The House, and Senate, are our servents, we do not have a monarchy.Time they share some of the burden we middle class carry in these hard times.

How ridiculous is it that we have BILLIONS to spend on wars, and nothing but severe budget cuts for Americans.

Senior Home Owners are hit hardest by Real Estate Tax increases. They dutifully paid their taxes during their earning years but because of the weak economy, many were forced into early retirement with Social Security as their main or only source of income. Even with the Senior Real Estate Freeze and Exemption policies, annual R/E tax increases to them of 15% are not uncommon. Current assessments can equal more than 30% of a senior’s Social Security income while all seniors have not had a COLA increase in 3 years. In Bensenville, IL R/E taxes were raised astronomically for the school budgets even though thousands of Bensenville families were displaced outside the school districts due to the O’Hare airport expansion. They actually raised taxes for schools even though there are less students to teach. This is an example of extreme government greed that hurts seniors the most. It’s time to stop penalizing those who can afford it the least before they are forced into foreclosure. Stop the government from stealing the quality of life Seniors have earned. Give Seniors a break and remove them from the tax rolls entirely. They’ve earned it.

For the last 30 years, churches have been more and more political, telling their parishioners who to vote for, what issues to vote for, etc., all the time growing wealthy on tax-free donations. The Constitution assumes that churches will be apolitical, small organizations: but today they are corporations, and, like all corporations, they should pay taxes.

Congress has been focused on transfering medical costs to seniors rather than reducing the total cost. Negotiating drug prices, just like the Canadian government does would save medicare, medicaid, other federal and state health programs Billions of dollars.

Only 3 more states are needed to make the Equal Rights Amendment part of the U.S. Constitution, and HJR 47, recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, will clarify that the 1982 deadline is eliminated. Let's urge Congress to cosponsor HJR 47. To start over on ERA would require 38 states to ratify and take another lifetime.

The Illinois Legislature is currently considering SB512 - a measure that would break the promise of a secure retirement to workers who have paid into the pension system and have worked for years on the front lines to improve our communities. We stand with workers across Illinois in calling on our legislators in Springfield to honor their commitments to public employees and vote "No" on SB 512.

Obama is trying to meet the Republicans halfway in their proposal to cut federal programs to trim the deficit. This gives him little room to negotiate to save federal programs affecting the poor and the elderly. What's really needed are higher taxes on the rich and elimination of tax breaks for large corporations.

At this moment, Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor has said that there will be no Federal relieve to the people of Joplin MO unless the GOP gets the budget cuts they want. This is extortion. He is literally holding the lives of people in need over the heads of Congress and the President. In my eyes, it is an act of terrorism. And, we do not negotiate with terrorists. We, The People, need to remind Mr. Cantor that the office he holds is not his, but ours and since we put him there, we demand that he uphold that office for the sake of the People, and not the oil companies or big business. Let's send him a strong message.

Deep program cuts will halt our economic recovery and escalate already high unemployment rates in the state, especially in the CA Central Valley where unemployment rates already exceed 16%. CSU and UC systems have already been hit with $1 billion dollars in cuts earlier this year, and without a sensible budget they could face $15 billion more in cuts. We have a revenue problem. Tax extensions must be passed and taxes increased on the top 3%. The CA State Assembly and Gov. Brown can stop these cuts, allow the tax extensions and allow tax increases that will solve our budget deficit. We're calling on our elected officials, to stand up for CA working families, stop the program cuts, protect our state education system and solve the budget deficit.

The City of Deerfield Beach is trampling on the Constitutional rights of it's minority residents by imposing a utility tax, while over 8,000 Americans in the minority district, District 2, are without an elected representative to speak for them. Due to state legislation and "home rule" these 8,000 Americans are seen not heard relating to items discussed and voted on at the Commission meetings and are therefore being effectively shut out of the political process a violation of the 14th Amendment. We ask that you help us tell the City's government that it is not okay to tread on our Constitutional rights for the sake of progress. We humbly ask that the City Commission and City Manager postpone all unnecessary legislative actions until all of the City’s residents are represented equally under the law.

Democrats lost seats in the last election because they didn't stand up for issues that have long been Democratic values. We want them to be very clear from now on so that voters realize there really is a difference between the two parties.