive Party, The Peoples' Party or The 21st Century Party.

Americans need to let the leaders of Mexico we'll be behind them when they legalize next year. In Mexico they have run up against the brick wall of politics when it comes to their drug war. They realize that legalization is the only answer but it will take the new President to accomplish this mighty task. Our elected representatives don't listen to us but Mexico's just might.

Membership in the House of representative should be limited to 7 terms (14 years) while membership in the Senate should be limited to 3 terms or 18 years.

Voting for national offices moved to Sunday so that there will be more equal opportunity for working people to cast their vote.

The Kansas legislature is considering a “tax reform” proposal from Governor Brownback that would lower the personal income tax, eliminate some tax credits and deductions, and make permanent a temporary sales tax increase. If enacted, the Brownback plan will result in higher taxes for 80% of us and lower taxes for the wealthiest 20% of Kansans. Unlike other states that have radically cut income tax rates, Kansas does not have alternative revenue streams, such as tourism or natural resources. Thus, this will reduce revenues at a time when the state should be focused on long-term improvements in the Kansas economy by spending more on education, essential services, and infrastructure. A modest increase in the tax rate of less than 1% of Kansans would increase revenues by $49 million. Just to illustrate, $49 million could: · Restore the $38 million cut from mental health services in Kansas by Gov. Brownback’s budget AND leave $11 million to fund other vital services to the sick and disabled. · Restore the $25 million that would be cut from the Kansas Department of Transportation’s highway program AND leave $24 million to repair crumbling bridges and make other critical infrastructure improvements. · Restore 98% of the $50 million cut from education by Gov. Brownback in 2011.

Social Security funding has been hurt by the 2% gimmick and a slow economy. It is in a perilous condition and must be funded properly now. Allowing SS to go broke will devaste millions of Americans and create the greatest depression ever.