MISSOURI STRONGHOLD
SHARON L. COOPER-LYONS
MACON, MO 63552

TO: CONGRESS, NEWS MEDIA

I have a question about the stock market. Knowing that the conservatives and republicans want Obama to fail, or at least his policies, are the wealthy purposely manipulating the stock market to cause him to fail? No one has any money to invest, just the wealthy, (oil companies, big business, personal wealth). Can they purposely not invest to cause the stock market to continue to fall? The conservatives and republicans do not care what happens to the people in this country, it is the self issue. The complaint of paying taxes and the manipulation not to pay the taxes, has caused the broad sector of America to feel the money poured into these institutions needs to stop. After all, when we listen to the wealthy refusal to help America get out of trouble, why do they think that the young men and women fighting for our safety, making nothing, coming home to nothing, losing everything because they took a cut in pay to go to Iraq and Afghanistan, should protect them? Give us one reason why, they should protect a fat a???? Like Rush Limbaugh? The reason why people are attacking him is because he has a mouth piece that influences people that we all have to deal with.

Here is one of my solutions. Obama has a work force out there that he is not taping into. They are called local representatives. They need to get out there and earn their pay too. This stimilus money needs to stop pouring into a hole. The wealthy are using it to protect their money. There are local and state banks that are doing well. It is because of their more ethical practices. Why not just take the money and work with them? They are the ones that can lend to smaller companies and contractors in their area. They are able to keep track of the trends in their area. This will also work well for home owners. With the money for weatherizing homes, they can help put families back into a home by helping them buy these older 5-7 room homes that can be renovated for little money. Towns have loads of these homes standing empty because of unemployment. The people took minimum wage jobs because that is all that is available. They can buy these properties for a few thousand dollars. (under $10,000.00) renovation can be down for under $50,000.00. They can match the funds being used for energy efficiency and pay even less. They come out with $300.00 to $400.00 house payments and have a new looking home. Lower utilities. There can even be a way, to implement a payback for the energy efficient funds down the road by adding $50.00 to the house payment. People don’t want a handout, they want realization. This is the only way these young people are going to make it and have a home. Actually, that is the only way a lot of us are going to have a home. If trouble comes to a family, the extended family can help if it is only a matter of a hundred or two dollars. No one can help with $2,000.00 or more house payments. The jobs are not out there for these mega homes.

Hey Rick:
I am a maintenance mechanic who has yes, been layed off.
But what is worse than that is seeing some of the stupidity that shows up on the news.
We are launching another multi million or billion dollar shuttle into space.
It's a wonder we are financialy screwed ,when we shoot a massive amount of cash into a vacuum.(and for what reason?)
Maybe one day we will learn to take care of things on this rock before we shoot another hunk of metal into space.
You don't have to be a mechanic to know this machine we call the United States will not run when we keep doing damage like this.
I am looking forward to see if anyone else shares my veiws on this and I thank you and CNN for your no bull style of reporting.
Looking forward to your responce.
Craig Mathews/ Harford co. Maryland

Let me tell you something, the single biggest contributing factor in the whole mess this country is in, is.....GREED!. People who don't seem to know how to be happy with what's enough. The Financial System spiraled into the abyss because people on Wall Street had to make more and more money at others peoples expense, regardless of the consequenses. Then you have, on the other end of the spectrum, people who weren't affected by the collapse on Wall Street. They're just gettting by, living life, trying to make ends meet, and their Health insurance premiums go up, and they can't afford it, so they file bankruptcy. Or, what if, God forbid, you don't have insurance, then you have to try to pay these ridiculous costs out of your own pocket. All because the insurance company, or the Doctor, or the Hospital had to make more money, regardless of the consequenses. GREED has killed this country, we need to go back to a time when making money is okay, but Christ, let's not be obsene!.

I can't believe that republicans are the one who create this mess, and they are trying to play politics on a crazy situation like this on. what are they thinking , Barack is a god who would clean the mess that they took 7 years to create in two mounths.

MIXTURISM the book
The rational economic, ethical and political philosophy for the 21st century and beyond
Authored by James M. Carroll, 2201 Southern Shade Blvd. Knoxville, TN 37932

We have previously defined mixturism as the private sector working together with the public sector to meet the needs of the people. The idea that the use of one economic system, such as socialism or capitalism, can meet the needs of all the people is a fallacy. In order to encompass the different needs and desires of many people, economic systems must be flexible.
Mixturism, unlike other “isms,” would not put people into straightjackets as they try to solve their economic problems. Other “isms” allow for only certain methods to be used in solving problems and limit the number of solutions acceptable to them. In mixturism, the solution to the problem is deemed more important than the method used to find the solution or the method by which the solution is used.
Mixturism would not destroy any system that presently exists, but would call for the flexibility to use what is good in all systems to solve the problems of the people of this planet. Violent revolution and terrorism can be avoided if nations are flexible in their approaches to problems and to their solutions.
Mixturism is a proper mixing of private and public enterprise in any activity of a socioeconomic system so that the needs of all people in the society can be best met and progress promoted for all the people of this planet. The mixing of private and public enterprise, or the partnership of private and public enterprise, should be similar to a reversible reaction.
If public enterprise can do a better job than private enterprise in any area of endeavor, then private enterprise must give way to public enterprise. When private enterprise can do a better job than public enterprise, then public enterprise must give way to private enterprise. When neither enterprise by itself can fill the vacuum that exists in economic development, then private and public enterprise must form a partnership to fill the vacuum. The needs of the people must take preference over profit. Meeting the needs of all the people must be the determining factor as to which enterprise...private, public, or joint private and public...is to be used.
The chief goal of people is to survive their duration on this planet in the best possible fashion. Progress, or achievement of the “best possible fashion,” is anything which leads to every person on this planet having the best of all the goods and services that are needed for quality living. At the very least, every person should enjoy the right to a good job, health care and enough space for a home and a place of privacy for the duration of life.
The struggle between socialism and capitalism revolves around the questions of whether every person has a right to a job at wages high enough for quality living. Some say there has to be a top and bottom. If this is true, the bottom should be quality living. No one should be opposed to anyone living rich, just to anyone living poor.
Governments have two main functions: first, to guarantee the rights and freedoms of its people and, second, to provide a political and economic system whereby the people can have quality living. Since the time of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, governments have had available to them a prototype by which the world could be brought to a higher degree of development.
Any government which does not guarantee its people the means to obtain jobs at wages high enough for quality living has fallen short of its duty to its people. Through the philosophy of mixturism, a government can provide and guarantee quality living for all its people by creating a reserve-retraining work force which would eliminate the need for welfare and unemployment. We'll look in detail at this later.
Mixturism is a middle-of-the-road, hybrid doctrine. It borrows the best features of both capitalism and socialism. Mixturism is pragmatic. It asks what is the problem and what is the solution. It employs whatever method will solve the problem most effectively, regardless of labels. If public programs are judged to be the more appropriate approach for the solution of a specific problem, then that is the method used. If private enterprise can do a better job, then that approach is taken.
Mixturism is not dogmatic or preferential in deciding whether government or business or both together tackle the problem. The only criterion applied is who can do the job better. The notion that governments should subscribe to only one type of political philosophy at a time, one “ism” is fallacious. With mixturism, the solution to the problem is more important than the philosophy or methodology.
We may draw a stunning analogy between the evolution of life on earth and the development of human society. The first life forms were primitive, yet completely autonomous, single-celled organisms. For a time, they existed quite well without assistance from others. As the number of organisms increased, many cells began to live together, forming colonies. Soon, particular cells in the group began to evolve differently and to specialize in varied tasks for the benefit of the group. With this division of labor, interdependence slowly emerged. Now cells counted on their neighbors to perform services for them. We see the same scenario unfolding in human culture. Individuals in the beginning were self-reliant, able to meet all needs themselves. This period was followed by group living, and that followed by division of labor, the result of which is an interdependent society.
We are now far removed from that society of rugged individualism. We have transformed our society into a culture whose individual members depend on one another. We must therefore develop a government ethic which reflects and nurtures that concept. Mixturism fills that bill best, for it ensures that the government takes an active role in guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of its people in providing a system whereby everyone might enjoy a quality standard of living..

I keep hearing the Republican congress complaining that Obama wants govt health ins. for middle class. They thinks that would be terrible. Why doesn't someone ask them if they'd be willing to give up their got. health insurance & deal w/the ins. companies?

Jobs come and jobs go. Everyone needs to get a reality check that there are jobs out there. It most likely will mean getting out of that comfort zone. Change is ineveitable. If you need to move then move. If you require additional training, have the intestinal fortitude to find it and get it done. America is about perserverance not hand outs. Success is based on sweat and determination not free-bees. For example, the US Army has many opening. Granted people will just have to get use to the idea of subjecting themselves to rigorous physical and mental exercises, travel to distant lands to fight for something bigger than themselves – at least you will get paid (not laid off), food on your table, clothes in your back, and an opportunity to have paid travel. Can you ask for anything more? I am sure you will have to get use to being in top physical shape but it will better your health. Stop complaining while standing in the unemployment line and display your patriotism. Join a military service and do good.

Has anybody checked on Rush Limbaugh, I think he started taking pain killers by the tons again.. Did you see how fat he has gotten... man....something is wrong with that man.
He is not a true american!! Can anybody shut his pie hole up??
The GOP is all mixed up, they do not have any true leader so they have to count on a Fascist Right Wing Entertainer to guide its followers who are just a bad as the fundamentalists terrorists...
I think things will get better with Obama, things would get worse with the GOP.

Thanks Rick you are the Man...

Abe

Lessburg Virginia

Referring to this morning's news on CNN about the number of people on food stamps; I am wondering if these people have thought about community gardening. It's a great way for neighbors to bond and reap the benefits.
Oh, I might add that I agree with Michael H's comment about GREED being the root of our financial situation.

Rick,
IT's THE TRADE AGREEMENTS SIR! We Lose $60 billion per month and now 600,000 + per month Job Losses. Job losses are caused from trade agreements that trick us into buying cheap stuff overseas that put people here out of work. Change to Balanced Trade.. (we buy only as much from them as they buy from us!) Banks don't want to loan money to Americans about to lose their jobs. Start new industries in the US like Electronics, computor products, software, battery and other new scientific research, garment industries, Automotive parts, Machinery & Equipment, Robotics, etc. Banks will find money squirrelled away everywhere then.

With efficiency in mind we can manufacture at a very close price to what we are paying overseas. The car industry has shown us that. Ford for 2010 – 2013 are introducing better technology and better quality than Honda or Toyota and at a comparable price. PLUS, the dollars are circulated here instead of 'poof'... gone forever overseas. It's not the taxes here, it's the bad trade, along with bad politicians and CEO's at the top. American workers can do fine at a reasonable wage, that allows them to buy goods from the places everyone else works. Now does Washington get the TRADE DEFICIT idea? Time is running out.

I thank if we all give a little out of our pay, even if your working part time. and do a reset in the Insurance Co, along with the hospital's and the Insurance Co lowering there cost (the only thang in the way is how to set the amount that each level should pay in and that go's for congress as will.

Stock markets....forward looking ??!! Come ON!!!

Those markets STOPPED being forward looking as soon as prices became entirely unhinged from equity. That happened a few years ago, at the least. The Market is reactive and it's predatory. It is exactly what Pres. Obama has likened it to: a tracking poll measuring opinion, superstition and prejudice.

But of course as soon as Pres. Obama said that, there's been a media campaign by the Market spokespeople and some of the conservative media, that the Market is "forward looking", that the Market is "the most forward looking indicator" of the economy. At the time when they're clearly punishing the new White House for its Recovery Plan that focusses on the individual and redresses the credit crisis by maintaining the liquidity of the companies that have been the biggest marketable assets of the stock Market itself.

Over the last few years, the Market increased in value exponentially by investment/lending companies creating more investment products for the smaller/savings investor. Everyone benefitted from an increase of financial investment products that shared/lessened the risk, and made more funds$ available to the market for the longterm. The greater stability of this kind of investing was remarked universally as a positive and stabilizing influence on the Marketplace that enabled the Market to withstand tremendous economic pressure.

When economic and labourforce indicators started to slide a few years' ago now, the Market maintained and increased its value to record levels and that was based in large part on investor confidence in American business and ingenuity.

It's now predatory and entirely suspicious that the market is devaluing those financial products by half or more. The only possible conclusion is that those investment firms DONT have the $$ to pay their investors. That cant possibly be only because of the problems with the banking/underwriting sector. With all of the attention levelled elsewhere, there's no systematic evaluation anywhere of American investment as a sector.

And things are happening so fast that EVERYONE is so worried about their livlihoods and savings that it's difficult to see the actual longterm consequences of this latest partisan fight in the marketplace.

In late 2008, there were some who wondered why there wasnt a greater outcry in the Marketplace about the bailouts. Market observors remarked that the bailout would in effect buy the government the ability to re-regulate the problem areas by making the funding contingent upon changes in those companies. The Market was apparently suspiciously quiet/compliant to that situation.

Now that AIG has accepted significant bailout$ monies, it is likely to quickly submit to greater scrutiny – actual accountability – and to voluntarily implement business practices that will be regulated on the whole of the underwriting and lending industries at a later time.

By punishing AIG now, and by establishing the terms of that regulation discussion now – bad individual decisions, lavish excess & pork$ & blahblah – that actually benefits those companies and groups who aren't currently under the microscope and who hold a mix of assets that arent labelled "toxic". It benefits those companies who cannot meet their $obligations unless their financial products have a low value.

What if investors lost confidence in the Market's inherent ability to grow wealth? What if small investors were more secure in the government's ability to protect their interests and the bailout companies could sell that effectively? Competitors fear that, and fear a broad re-regulation of the Marketplace as a whole. I think they fear a broad re-regulation of the marketplace as a sector because that will effectively re-value many financial products designed for the average savings investor.

I think the Market crash is entirely designed to support a conservative political agenda, that it's designed to shortcircuit ANY ability of the bailout companies to maintain the confidence of their investors and underwriting clients by selling the underwriting ability of the US government. At the same time, the Market gets itself out of a HUGE problem with overvalued stocks that have created huge book-values for financial investment products.

By devaluing the participation of the (wasteful and unwieldy) federal government, they are explicitly increasing the value of the bailout companies' competitors. However, if there's one thing the auto industry problems show very clearly, it's that they ALL have the same problems and it's ONLY a matter of degree and time before they start asking for public-underwritten assistance of some kind.

And people should make no mistake: "restructuring" the banking system in the terms that the Market proposes is not restructuring by anyone else's terms. They want the government to underwrite those assets they've labelled "toxic" so that they can write them off & continue in the same business practices with the other assets. The Recovery Plan offers an entirely different approach because it is going to help people keep their homes under new mortgage/lending terms. It is a different kind of restructuring plan because it enforces economic responsiveness in the debtor's interest. It means the lending sector is going to have to be more responsive to its investors/clients and keep those lending instruments on their books.

While the Market proposes a solution that seems reasonable and simple-enough, it is ENTIRELY disastrous for any government to nationalize failure. And that's what they're asking your government to do. At the same time, the Market is slamming the government about its plan – and criticizing it by calling it inaction and nationalization of banking – and they're slamming the government by crashing the value of your investments. ?? !

Last week's Market crash was self-labelled as a vote of non-confidence in the future of America's business, and a big vote of non-confidence in the new government's Recovery Plan. And that's in spite of the overwhelming vote of confidence in the Market itself by the average savings investor who trusted those who said "dont panic" & "keep your eye on the long term".

It would seem now that the ONLY reason for the growth/ increase in value of the market over the last few years was because of the participation of more and more average investors, and the greater participation of retirement and savings funds: more and more $$$ invested for the long term based on the soundness of the top or blue chip companies and the unmatched ability of the market to grow wealth.

The Market is devaluing stocks in a way that is supposed to maintain investor confidence in the Marketplace at the expense of an incredibly popular new president, and of course at the huge expense of the average investor.

Well, I dont buy it! I dont believe that those who make a living off the Markets are going to lose their money/retirement$. They are going to position themselves to make another killing off the market.

And in doing so, they'll continue to corrode the value of the average investor's funds/plans. They are systematically devaluing the financial products they sold to the average small speculator investor and the savings investor- products they sold largely on promise of the longterm ingenuity of American business. I'm sure those are the same products that they'll continue to label "profitable" and "assets" in their $statements and $reports.

Now, I think that is predatory and that they're creating toxic financial products. Even China started investigating and punishing businesses and individuals who purposely tainted products to toxic levels. !!!

____
As a Canadian, I dont understand very well the American banking system, particularly I dont understand how local/state banks underwrite their $/accounts/savings.

Craig: I fear the time when Americans stop believing they can achieve anything. The world WILL be in a depression as soon as Americans stop believing in their ability to overcome. So I hope you DONT cancel the space program. But I do hope you demand better & closer accountability of EVERY major government program. When you get right down to it, isnt that the Reagan legacy.

And I enjoy reading all kinds of blogcomments, regardless if I agree with them. Thanks Rick and CNN for this forum for ideas and comments. Your show covers a lot in an hour.

Dear Rick,
It's the trade agreements America. We Lose $60 billion per month and now 600,000 + per month job losses. Job losses are caused from trade agreements that lull us into buying cheap stuff overseas that put people here out of work, without selling goods back to them. Think of the US as a company with 15 Trillion dollars in the bank 25 years ago. You write checks overseas at a 'loss' of $60 billion per month. In 20 years you are no longer a viable company. You have just borrowed and spent the money at other companies like China, Korea, Japan, India, who are now stuffing their pockets with your cash, with no money back.
Balanced Trade... is when (we buy only as much from them as they buy from us!) Banks don't want to loan money to Americans about to lose their jobs. We can start and stimulate new industries in the US like Electronics, computer and gaming equipment, computer software, help support services, battery and other scientific research, garment industries, Automotive parts, Machinery & Equipment, Robotics to name just a few. Banks will find money squirreled away everywhere when we decide to balance our trade and grow our own industries here.

With efficiency in mind we can manufacture at a very close price to what we are paying overseas. The car industry has shown us that. Ford for 2010 – 2013 are introducing better technology and better quality than Honda or Toyota and at a comparable price. PLUS, the dollars are circulated here instead of 'poof'... gone forever overseas. It's not the taxes here; it's the bad trade, along with bad politicians and CEO's at the top. American workers can do fine at a reasonable wage that allows them to buy goods from the places everyone else works. We do need politicians to get the 'trade deficit' idea?

I think this whole economy thing is just one big manufactured crisis just as the recent "gas crisis" was. Remember that? Now we don't hear anything about it ,and it was the leading story/news only a few months ago. I guess it just miraculously resolved itself somehow because we didn't really do anything different, like begin offshore drilling. I guess Wall Street has decided to take a page from the oil tycoon's play book on how to create a crisis to get paid with our stimulus money. The banks are in on it, too. I think it's a conspiracy. These banks are just gonna take the money, and clear up their own books. They have no intention on helping the taxpayers with the bailout money they receive. It is my prediction that once they all get sufficiently paid, this so-called "crisis" will spontaneously cease. Too bad us little guys won't see any of the money, because it's a conspiracy.

Rick, lay off the melodramatics. Save it for the stage. It is so sicking that I turn off your show.

listening to the democrats and republican argue tells me that the two parties are totally different ideologies. The congress members belong to two very different class of americans. Having said that, i suggest that we divide this country into two americas, the Democrat America and the Republican America. One headed by either a fat white man or an old white man and the other by a good looking black american. Give it four years and see who prospers.

Rick:

Another Canadian soldier died today in Afghanistan. That makes somewhere around 112 Canadian deaths, I think. To the US that seems like a very small national price to pay given US losses in Iraq. But population wise, Canada is very small compared to the US.

The Canadian media only reports Cdn deaths. Is there any info on the total NATO / ISAF deaths / casualties since 2002? The total human cost since 2002?

With the states running out of money, we should tax religion. With religion causing wars these days, why not? They have all the money! Give us your money or your going to hell. People are going through it now!

Ghandi was a racist against black people infact he was one of the foremost promoters of south african aparthied and wrote about and published these racist views extensively ,you can read for yourself in his own words .Would people still want to buy his stuff if they knew the tru ghandi and not the romanticized one .Iwonder
p.s.i luv rushh limbaugh

in soup,just kidding

Why doesn’t the news media go to the internetfreepress.com?
They could get some new ideas. Then they could stop stirring
in the same pile of cow manure with the Republicans and
professors of economics 101.

Rick, Would it not make sense to give every TAX paying American 100,000 a pc. and then they would go out and buy cars and houses or at least keep the one they are in. It doesnt make sense to give it to banks, give it to the people and they will stimulate the economy, at a fraction of the cost, compared to 800 billion. If approx. 150 million people pay taxes multiply it times 100,000 and its a deaL for all of us.

Rick,

With the bailout funds GM has already received, how long would it take for them to repay? Or how many units must they sell over the coming years in order to repay?

Rick,
After hearing all the jabber about Embryonic research, anti-abortionist, etc. I wish someone would check the data on children in Foster care, removed from homes due to neglect or abuse in this country. We have a terrible reputation in this world where we are so spoiled. As an 81 year old great grandmother caring for 3 whose mothers weren't there for them and also having a daughter that survived an illegal abortion many years ago I want some of the news media to put some emphasis on these things. We already know our poor ratings on education. How many are ready to adopt ???
Blessings and thanks for your honesty. Patty

RICK...CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM...WE TALK IN LABELS...TIME TO REEXAMINE WHAT WE MEAN BY THEM...THEY STIMULATE DIFFERENT THINGS FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
PJ

Rick, I am tired of hearing from our current administration that they inherited the current economic problems. The president ran an aggressive, hard campaign to be elected. He was also a US Senator, working for the last 2 years with a Democratic Congress, he should of known what was ahead for him. I'm one voter who's turned off by the constant referrals that make it sound like this was somebody else's problem and the President has to fix. The lack of experience that Senator Clinton brought up during the Democratic campaign is now real. Be positive MR President, quit pointing fingers and enact solid programs to address the concerns.. By the way the Banks aren't on board and as a small successful business I still can't get a loan.

Regarding the 9 year old girl, I would first make that stepfather a hen rather than a rooster and then I would change religions.

Why is the Pope the one that has the truth? I would just forget about him.

I am not trying to be ugly about it. Just a comment, you don’t give guests a chance to answer your questions before overriding them

One question for the Vatican. What about forgiveness? Christ forgave the prostitute he did not ex-communicate her.

About Religion the church- RIDICULOUS!!!!! When will they stop allowing them to interfere with people's civil rights? If I believe it is wrong to have an abortion, I won't have one. You can do as you please, so why can't I?
My bible says Adam did not become a living soul until he breathed the breath of life and that meant God breathed it into him after he was perfectly formed?? My reading of it.
Stop forcing your religion on all others and we will stop all war's. Norma swank

How can the Vatican (the pope) do this to a 9 year old, who was assaulted by a scum bag!! Besides why doesn't the Vatican ex-communicate the pope wasn't he a Nazi!!! Didn't he kill innocent people!! Let he with out sin cast the first stone!!!! SHAME ON THE VATICAN!!! SHAME ON THE POPE!!

..and if Chinese ships routinely "worked" in "questionable territorial waters" close to the United States...year after year..how would we react?

WHERE THE JOBS ARE

JOB, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

RESERVE-RETRAINING WORK FORCE

MIXTURISM, MIXTURISM, MIXTURISM

INTERNETFREEPRESS.COM

HOW CAN THE INTELLIGENTSIA OF AMERICA BE SO BLINDED that they cannot see that the Federal Government must have a money system that can create and maintain an equivalent ratio of money to the goods and services that its peoples’ hands and minds can produce? Nature’s Basic Law of Economics states: All goods and services flow from the action of people resources on natural resources— Money is the medium of exchange which should be equal to the value of the goods and services—and not to a gold standard or some other insane idea.

MONEY FOR BOTH DOMESTIC AND DEFENSE
The question should be: are there people resources and natural resources available for both? Money can be created (Article 1, section 8, of the Constitution). When are we going to wake up?

WHY ARE WE SENDING FOOD AND WATER OVERSEAS, AND MILLIONS TO REBUILD HOMES. WHEN WE HAVE PEOPLE LIVING IN TENTS IN SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA. I GET IT, ITS A JOKE FROM CONGRESS. THANK GOD.

I wish I could live long enough to see the Vatican turned into a museum. I can't think of a single institution in history that has caused more misery. They solidified their power in the middle ages by torturing or murdering anybody that didn't believe as they did. They supported the Natzies in world war two, and helped Natzi leaders escape after the war. They facilltated pedophillia. And the worst thing they did was to tell poor people for centuries to over populate themselves, keeping them in poverty, poor education, poor health, and early death. They have stood in the way of scientific progress from the begining. The amount of misery and damage to humanity they have caused cant be calculated.

It's time for people to realize that religion is just superstition born from ancient man's lack of knowledge. Mankind can not possibly reach it's full potential unless we cast off the Albatross of religion.

As for the rape game, I would say the freedom of speech and fun is being violated, not to mention, the well being and integrity of those the rape game may affect. The pursuit of the all mighty greenback is a never ending provoker of the mother of invention.

How much of that 15 years can/will Bernie Madoff actually serve? I dont trust what the prosecutor's say, it is colorful rhetoric to satisfy a demanding public that want's justice.
The saddest part of this mess, is not the time he serves, rather, the lives that are hurt and ruined.

Every republican congressman/woman complains about Barack Obama signing on the " pork laden" bill. They absolutely condemn him for wanting to sign this bill. From the news, i am made to understand that 40 % of the pork belong to Republicans and 60 % to the democrats. If they do oppose to pork laden bills, why can one of them pass a law that criminalizes a a congressman/woman who inserts pork in a bill. Now let's see who are hypocrites!! Politicians are really something else.

Hey,

I just called my members of Congress to urge them to support President Obama's budget.

We can't afford to ignore the long-term challenges to America's prosperity. It's time to make real investments and reforms in energy, health care, and education.

Look up your members of Congress and call them now:

http://my.barackobama.com/callcongress

Thanks!

Rick, Obama is doing better than expected. However, the ignorance of some will find dislike when he is reaching out to do right. When Bush was in, to say anything against him was un-american (remember)? We saw Bush plot the murder of Sadaam. The feud was old man Bush and his two sons against Sadaam and his two sons. As an oil man he raped the nation. His friend Hitler, OOPS, Cheney raped us with rebuilding Iraq (remember the 295.00 hammer that cost 7.99 at wal-mart?) Enron whom the Bush family did an ABC commercial with Ken Lay ripped us off and Bush was going to get tough on Corporate crime? Where is Ken Lay? Did his wife die also? Crimes against humanity will be brought against the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld administration in the future. They murdered our kids for greed. The money is in the pockets, that is why this nation is bankrupted. The money is not circulating. The Bush administration continued to rape us on their way out of office. Obama is saying diplomatically, "If they ripped us off for 3 trillions of dollars, it will take 6 trillions of dollars to bring us even. Then time will bring the nation back with financial strength. Did you know the igmorance of the republicans are still trying to blame Clinton for this economic disaster??? Now you see why we are in this mess.

I am getting a little sick of hearing about the octomom, why don't we just stop putting her on the air, I don't understand what I am seeing, she dresses and is driving a newer car than I do and I am working with three kids, I wonder what would happen if she woke up and there was no one at her door taking her picture, I am afraid she would have to come to reality and realize that there are a lot of kids lives at stake here and not just her life. I feel bad for those kids