Randy, I could say so much, but I will contain my anger. The trillions of dollars of debt that is currently in existence , our nation's and Wall Street's, cannot be paid. Imposing savage austerity on us voters without harnessing the gamblers on Wall Street through Glass-Steagall legislation is immoral and you know it. The U.S. needs to be placed into bankruptcy and the speculators need to be sent packing. This idea is not some cosmic thought, but one the Jews applied in the Old Testament to deal with financial maters that were out of balance. It was called Jubilee.

(1) Under "services," you offer help with people who seek government funding. Please, stop doing this. (2) I am encouraging members of the Virginia delegation to recognize duplicity, rudundancy, and extra-constitutional activities in their own districts and work to oppose them. (3) Please oppose all pork and earmarks -- including that in the 4th. (4) Eric Cantor's steadfastness is difficult to assess. Please talk with him. Thank you.

What I expect is for Republicans to work with Democrats to develop legislation that gets America back on track to prosperity. The posturing and stalemates between parties must end, the people expect our legislators to works together for the common good of people. Unemployment, joblessness, hunger, and runaway medical cost must be addressed. The current State of America because of greed is unacceptable and should be an embarrassment to our elected officials.

What I expect is that those in Congress start acting like adults and work together to solve our problems. Do none of you realize how unseemly it is to vote against extending unemployment to the most needy Americans unless it is funded, while at the same time wanting tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires that is projected to cost us $700 billion over the next ten years? Every dollar paid out in unemployment benefits generated two dollars into the economy, while the richest sock away their money, which indicates to me that they may have more money than they actually need. While it may seem counter-intuitive to raise taxes in a recession, why do we, the middle class, have to prop up those who are actually getting richer in this economic turn down?

From many reports on the web, "The compromise on the Bush tax cuts announced Monday night between President Obama and Republicans could cost between $700 billion and $800 billion and will be funded by an increase in the national debt." So much for "deficit and debt reduction".

Your Honor, I am pleased and excited to see your proposal to decrease spending 10 percent a year over the next 4 years. I see the enormous waste every day and believe the Goverment would spend down to the last dollar if it were made available to them. I have wondered why our military bases have a grocery stores,gyms,bowling alleys etc when all these venues exist in plenty outside the gates. pay the service men more and do away with these redundancies. On my way to work I see men from South of the Border cleaning up trash while millions of Americans sleep late and collect unemployment checks, you can see billboards in South Norfolk advertising how the masses can avail themselves of goverment aid, or electronic big-screen devices in my daughters classroom,(what happened to chalkboards?). I am only 45 but I remember a time when one would be ashamed to say he depended on someone else for a living, today I hear on a weekly basis people almost bragging how the "are getting over" in some way or another. I work 6 days a week serving the general public, so I see first hand seemingly able- body people ask me to take their vacuum cleaner out of their late model Lexus claiming they can't carry it because they are on some type of dissability. Clearly, there are people that need help, but the Nanny state we keep financing is enabling ever more people to coast,and that is dumbing down the whole system for everybody. Keep cutting the spending, this country had a balanced budget before,and I don't remember seeing people starving in the streets, What we did see is a citizenery more responsible for their results instead of looking to the goverment to make it all better. That self-sufficient attitude is what made us great in the first place!

I am now unemployed......... The small business that was my employer needed help to survive. That help was not forthcoming. In my opinion all politicians need to stop bickering and get down to business. We need a bailout of the small businesses of America........ stop pandering to the super wealthy and help the middle class and the poor. I keep hearing Republicans talk about wealth redistribution. They are correct there is wealth redistribution taking place but it is from the middle class and poor to the super rich. This has to STOP!

Fiscal responsibility includes more than just cutting taxes and putting locks on the pocketbook. We import more products than we export and we export more work than we import. If its cheaper to import products from overseas than purchase our own manufactured goods, what does that tell us? The common idea of a global economy is a little skewed. The countries with the highest standards of living have to lower theirs in order to bring up the standard of living in other countries. This is all at the expense of the people who gave the world that capability in the first place. Our economy is not expanding, it's shifting - out of the US. Imported products should be taxed at the equivalent rate of what it costs to produce those goods in this country, based on our currency standards, and no others. Same thing with exported work. That money, if placed in responsible hands, can then be used to offset the loss in taxes and revenue that is going to be needed to create new markets and new jobs in this country, and to pay for the people who lose their jobs to find another one that is better than the last one. One thing that upsets me the most is the governments way of spending money. If the money isn't in one budget, it's 'procured' from another budget, but never paid back. The idea that our governmnet can't produce a budget before it starts spending out of it is totally absurd, yet the American people are lectured constantly on the hazards of living from a credit card. Our governments fiscal policies are the very idea of what we should be avoiding the most! Social Security is a total scam and has been used as a giant slush fund for the last 40 years. That's why people put away money in personal retirement accounts that end up getting robbed by the speculators on wall street, because the return on fixed interest accounts is hardly worth the effort. But that's a personal thing, and if you feel that you need to make 25% return on your investment year after year so you can retire with billions and live to be a thousand then that's your thing... just don't expect tax dollars to bail you out when you're penniless on the streets because you failed to read your history books. The government has no business bailing out any bank or corporation, only its citizens when those banks or corporations fail to meet their obligations. They also have an obligation to make sure those businesses pay full restitution to those harmed. Yep, there's a whole lot more to fiscal responsibililty than cutting spending and lowering taxes!

I agree with Ms. Jackson! Republicans do not care about the middle-class, those of us who work everyday sustaining the economy. The only way that smart decisions can be achieved during these discussions in Congress would be to have a diverse group helping to implement policies.

I am sick of politicians that talk about 'their' money. It is OUR money. Government produces NOTHING!! The government has no resources except what comes to them from the sweat of OUR brow, the brow of the working taxpayer. As government grows, the private sector shrinks. I was watching C-Span the day the government took the school aid/loans away from the private sector. The argument..? "Why should the interest earned on the loans be given to banks? That money should come to the government. Displace 3000 private sector bank employees? No problem. " Well folks, I will leave it to your imagination to guess how many bureaucrats it will take to replace those 3000 private-sector, tax-paying employees. And it is your tax monies that will be paying their salaries. And any bureaucrats who are hired can never be fired for ineptness or just plain stupidity thanks to the grasping, 'boot on our throat' unions who refuse to be reasonable or to police their own. Gosh... and it is our tax money that pays those dues; that keeps them in business. Remember when over twenty Dept. of Justice bureaucrats were found to be watching porn all day and how many were fired?? One.. yep, just one. If this had happened in the private sector, all those people would be gone!! Yep, they can watch porn but they can't be bothered to follow thru on the voter intimidation of the Black Panthers. What?? too busy? How much does the DOJ cost us? What about the Consumer Protection Bill that was passed by our dear legislators that is now privately funded by the Federal Reserve? They answer to no one. Bureaucrats all but we have no say-so and we have no control over any regulation or edict they wish to issue. Why would our legislators vote on something that made them (and us) totally irrelevant? The more irrelevant they are, the more irrelevant we are. Why do legislators think they have to justify their existence by passing more & more laws, laws that do nothing but create more bureaucracy, spend more money... money we don't have? What has happened to common sense on Capitol Hill? They talk about the 700 billion (or whatever) that not taxing the rich will deprive them of....?? That is NOT their money. They didn't earn it. But they say little about their careless, casual frittering away of taxpayer money. They seem to take no responsibility for anything. I wasn't on Capitol Hill for the last thirty years wasting taxpayer dollars. They were. What happened to 'pay as you go' that Pelosi touted 4 yrs ago? The corruption and greed stretch as far as the eye can see in DC. Sadly it isn't just in DC. It has infected everything. Our schools don't teach our children their history & legacy. We have to have public service announcements on tv to tell/teach our children not to cheat or lie. That is what happens when you take God out of everything, when there is no right or wrong anymore, when goodness, morality and virtues are not extolled anymore. We have to wake up. Our legislators are becoming more irrelevant. Our President feels perfectly justified in writing Executive Orders to get his way and thinks it is ok to have Federal agencies, bureaus and commissions rule over us. Our government no longer serves us, the American citizen. It serves itself and is encroaching into and onto every facet of our lives. Is this what we really want? The government can grope six-yr olds and granmas but says it can't ask for id at voter sites? The government can demand your driver's license but can't ask an illegal for proof of citizenship? The government can suspend habeas corpus (the Patriot Act) but can't deport illegals? By the way, the head of ICE is a bureaucrat and this bureaucrat refuses to enforce the laws of this land.... same as Holder... a bureaucrat in charge of the DOJ. Obama promised two yrs ago to focus like a 'laser beam on job creation' and he has done everything but. A vibrant economy with a working populace would cure just about every ill we suffer from. But, it seems, we can't have that now can we? Well... I could go on & on but.... The Republicans now have the ball in their court. They know how the American people feel. I am disappointed that the unemployment was extended without any way to pay for it. We, The People, We, the American taxpayer, are exhausted. We are taxed out. Spending must be cut or this country will cease to exist as a democratic, constitutional Republic. We will go the way of Europe and we see how well that is working out, right? Just a final comment.... As a contrast, see how Europeans are marching in the streets, protesting the cutbacks their governments propose? See how Americans have marched in the streets, demanding that their government stop spending? What does that say about them.. what does it say about us?

Dear Sir, Would there ever be a circumstance, such as a time of war, where it would be necessary not to balance the budget? Is something like this covered in your balanced budget ammendment?

The prospect of cutting federal spending by 40% over 5 years can be done by stopping the two wars without end. The concept of nation building with taxpayer dollars and American lives is a flawed concept. Let's cut our losses and get out now, and use the billions that these wars cost on domestic issues.

Perhaps it would be wiser and more beneficial that you pay attention to getting the economy properly established, stopping tax $$ waste in "Foreign Aid" and welfare. You might accomplish more if your stop wasting time worrying about the Motto and getting on with working with Democrats to give this country dignity. You want to propose a christian god in a muslim country. Are you blind, a fanatic, insulting? This nation, because of you in the congress has much more important things to worry about that what a motto is. How callous can you be to propose that a christian god should be put forth in a muslim country. Just ignorant and an insult to those people.

I, like I hope many other citizens, am going to watch your performance over the next two years. If you do not start representing the majority of the citizens within your district, I am going to be very disappointed. We need you to concentrate on improving the economy, providing good paying jobs to the working class, and representing all of us. We do not need the politics of the past to hinder true progress in the future. I question the extension tax cuts for the rich, how does this help balance the budget and improve the economy? It would seem to me that you need to marry your actions with your stated goals. I would also, like to see you stop being so critical of the elected President of the United States. To get this Nation back on the right path, the President needs your help not stupid blind criticism. All of you need to start working together to accomplish stated goals and objectives.

Look at oneself in the mirror, the root of all devils are there, obesity.

The proposed agreement between President Obama on extending the tax cuts, extending unemployment benefits and other nanny state give away will increase the deficit. Extending the tax cut is not a give away. It just does not give the federal government permission to steal more of my money. The rest of the agreement is a give away. If we want to fund these, we should have a direct dollar for dollar cut in spending. Not on paper, but real cuts.

I hope that the Republicans will undertake a review and repeal of legislation that costs the government money and favors some particular group, such as the Davis-Bacon Wage Rate Act. This bill, created over 50 years ago to protect unions and deprive an Alabama firm of getting a contract in New York, creats a bureacracy that collects union prevaling wages data and requires all contractors to use these wages in bidding on some government contracts. We don't need the data collection system (reduce the size of government) and causes the government to pay more than the true lowest bidder to perform work for the government (increasing costs). Another unnecessary act is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This act creats the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (more government buracracy) and does nothing that the SEC shouldn't have been doing all along (if it was doing its' job properly). The current immigration debate should focus on enforcing existing border control legislation and not on creating another piece of paper. More paper will not take the place of doing the job as it should be done.

you sure make your self look good don't you I think it is so wrong on what you all have done to pass what the president wanted to do? why the peopele who make over 250 thousand a year need a tax brake i don;t know it is so wrong they should be helping the ones in needed wright now and be thank full for what they have and that goes for you also what have you given back to the ones in needed this years. iF YOU think we the american people are proud of what just happen we are not just the one who make alot of money might be feeling good about this. I am just a middle class person if thats what you call it and in my own little way i give food to the ones who can't make it threw the week and you people up on the hill do what for the people who are in needed it is sad sad .I HOPE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND I AM SURE YOU WELL WHY THE REST OF WORRY ABOUT HOW WE CAN MAKE IT THREW

I do agree. However, I don't agree with the government getting so involved in our healthcare and I hope you are against this also. What I thinks should be done is to tax the heck out of the pharmacutical companies and put those monies towards our health care plan for the underpriveleged.

I agree with your balanced budget amendment, and having worked as the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization that had to justify and track every penny spent on administration, operational costs, etc. I think a key to reducing America's debt is in "inspecting" the percentage of overall funding spend on "administrative" salaries for each and every government agency. Other than the Department of Education, I suspect there is a great deal of fat on the administrative end of these government budgets.

While I agree with passing a balanced budget amendment, I would like to point out that such an amendment will probably not solve the problems with the national debt and the associated problems with deficit spending. The 'off budget' items such as special appropriations for war and other emergency measures must also be considered. I don't see much hope that congress will address this part of the problems, since both houses have historically approved special measures. Sherri Roccaforte in her comment correctly identifies funds spent on administrative salaries as a problem to be dealt with, extending to congressional staffs, the judiciary and civilian employees of the military as well. The whole method and means of establishing a full disclosure federal budget is badly in need of repair. In addition, federal revenues and revenue sources need a review as well. The tax code's complexity and loopholes are an open invitation to avoid paying for the legitimate cost of government operations. Furthermore, if congress and the administration cannot successfully deal with the current unemployment situation, at least partly caused by moving jobs overseas, I worry about whether they can reach agreement on better ways to finance our future.

Nancy Dodson rdnadodson@aol.com I find it amazing that you Republicans who have done nothing but scream about government spending and the deficit are now strangely silent on the ridiculous proposal to give tax breaks to the wealthy. You were also silent over the 8 years that Bush was president and was spending money like a drunken sailor. I guess it's only wrong when the Dems spend money, huh? It has been proven over and over again that giving tax breaks to the top 2% does nothing to create jobs. Were that the case we should have more jobs than people to fill them after the 8 years of Bush catering to only the rich and waging needless wars. How did that work for you? When he skulked out of office the country was on the verge of collapse and pretty much still is, and you want to do the same thing again? I surely can't figure out how all of you were put back in power to just continue the carnage and the whole time trying to guarantee that our President will fail by refusing to help him in any way to fix the mess you left the country in. It's outrageous and disgusting. At this time in our history the health of this country should be the first priority of the Republican Party and unfortunately it is not. It's all about politics as usual and to hell with the country. It's time the Republican Party stops their stupid games and gets serious about the major problem our country is in and will be for generations to come. WE DO NOT NEED THE WEALTHY TO GET ANY MORE BREAKS. THEY WILL DO JUST FINE WITHOUT YOUR CONTINUED HELP! And stop demonizing the unemployed as if they are all lazy bums. People are desperate for jobs and they just aren't there. Could that be because the wealthy who keep putting you guys in office are taking all of our jobs overseas with your help? There they don't have to pay a living wage or provide benefits to the overseas workers. All the while they just continue to pile up their fortunes on the backs of the unemployed workers over here. I have absolutely no respect for the Republican Party anymore. They are traitors to this country and it's citizens!! And you certainly don't have to waste your time worrying about what the President said about some stupid motto. You have much more serious problems to deal with. Just demonizing the President again. Could you just please give him credit for caring about us and the country and trying his best to dig us out of the mess the Repubs created?

As a government employee, I approved the pay freeze. I feel pride in being able to support our men in women who have given up so much for us and this is the least that I can do. I hope that my contributions as a scientist with the military has helped to make their lives safer. BUT, now I am being asked to take a pay freeze while millionaires are getting a tax break. Someone is lying somewhere. Is there really a deficit problem? Approving the tax break for millionaires, larger farmers, financial institutions etc. tells me that there is plenty of money for SOME people. Please lets be fair!

I think the American people have been hurt enough with this partisan bickering. All polotician are in someones pocket and it needs to stop. Wether politically left or right we have done our best to distroy the country. Your like a bunch of spoiled children or parents fighting not thinking of the children and as for religion it should be left out of the argument. Look at the devorce rate and single parents. Are all of atheist? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong the other side is more scary. But lets put the country first all the rest can be fought after we are back to being Americans.

How is raising revenues not part of deficit/debt reduction? I'm sorry Representative Forbes if your balanced budget plan doesn't include both reduced spending and increased taxes, it's just political posturing. Your false dichotomy disappoints me...

I'm very proud to have a Congressman who has specific plans to reduce federal spending, yet at the same time understands that our problem isn't merely balancing our national checkbook. I wish more people understood this, including some who are angrily commenting here. This decay of our national character is evident everywhere, but it's not a problem government can ultimately solve. What are we as individuals willing to do to pull this country back from the brink? Handouts and bailouts are corrosive to character. Stop demanding them. Envy is unbecoming, and it breeds national strife. Stop harboring it, looking at "the rich" and thinking of ways to spend their money that they earned. We don't have a God-given right to it just because we were too weak or distracted to tell politicians to stop spending all these years. But that's in the past. Now is the time to stand up. Use our freedom to live well. If you don't have a job, go outside and look for ways to improve your community. Be known as the man who cleans up the trash along the street (like the elderly couple in my neighborhood), or the woman who plants flowers in the medians and looks out for the neighborhood kids. We have got to stop this business of trying to use the force of government to solve these problems of the human condition, like the misery that is gripping our nation right now. I think if we can give up on ever taxing and spending and legislating our way to national happiness, we'll be amazed at how much happier we'll become.

Obama won't last but 2 more years. This nation will have a short life span also if we don't get our spending in control. Even the Republicans held out for continuing the tax cut for wealthy people. WHY? Most wealthy people pay very little taxes anyway due to their write-offs. Let's stop voting for the party line, and start voting for the good of the nation.

Mr. Forbes, I know this may start a big fight but why can't we shrink the federal gov't back within its constitutional limits. This would surely reduce spending and probably eliminate the deficit. What I mean is the elimination of federal welfare to corporations, individuals, non-profits, whatever. Let the states run whatever welfare programs the citizens of the states desire. If we could get the feds out of our daily lives we could surely get them out of our pockets.

Our legacy to our children and grandchildren should not be overwhelming debit. I agree that there is no easy, pain free fix. Here are some thoughts to guide the development of a way ahead: 1. Re-examine how we spend money outside the US. Foreign aid, less humanitarian relief, may not be a sustainable option for a while. We cannot afford to continue to be the policemen of the world, the charity “big box”, the first responder internationally. We MUST become more proactive in developing multi-national teams to sustain initiatives we normally commit resources to. 2. I support Secretary of Defense Gates' desire to trim his department's budget. I have been disappointed, however, that his "decisions" seem based on perception rather than pragmatic analyses. Let’s consider moving our troops back to the United States where their money will go to locals. We no longer need to establish military presence, other than for exercises / training, in someone’s country. Reduce our investment in NATO roles. 3. Stop earmarks! Make every bill that allocates $ stand on its own merits, not its quid pro quo. 4. Encourage "green industry". Incentivize new approaches like windmill electricity generation. Choose initiatives that employ a wide spectrum of labor and scientific talent. 5. Repair our infrastructure - our bridges, roads, etc again using the full spectrum of talent. 6. Don't let special interests influence you when you have hard calls - but choose alternatives (for example tax increases) that apportion the cost based on the ability to pay. Yes, the wealthy can afford to pay more, but they also provide the capital that drives industry, which hires people, who pay taxes and contribute to social security. Let us not choose to enviously dismantle the fortunes developed by others. 7. Look for redundancies and waste across all areas where we spend federal monies. Yes, we need safety nets for medical care and entitlement programs, but we must trim and tuck. 8. Make schools a REAL priority. Make them safe and bully free. Remember that our teachers are the role models, the knowledge repositories, and the mentors. Think twice about top loading our education system with “specialists” who never get into a classroom. Increase teaching time by decreasing administrative and “planning” tasks that no one examines or uses. Pay them and treat them as professionals – someone who we demand professional actions, reward incite and innovation and protect from exploitation – parental or local school systems. 9. Do not isolate yourselves into “party” enclaves. Think inclusion, compromise and brainstorming. Dispense with hidden agendas, back room deals, and embrace transparency. 10. Work to change the atmosphere of elitism projected by our government. As the gentleman said earlier, this money is OUR money invested to address our needs where YOU are only “in loco parentis”. We expect ethics, conduct and values to be your guiding light. If you freeze pay for the military, don’t vote yourself a raise! Good judgment, mutual respect, and constituent aware should set your values, your conduct and your ethics. Remember the American people, their children and their grandchildren. Architect a solid, responsible, and inclusive United States of America!

Congress cannot and will not be able to solve all the problems of the country and should stop trying, NOW! My personal priorities: 1. Balance budget 2. Reduce debt 3. Get the US Post Office out of our pockets - Saturday deliver is old news, get rid of it. Mail volume is down reduce staff, just any other would do. 4. Don't Ask, Don't Tell, come on, I spend 28 years of active and reserve duty and the miltary handle this too! (John McCain you may be a hero, but you got this one wrong). We are spending to much time on this item !!! 5. Health Care the changes that were made needed to be made, now let the states do their part. 6. No Child Left Behind, again leave education to the states.

Congressman Forbes, In the spirit of fiscal responsibility would it not be prudent for the Republicans in Congress to consider the Democrats proposal of removing the upper 2% of incomes from the extension of the Bush tax extension along with forgetting about reducing the Social Security Tax rollback? I am pleased to see Democrats and Republicans agreeing on something for a change, but this looks as if we are trying to prime the economy by going further in debt. Let's collect a little more from those who will not miss it.Social Security can ill afford the missed revenue. Tnty bucks in my pocket is going to be little help now and will hurt my retirement in the long run. We need fiscal responsibility to regain our strength. Keep up the good work, Randy

Let big business fail. That is Capitalism, is it not? From failure comes innovation that otherwise would not take place. Even Washington recognized the importance of entrepreneurial endeavors and innovation. Furthermore, was it not Jefferson who called for a wise and frugal government? The difference I see between then and now is what Adams referred to as "statesmen vs politicians." I'm realistic enough to know that many are not God Fearing Men in Congress, but I'm an idealist in a realists world. I thank you again for bringing God back in the Halls of Congress, sir. HE alone can give us the answer.

Sir; While I favor a balanced federal budget, I do not believe aa amendent to the Constitution is the way to go. Calling for a Constitutional Convention opens the door to any change that the enemies of our Republic would propose.

Allow for increased tax rates on the very wealthy along with cutting Federal spending. Thats the bipartisan compromise that I believe is needed. Many of those with the large incomes do little to earn it and provide little benefit to the working middle class. Many of the small businesses pay little or no tax due to tax legislation that favors purchasing vehicles largely for personal use under the guise of stimilating that arm of our economy. Then we still have to bail out the auto manufacturers and the dealers making large incomes get further tax breaks. Dividend income should be taxed at ordinary tax rates the same as a working man will pay on his earnings.

In reference to our national motto, President Obama is right, E Pluribus unum is the national motto of our founders. It changed to "In God We Trust" when a variety of political pressures reached critical mass in the 1950s, but it was not the motto of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. I believe we owe the founders a huge debt of gratitude and we must respect their ideas. I am old enough to remember the pledge of allegiance without "under God" and the national motto as E Pluribus unum. We need to respect our past and the greatest generation in American history, our founders. As many others have written before me, it is time to work together. We cannot slash the federal budget in a time of economic crisis, but we must begin planning of reigning in federal, state and local spending once we are out of the crisis. Democrats and Republicans need to work together and actually engage in compromise, real compromise. Finally, our legacy will not simply be debt, it will be a stronger national infrastructure, good education and optimum health of future generations. We incur some debts today to make tomorrow better for future generations, just as we have paid taxes to education the children as an investment in the future. It is not our small political disagreements that matter, it is the future of our nation. We are one from many, under God.

Randy, Please give a message to your fellow representatives and every senator that you have contact with that the past election was just a warning shot across the bow. I do not believe that they "get it". The next election will be aimed to hit the target. Stop the taxing & spending. The proposed tax cut extension has been loaded down with added spending that has nothing to do with the original needed relief for the tax payers. This added spending is government corruption, plain and simple. The democrates and republicans are forcing us to establish a third political party. Maybe that party will listen to the people.

Until all of you politicians share in the pain that regular American working people are experiencing as they see their jobs offloaded by corporations, who seek to enhance shareholder value instead of employing our people, I don't want you to cut any help for the majority of the working class poor in this country. I want all of you on Social Security instead of your retirement program, I thing that would save quite a bit. I want all of you on Obama's health care program, not the best health care that you have now. I want all of your perks cut to the bone, before you raise one penny of additional tax on the American People! We need to cut everything you experience as one of the elite, and we need the control of our money system returned to our elected representatives, and out of the hands of the International Bankers. Why don't you join Ron Paul in abolishing the Federal Reserve? Why don't we abolish the IRS? Why doesn't the government reveal just how much of our economy is owned by it's investments of it's enterprise accounts? Why don't you people come clean with the American people, instead of trying to clean us out? We have awaken homeless in the land conquered by our forefathers, just as Jefferson prophesied!

Randy, As much as I hate to see my taxes increase, please vote no on the "pork" laden bill coming to you from the senate. We can address the tax extension in January with no pork.

Well Congressman.....here's the next one that needs to be voted against: "Senate Democrats released a massive spending bill Tuesday that contains money for thousands of lawmakers' pet projects, setting up a fierce debate over so-called earmarks in the waning days of the lame-duck congressional session. Leaders of the Appropriations Committee combined a dozen spending bills into a single measure with more than $1.2 trillion in appropriations to fund the federal government for a full year." It would be better to continue the Federal government by a year long continuing resolution than to approve another pork filled, out-of-control appropriation. If Federal spending is part of the problem, then cutting back needs to start sooner not later. Congress needs to STOP kicking the can down the road.

Now that the tax cut extension has passed. The new congress should introduce a new bill as soon as they take over. This bill should address a direct dollar for dollar cut in spending to pay for the added spending attached to the tax cut extension. I still believe that unemployment extension should have been addressed as a seperate issue and paid for buy spending cuts.

Randy, thanks for the no vote. You listen well! I wish the rest of congress would.

When I posted earlier this month, the president's tax and unemployement extension bill had not passed the senate or the House of Representatives. The president, whom you obviously do not support in any way, was being castigated by the press, professional liberals and conservatives, and members of congress. The progressive left was attacking him because of the Estate Tax extension and tax relief for millionaires and billionaires, while the right was attacking because that is what it does best. The fact that you voted against this bill doesn't surprise me in one way --- the bill is unfunded. However, the bill would be less of a burden if the provision to provide tax breaks for the richest Americans had not been included. There was an opportunity to eliminate tax breaks for those at the top who have increased their wealth during this recession, but the Repulicans prevented its passage. The strangle hold the rich have on the Republican Party in the name of bogus job creation is a national scandal IMO. The Estate Tax is a problematic issue, as there is a valid arguement that this money has already been taxed and it involves only about 6,500 families in America -- but these families spend millions lobbying Congress so they can save billions in taxes. Meanwhile, the unemployed have to fight for their $290 a week and hear themselves referred to by Republicans as lazy bums living off the system. The best part of this legislation IMO was the extension of unemployment benefits for 13 months, so the Republicans will not be able to hold unemployed Americans hostage every three months to get breaks for the wealthy. Had the bill not passed, I am sure that you and your Republican cronies would have deep-sixed unemployment benefits in the name of "fiscal responsibity" while propping up those who need propping up the least. And please, in all due respect, I don't care about the activities of the Prayer Cacaus, as that is not why my tax money goes to pay your salary.

I agree. We need to cut taxes and cut spending to the extent that we have a balanced budget. We also need to go back to the constitution, and support the monetary needs of the federal government by levying only federal import taxes. the founding fathers had it correct by only allowing the collection of import taxes as the only federal tax that can be levied.

"In God We Trust" is the foundation of the United States of America. If a president does not know - never mind- believe this wholeheartedly,our country is on the wrong road. I am a member of the silent majority apparently, but want to stand up and be counted whenever I can. We must never forget the principles on which our nation was founded and we must hold true to them.

I have my office in my home which fortunately (or unfortunately) allows me to listen to cable news in the background. This morning I have been listening to various stations talking about the presidents so called budget proposal and the oppositions canned statements against it. Does anyone in our government have any independent thoughts instead of political party line views? The one I just heard was Rep. Wasserman Schultz. If she ever had an original or independent thought I swear that it would give her a stroke. I'm not being partisan, the opposition has many just like her. The president and senate majority leader (our two state senators also) will not lead the way so stop waiting for them. Lead, follow or get out of the way!! Lets stop the B.S. and get the job done. Cut the spending. Not token cuts but real cuts. This is not a game.

The President of the United States delivered another totally patrician anti-American, unrealistic attack speech yesterday. How many of these are "We the People" going to put up with before we stand up say once and for all, No. This man is crud and rude in every way and is a disgrace to the Presidency. I am full to overflowing with the word compromise as it is being used by the democrat party and the socialists among us. (It's getting harder to distinguish between the two) They are using it only to sound reasonable to people that will "get along at any cost". If we do not finally stand up, we will never again be allowed too. Compromise can only come about between people that want the same outcome. I am now convinced that the president and his followers do not want a free thinking Democratic America that our founders envisioned and so many Americans have defended in war and peace. I don't remember who said it but it is so true "Compromise with a fool is a foolish compromise". The "gang of six" is a joke. I am ashamed that a state of Virginia senator is part of that joke. Senator Warner is much like the president . He gives a good speech but there is no substance be hide the words. Both are empty suits. How we got to where we are is by too much spending, not too little taxing. It is a plan fact that if the Bush tax cuts had never enacted, we would still be in the same financial shape. This is easily overlooked by those who want to blame someone else and justify something that is not justifiable. Blame is synonymous with excuse. Excuses will not work. I am sick of being told by the President of the United States that I am against old people (I am one of them), sick people, children with diseases, poor people, minorities and everything that is bad. I've even stooped as low as wanting to defunding cowboy poetry and refusing health care to poor women like Harry Reid' wife and daughters.