At the Executive level the state of the union is very strong. It has not been this strong since the Clinton administration. At the congressional level the state is absolutely pathetic, the worst I have ever witnessed, worse than the mess of Watergate. Congressman Forbes, I believe you have been a total failure as a representative of our district. You have been unresponsive to constituent interests, have repeatedly misled us by omitting critical facts in your correspondence, you do not answer questions in your letters that are painfully vague and totally lack intellectual depth, and your staff in Washington has lied to me over the phone. We sent you to Washington with a balanced budget sir. In the 12 long years of your tenure you have left our country in catastrophe. The ideology you have championed has been widely discredited sir. There is no voting record of genuine bi-partisanship sir. I have begged you to rescind the Grover Norquist blackmail pledge that you referred to as 'just a piece of paper' in a personal letter to me, and yet, you will not tell the rest of your constituents this? Why sir? Because you use this to obstruct progress in your leadership. You should be ashamed sir that you never acted to force votes on a fully paid for jobs bill sent to congress by the President. Your votes have dramatically increased spending and debt, and you suggest to all of us that somebody else is responsible. That doesn't cut it anymore congressman Forbes. You must tell the voters the truth. You let down hurricane Sandy victims, you voted against the middle class repeatedly, you were totally useless in the sequester debates with no influence whatsoever. You wrongfully voted against the Attorney General and then you refused to apologize. You have repeatedly ducked my question posed to you on several questions which was....yes or no, do you support ending oil and gas subsidies. Yes or no, do you support increasing tax rates on millionaires and billionaires. Former Senator Simpson got it right when he publically said if you sign the Grover Norquist pledge you do not deserve to be in congress. I'm calling for you to resign congressman Forbes, for the sake of the nation. You voted to shove this great nation into default sir, default! You voted to screw the very private sector you proclaim to support. That was incompetent sir, and it was un-American. Resign sir, you simply are not getting the job done and we've had enough.

Nothing has improved and has only gotten worse. It won't improve until we get a president that will do good for our country. We need someone who isn't going to continue to give stuff away to people that don't contribute to the country, that use drugs and and just live off the system.

The State of our Union is a State of Decay. Congress and the President are no longer concerned with the interest of the people. They only have the interest of their lobbiest in the fore front of their decision making, when they are not concerned with re-election and their campaigns. Payroll tax increase, money directly out of my pocket. My cost of living raise was just taken back by the government. Now all this talk about banning guns and taking away my Second Amendment Rights. I am a tax paying, hard working, law abiding VETERAN that volunteers my time for community betterment through civic organizations and I and others like me are being punished. Not the medical system that doesn't treat the menatlly ill, not the insurance system for not covering mental illness, not the sellers and users of illigal weapons. And on top of the heap is the Honorable Mr. Obama and all of Congress, working to pad their and their cronies pockets under the guise of what is best for the people. I bet they vote themselves a raise this year again, put off decision making because it is vacation time, or send our troops and money to fix another countries problems. Absolutely disgusting. Maybe the President and Congress should revisit elementary school history.

We cant keep spending 6 billion a day more than the tax collected. We must become enegy independent. We need a stonger miltary. The leadership in washington is now in moral decay. We should understand that Jesus Christ is the God of this land. We where blessed and given a inspired constitution , which we now do not follow. Good is now called evil and evil is called good. Dr Carson had a great message he gave at the National Prayer Breakfast. We need public servant leaders in congress. Congress should honor the law and live under same law as the rest of us. No law should be passed until it has been read and understood. Time should be allowed to make it right. God bless you as you try to do whats riight. We need more like you.

Q: What is the state of our nation? A: Our nation is failing. The federal government may well be corrupt beyond repair within authorized means. Obama is leading the country rapidly toward socialism. We are in debt perhaps beyond our means to repay. Our southern border is a joke. Our schools are turning out illiterate, liberal failures. We have lost our sense of individual responsibility. Political correctness has hobbled our ability to speak truth. Our future is bleak unless we turn these issues around.

What value do we as a nation share? Freedom is compromised by loss of property and income to taxes. Religion is mocked and driven to private corners. Work ethic is eroded to entitlements. (Witness the response to disaster - DEMANDS for payment) Equality replaced by, "I deserve." Based on no effort or achievement. My son is defending this country with his life in hostile territory, yet he cannot find the reason to be there. There is nothing of value left, except lives aimed at leisure and fun. Principles are gone . . . This country is doomed.

We have no Union. This country is as divided now as it was just before the War of northern aggression. Cant tell the difference between Democrats or Republicans, Constitution is being attacked by both parties. I have no confidence in Mr Forbes with his continued support for big govt, Mr Forbes has not once voted to reign in big govt agencies or spending. Its past time for a change and I hope it is done by our votes and not by violent revolution.

For three plus decades this country has lacked effective and honest leadership. Every president and congress has passed/signed legislation that has weakened the country and exposed citizens to peril. To get effective leadership requires looking outside the corrupt democrat and republican parties. The first congressmen to reject speaking with or doing the bidding of all lobbyists will be a sign the government is changing. So far that's not happening. We need a new political party of the people and by the people.

The state of our union is concerning because members of congress are more interested in pandering to their partisan special interest instead of doing what is best for America as a whole. Doing what is best for the people requires compromise and cooperation, but both are severely lacking in congress (along with leadership). It will be a sad day if congress allows our economy to be wrecked because individuals feel a need to stand in front of a TV camera instead of sitting down and working toward a solution. Unfortunately those who are willing to work with others outside their party are considered disloyal and met with threats of loss of special interest campaign contributions or having an unexpected opponent for re-election. It's time to put people and the greater good of our nation above party, and anyone in congress who won't or can't do that needs to resign immediately so someone willing to do the people's business (vice their own) can take their place.

How can "we" the Mighty USA have funds for illegal aliens & ALL kinds of many & sundry programs but CAN NOT sent an aircraft carrier out on a routine deployment? AND give all the families JUST 48 hrs notice! How can USA fund all & what ever for foreign countries (& enemies!) but cant do ship maintenance! WHY ARENT THESE ~N A T I O N A L ~!I news stories! ?

It seems the state of our government is that it suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder. People in government seem more interested in arguing issues than they are at solving problems. Everyone wants to grab the spotlight and champion this cause or that cause, but when it comes to actually doing the real work --no one's anywhere around. We're sitting here facing rampant unemployment and no one has actually looked at what it would take to make things better. I pick up the paper everyday, and I see that there are want ads all the time. So to say there are no jobs isn't an accurate assessment of the problem. When I look at those jobs, I see they are not in my field in most cases, and the prospect of me acquiring the skills to work at a job in another field is almost non-existent. So the real problem is that there's no easy way for Adults to learn a new skill that would allow them to qualify for jobs in a different field or a better job. As an adult, with a proper job --I qualify for next to nothing when it comes to educational benefits. I've basically got the Pell Grant and that's it. Or if the schools that open up new fields are industry based --like in my case Software certifications like SAP or MCSA or Cisco's CCNP --there is nothing. The Federal and State Governments have focused all their efforts on colleges. "The graduation rate for first-time, full time students enrolled in four-year institutions was about 54 percent. That’s not very good, but researchers estimate that less than a quarter of part-time students graduate" So you pump billions of dollars into institutions that graduate 55% of their students. So that means you wasted 45% of taxpayer money. In the mean time, adult learners with proven work histories and a genuine desire to advance have to do it almost entirely on their own. This isn't problem solving --it's a joke. People don't need you to pump billions of dollars into ineffectual learning institutions. What we do need is for you to put some effort into developing training opportunities for specific skills -- or allow the adults who want to pursue an education greater agility in the selection of training. It isn't glamorous to want to spend 15,000 dollars to learn how to go and be a plumber --but plumbers make more money. It's not glamorous to fund $7500 dollars so that a computer technician can go to a two week technical school for a certification --but that certification can mean a $40,000 increase in pay and free up that mid level job for someone who's looking to move up from that entry level job. We don't mind spending money. What we mind is spending money on things that don't work.

The President has demonstrated insufficient leadership in the Executive function. However, our Constitution places responsibility for determining the budget (and our level of debt and deficit) upon the legislature, so it is Congress that has been failing us much more so that the one person and easy, simple target in the Oval Office. As a whole, our Congressmen have been placing their political interests way ahead of the best interests of our nation and our children's future. Stubbornly holding fast to a particular ideology to please special interests immobilizes the legislative function and ignores the big picture--the welfare of our nation. So much needs to be done! What is Congress doing?—we see nothing but stubborn disagreement that honors lobbyists' and extremists’ demands, while hiding in some kind of anonymity of numbers among the Congressional body. Everyday citizens are left to feel helpless and frustrated by the actions and inactions of every member of Congress, you included.

Everything is worse now than it was four years ago. The cost of all basics have risen drastically starting with milk, eggs, bread and meat to gas and diesel. Health Care costs have risen drastically from last year because of the New Obama Helath Care. My take home salary is now over $300 less from my Dec 2012 paycheck due to the payroll tax increase and health care insurance premium increases for 2013. Everything that has been done during the Obama administration has hurt the middle class. Every law that is being passed, every bill that is being submitted is hurting the backbone of the country and breaking us, the working class.

There are some pretty big widespread issues that no one in office has even bothered to address. The congress as it is now is an absolute joke. It gets absolutely nothing done and has hindered most, if not all, of the president's plans in a time where we need action. To make things worse, basically everything that is actually the Congress's fault has been blamed on the President. Their policies on the internet and information in general are sorely misguided. How can a group of people who don't even understand such a medium claim they have the authority to do anything with it. The so called "battle" against "piracy" is a futile and misguided one, and any steps they think of to take hurt our personal freedom while not advancing any cause because the government will always be one step behind in their cripplingly large generation gap. The war on drugs is similarly misguided and a very massive waste of our resources. Legalizing certain currently illegal drugs that are proven to be safe (at least safer than alcohol or tobacco) can be a step that will go a long way to recovering our economy. The Supreme Court has far too much authority for what they do. Whatever balances there are are basically meaningless, and allow horrible people like Scalia to do whatever they please. The concept of political correctness is a joke as well. Equality is further not seeming like true equality as we start putting "minorities" on the pedestal "whites" once stood on instead of bringing them both to equal ground. Everyone is forgetting that "an eye for an eye makes the world blind". The fact that gay marriage is still an issue is absolutely pathetic, and we need to put the nail in the coffin before we waste any more time with this blatantly one-sided issue (gay marriage should obviously be allowed just as blacks should be treated equally as white people, come on, common sense). Abortion is similarly a right that should be regarded as common sense. The advances of Christianity in what is supposed to be a secular nation (Separation of Church and State anyone?) are also very bothersome. America is a place of diversity where not everyone is just "under God". Then there's the obligatory "mental health" issue. Can't really go into detail on that as I don't really know as much about the issue. If the government could get restructured in the future to account for crippling flaws, it would do us a world of good.

North Korea just lit off their third nuke and blamed the United States for having to set it off... ...how do you think the state of our union is?!? We have a weak leader with no comprehensive world vision and rather than leading, he, at best, is reactionary, if he reacts at all, with no vision of the world as a whole. His domestic vision is blinded by the extreme left agenda. The military is getting ready to be cut to the size of less than 1950s, we haven't had a federal budget in more than 4 years, continuing resolutions that used to last 30 days, or at most, 90 days are now being put in place for 6 months at a time, leaders can now kill Americans with no regard to guilt or constitutional rights, while waterboarding is just inhumane and absolutely HORRIBLE... ...and amdist all this, all our weak leader can manage to speak about is taking guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens, who could now be killed by 'leaders' with no trial, but our leader beleives this action will miraculously change actions of those who care not one whit what the law says about using guns that are leagal or illegal. Does one really need to ask what the current state of our union is?

If someone even has to try and think about this question, then you should question your own judgement. The state of the Union is without a doubt worse and obama is leading down the path of destruction. At this point, I think most people in office, should be put on trial for treason, those found guilty should be hung.

I have never been more concerned about the state of the nation. The people are in grave danger.

We should be the most educated, as a nation, than any other time in our history, yet we are more ignorant than any generation since the depression. We have the internet, and other more advanced means, to expose ourselves to information than any previous generation. We are allow the news media and a select group of news agencies to influence our thoughts and opinions and the actual truth is lost on most of our nation. The moral compass of this nation is headed in a direction that we surely will account for and our striving to be "accepting" to any groups desires or opinions will cause us to fail. The state of our union is very sad to witness and seeing a President that has a base of supporters who are blinded by his betrayal of our constitution and our system of checks and balances is dissapointing. In the '60's a rock group, "Ten Years After" had lyrics in a song, "I'd Love to Change the World", that sums us up our situation today as accurately as we can state it. Goolge it and see!

The state of the union is scary. Our nation was founded on Christian principles and God blessed us more than He has ever blessed any other nation in the history of man. But God can not bless a nation whose leaders make NEW laws that defy God's laws. Our new leaders ENCOURAGE mothers to murder their babies, ENCOURAGE people to defy God's laws on marriage, FAIL to FULLY support Israel - even to the extent of trying to get a Secretary of State who is openly anti-semetic, and who constantly look for new ways to make as many people as possible dependant upon the government for support rather than encouraging people to work for their due. Our new leaders see GUNS as the danger in crime rather than CRIMINALS as the danger... criminals created by our weakened culture which continues to do all it can to rid God from our shores. I could go on and on, but these are the highlights. The state of the union is scary... and our new leaders are only making it worse.

The state of the union is a disaster. While the jobless rate appears to be holding steady, more people have just given up looking so the true unemployment is drastically higher than we are led to believe. The economy is not growing and yet the Administration is intent on increasing taxes and more spending. This at a time when most Americans have seen no increase in their pre-tax income. So our after tax dollars have shrunk and continue to shrink as more hidden ObamaCare taxes take effect. ObamaCare is starting to hit Americans with the very real threat that many of us will not be able to retain our current employer-paid insurance and will be forced to buy more expensive insurance or pay an absurd tax instead. Worse, many doctors have ceased taking new patients due to this law and a disturbing number of them are even talking about getting out of medicine. Not a good situation. Overseas, our country has the lowest level of respect in recent memory. North Korea and Iran are running roughshod over us. Our friends don't know if they can rely on us so many are considering their options without the USA providing any support. I am not Jewish but I am embarrassed at the treatment of Israel. And the Libyan fiasco has yet to be explained nor has anyone really been held accountable for that mess. Given the Washington tendency to protect this Administration, I have no hope for anyone to be held accountable regarding Libya or anything else for that matter. Now the Administration is focusing all its energy on gun control when history has proven that it does no good. The only people this will affect will be law-abiding citizens while criminals and the disturbed will ignore all of it. The real causes of the gun-related disasters (such as our mental health system) remain unaddressed and I have no confidence that the Administration is even considering those issues. This is the Administration that gave us "Fast and Furious" so their hypocrisy is not lost on me. The speech that Dr. Ben Carson gave at the prayer breakfast was outstanding and couldn't have been more appropriate. If anyone wonders why both Congress and the Administration are held in such low esteem, compare Dr. Carson's statements against the typical Washington mentality. There is no comparison. When special interests come above the country, when you pass bills without reading them, when the two parties are at war with one another, when you can't stop trillion dollar deficits, when you can't act like responsible representatives of the people, then it is time to fire all of you. Am I dissatisfied with Washington? Hell yes!

This administration is destroying our economy from within and weakening our defenses without. North Korea is testing their missile capability and Iran their nukes. Is this really the time to draw down our military?

Dear congressman: In My Opinion: The State Of The United States Of America- In Regard For Which It Stands Is Worse Than Deplorable. Worst In All Of History. Thank You. Danny Grimes. Patriot...

I have not seen enough of the Congress standing on the Constitution and supporting it. Too many do not know what it says or how badly it has been abused by both the congress and the administration. Every day I see less and less representation of the people and more and more representing the congressman's personal agenda and pocket book. First, take away the presidential credit card, it won't hurt this nation to shut down for a month, Second, how dare you take a pay raise when the families in this nation are suffering under the tax burden that you have placed them. Congress and the administration are responsible for the financial crisis and they can fix it. This has been a well orchestrated crisis. And as long as you continue to go down this road, you demonstrate you unwillingness to take the steps necessary to fix it. I feel that we have no voice, that we are nothing but slaves to the administration. I think Marie Antoinette Finally understood when she place her head in the guillotine, that the country would not stand for her mismanagement. so Congressman what are you going to do about the tearing down of our Country by the Administration?

I have not seen enough of the Congress standing on the Constitution and supporting it. Too many do not know what it says or how badly it has been abused by both the congress and the administration. Every day I see less and less representation of the people and more and more representing the congressman's personal agenda and pocket book. First, take away the presidential credit card, it won't hurt this nation to shut down for a month, Second, how dare you take a pay raise when the families in this nation are suffering under the tax burden that you have placed them. Congress and the administration are responsible for the financial crisis and they can fix it. This has been a well orchestrated crisis. And as long as you continue to go down this road, you demonstrate you unwillingness to take the steps necessary to fix it. So, I ask What is Congress going to do about Obama Care, I don't want it, also what are you going to do about TAXES and THE BUDGET?

I have several concerns: our educational system is weak and getting worse, not better. Our ability to think clearly and seek practical solutions based on facts and science is terrible. The distirbution of income and wealth is very skewed and is getting worse. Our infrastructure is failing, what we have is in bad need of repair and is terribly inadequate (we're too dependent on the automobile to get around, roads are inadequate, train travel is terrible and air travel isn't much better. Other than in major cities, you can't walk or bike to get anywhere safely.) The availabilty of high-speed internet is very spotty and all but non-existant in rural areas. There are few public parks near population centers and those are poorly maintained and staffed There's just a lot that needs to be done.

I totally support Randy's comments concerning the strengthening of the wall of separation between church and state--as intended in our Constitution and in Thomas Jefferson's comments to a constituent when he became President. Nearly everything that is happening in our congress and actions by our President appear to totally disregard the intent of our country's founders, who, because of history that they had experienced, made them far wiser that most of our current congressional leaders about what direction this country should take in all matters. Yes, until we recognize the values established in our Constitution by our Founding Fathers and seek to restore them, the state of our nation is rapidly going downward!

State of the Union: desperate, despicable. The only hope for America is the (1) Mercy of God; (2) Americans actually wake up & speak out (3) our Congress learns to step up and fight for America. Fight in terms that are required under this "rogue" president. Where are the "Brave" we sing about? (1)Outlaw Executive Orders (2) require that all parties involved in passing Obamacare be required to partake, especially Mr. Obama, Mrs. Pilosi, Mr. Biden, etc., etc. Our Constitution requires that lawmakers do not pass any law that does not apply to them. Stop elaborate exceptions to laws that are distasteful to those who are informed; particularly when they are initiating or passing them. (3) Stop spending money and trying to steal from the American people, no matter their tax bracket. How stupid--how socialist! Require a budget, review spending & follow the money. Why is Washington DC getting rich? (4) get the Government out of our businesses. (5) Do we need a history lesson? I think so. (6) Stop the control, power- grab and raping of my God-given freedoms! I choose to keep my guns. By the way, I am a single female. (6) It is hard to believe that we don't fight for our life--because this IS a fight for our life -- our way of life. This is not Nazi Germany yet.

I believe that the state of this nation is beyond salvation but for the direct intervention of the Anchient Of Days. Most things are still in place but the powers behind the throne or Oval Office are so powerful and demonic that man cannot change them.ritonoym

I agree that the executive branch is strong and well led. Congress is a total wreck. The Supreme Court has made a Supreme Mistake by stating that corporations are people. Back to Congress -- the House is a total waste. The Republicans do nothing but obstruct and have brought our country to a halt. STOP! The Tea Party philosophy is extreme and does nothing to move our country forward. They have a total lack of understanding of the constitution and what this country needs to progress.

I am so disgusted at our elected officials. All of you please consider retirement and sit on our side of this mess. No benefits or retirement packages until you work as hard as we your citizens do. We can't find jobs, we can't find good jobs, we can't find a full time job with benefits, we can't find a part time job. I am worried about our children and our grandchilden, our elderly, our sick and our infirmed. It doesn't help to complain, no one listens, no one in charge cares about OUR USA. Please leave our Social Security alone, quit taking money our of the fund, it belongs to the citizens not the government who paid into it for years. Please quit giving our country away and please try and find jobs for these people that think they are entitled to "free". Mr. Forbes I am counting on you to take care of all of our service members first and then work harder so that our Country doesn't fail. I also will not watch The State of the Union speech tonite or any other political rant. It is so not right

What I think is more important to address now is the state of liberty in the nation. Because of the constant and often vicious assaults, large and small, on our Constitutional freedoms, the Nation's fundamental integrity, its core, is steadily being eaten away, like a house with a serious termite infestation, and it will not continue to stand unless the principled and the unafraid continue to stand their ground. I count you as one of those defenders, Rep. Forbes and I'm proud to have you as my Repesentative. You are a great American, and believe me, far more of your constituents know this than wish to tear you down. Don't let people like Thomas G. with all of his phony sirs get to you. Destructive folk such as these cannot ultimately win if we remain true to our values. Pay them no mind. We'd be better off if he just voted with his feet. Illegitimi non carborundum est!

For the past several years our economy has continued to decline...our president has been far more focused on taking care of everyone's needs rather than exploring opportunities that would increase jobs so that the unemployed may go back to work. While both areas are important, it would seem that job creation would help many of these people get back to work taking care of themselves and their families. As the economy has declined, violence within our country has increased. It seems that many of us are being consumed more with selfishness and greed...and yes, we are seeing hatred in the violence that occurs more and more frequently. In recent months, we are seeing more and more unrest around the world that poses serious threats to our country. Time has proven that our current president has no idea how to handle any of this...and the Congress is far too divided to effectively come up with decisions that might resolve some of the issues. Congressman Forbes, it is time for us to wake up!! We need a leader who will bring this country back together. We need a strong economy. We need jobs so that we can be responsible for our own needs. And we need to be an example to the rest of the world that we are as strong and dependable as we ever were. At the moment, we all know what the state of our Union is...we do not need the president to spell it out tonight. The best outcome of the address tonight would be that our leader would sincerely state to the nation that he and all members of Congress will work together in a fair and considerate way and will bring our country back to the land of peace, opportunity and freedom that we have learned to cherish.

The State of our union? FUBAR and getting worse. The number of part-time jobs are growing while full-time jobs are shrinking. Terrorist are stronger and more confident than ever. North Korea and Iran continue to develop their nuclear capibility. Gun banners are gaining power to pass laws that effect me and do nothing to criminals.......

The state of the union cannot be strong until we get rid of special interests and many of the Congressman from both parties that seem to have been bought by special interest. Get rid of super pacs and the mentality of who ever raises the most money gets their way. Start listening to the people in the country and maybe the state of the union will improve and congress will get a clue about those they represent. Not those who they owe favors to for their jobs. Washington is a sick place and until patriotism is restored and democracy is practiced once again the state of the union probably will not be stronger and bipartisan bickering will prevail. Unfortunately, this starts with the supreme court taking responsibility and setting new regulations on campaign contributions and reforms. Just one unimportant American's view.

I also am insulted by the old political tactic of blaming the other party that seems to take up the majority of the work that congress is doing. Sorry I'm not that stupid. I don't care who screwed up. Quite frankly, probably both parties equally. So now its time to stop crying and finger pointing and compromise. FIX THE PROBLEMS THROUGH COMPROMISE. WE HAVE A MULTI-PARTY SYSTEM THAT WAS BUILT ON OPPOSING IDEOLOGIES COMING TOGETHER TO REPRESENT THE WISHES OF THE COUNTRY. STOP THE STUPID CHILDISH POWER GAMES AND GET TO WORK OR WE NEED TO FIND DEDICATED AMERICANS WHO DESERVE THE PRIVILEGE TO REPRESENT THIS GREAT NATION!!!!!

Impeach him NOW!

The President needs to be impeached. He is setting this country up for complete and total destruction. How do we go about getting this accomplished? How can we continue to allow this man to override the Constitution, negate our Bill of Rights, circumvent Congress, expand his power through an unlimited number of executive. Orders, steal our money, support our enemies with money he borrows from other enemies, outrage our allies, destroy our military, dismantle our space program (so we can't get to the satellites when our enemies decide to jam them), dismantle our nuclear weapons (while allowing our enemies to gain nuclear weapons, give fighter jets to Egypt (to share our technology with our enemies), set our Ambassador up to die, lie publicly every time he opens his mouth, and just accept the fact that he is getting ready to turn us over to re-education camps he is setting up? That's why je wants to disarm us, unconstitutionally. How can any of you Congress or Senate live with yourselves passing laws that you exempt yourselves from? Do what you need to do to impeach him. Please.

The state of the union is a total disgrace. The nation has been on a downward slide that is increasing at a rapid pace. The economy is barely being held together and can not be kept together by printing more money and increasing the dept ceiling. When the bills come due it is all over, we can't pay them. The leading speakers are inventing such things as the need for greater "gun control" as a diversion from the real problems that they either are unable or unwilling to fix. I think you are doing a great job but you are greatly outnumbered. Don't give up!

If our elected officials on both sides of the aisle don't stop tearing down ideas just because the other side came up with it, our nation will NEVER move forward! It seems that if the two sides don't stop tearing down each other, the US will be torn down. Many years ago, one of our mortal enemies said that we would destroy ourselves. It may have taken a long time, but I am beginning to believe he was right.

Randy, please listen to the LaRouche reps as they promote Glass-Steagall and a new National Bank. We need change soon, we are dying a slow death out here.

Thomas G. Shut up you whiny cry baby. I see you everywhere with your persistent out of place nagging that is irrelevant to the subject at hand and detracts away from the actual discussion. Either provide your thoughts on the matter or dismiss yourself.

There is no money left to hide untruths, greed, or fairytales. When there is plenty of money these items are unheard, unknown and ignored. The fix will unfold as there will be no other alternatives.

It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God ,to obey His will and to be grateful for His benefits and humbly implore His protection FOREVER, president George Washington . The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity , John Adams . It is our duty ..... of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christian's for our rulers,John Jay, First Chief Justice US Supreme Court.Those nations only are blessed whose God is The Lord, president Abraham Lincoln quoting Psalm 33:12 .Once upon a time George Washington,John Adams and our congress sought God on their knees for guidance in their decision making . 2013 what is the state of our nation today? Godless and rapidly heading for destruction .The new world order serves another god.

Our state of the union is in the shape it is in because I believe our president wants it this way. It he didn't, things would change, but as long as he is in office it won't be any better. I don't understand why congress can't stop him. Executive orders should only be in an emergency where there is not enough time for congress to vote.

The state of the Union is crap. We are a nation dying by 1000 cuts. The policy of operating by 1/2 measures does not prove anything and kills the nation slowly. We need to either follow Constitutional principles and balanced fiscal policy 100% (save the nation) or go down the path of Keynesian economic policy 100% and spend $3T more than we are taking in to prove once and for all that this path leads to destruction. This will be very painful but we can then hit the reset button and get these liberal SOB's out of office once and for all!!!!! Otherwise the GOP and conservatives will die and will continue to be blamed by the media for the nations death. We must let the Keynesian's have their way without opposition so their policies can be proven wrong once and for all!!!!

Congressman,Forbes I think a better question would be what is the Union of the several States?That is where the fight is right now.Our current Attoney General along with others have been fighting this Federal government ever since this President has been elected.Listening to the State of the Union last night it does'nt look like things are going to change anytime soon.The 2014 Mid-terms will be are next chance to make a real change,in the US Senate.

We are in trouble! Unless God's people look to Him and turn back to him we will continue to see a tragic decline in our nation. 2 Chronicles 7:14, says, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. I have no problem with separation of church and state, but remember if you get rid of the church you will no longer have this nation (The U.S) as we know it. Nor will you have a United States that even looks remotely like what our founding Fathers intended it to look like. We were never intended to be a theocracy. We were intended to be a nation guided by a creator God. As we move further and further away from universal truth, we move steadily into a Darwinist evolutionary perspective on life, and remember if we are all animals only the fittest survive. Everybody thinks they are strong, but what happens when you find yourself weak and devalued as a human being. This is where we are.

Democracy has begun to eat itself in a ever increasing pace. I think the citizen is confused with what "wants and needs" are and the politicians take advantage of this. My anger is towards both the selfish voter and the politicians who only protect their seat. We need to take a spartan approach towards are finances. The 2nd amendment is the foundation of all of our rights, if it is compromised, so will the rest.

Do not cave on sequestration. I sense you are sliding. When I read from your email, "collectively understand the first step to restoring stable ground may be to find the first step of consensus", my heart stopped. Consensus for Republicans 99 times out of 100 means "lets get along to get along, and do what the Democrats want". Obama signed the bill for sequestration and now he wants out. If you care about the long term future of our country you will do all in your power to hold his feet to the fire. If you only care about the next election you will probably cave "to get along". Please don't do that.

HOW DID WE GET HERE ! we got here by making wrong turns. that's how you usually get lost, isn' it ? when the American auto industry was having trouble competing with the imports we imposed an import tax or tariff and this convinced foreign auto makers that it was in their best interest to build their plants on American soil. not learning a valuable lesson from this, someone came up with the North American free trade agreement. i can only describe this as plain stupid, yet it received bi-partisan support enough to pass. it equaled to the export of good manufacturing jobs out of the country. this in turn started the erosion of our tax base. it did have another end result, making the rich, richer, and eroding the middle income. we still had enough tax revenue coming in to keep the country afloat. the people running the show said to themselves, what can we do to screw this up ? i know, a couple of more wrong turns ! lets have major tax cuts and start a war that we will have to borrow money for to fight. this might not be enough to ruin the country so lets pass some more job stealing "free" trade agreements. screwing the average citizen,but, again making the rich, richer. now we're burying our selves in debt, losing revenue, destroying lives, ruining the American dream, letting illegals pour into the country, raising unemployment rates and just plain destroying the country. if that isn't bad enough, we ruin our world wide credibility by starting an unjust war in Iraq. now how can we make things even worse ? another wrong turn ! lets hire a bunch more sub-standard sub-contractors ! we can even use them for security ! IDIOTS !!! so, the question is, what are you going to do about it ? the election should give you a rough idea as to what the average American wants you to do. RAISE REVENUE, SEAL OUR BORDERS, REPEAL ALL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS, RAISE REVENUE, CUT FOREIGN AID, EXPEL ALL ILLEGALS, RAISE REVENUE !!! initiate a border crossing fee for all who cross our border to help pay for security. create a national lottery with lots of 100k winners rather than a few multi- million dollar winners. legalise and tax marijuana but not to the extent that there is still profits for those who sell it untaxed. inspect ALL cargo coming into this country. now that's job creation. dump the sub-contractor mentality. properly fund the e.p.a.,f.d.a.,o.s.h.a., etc so they can do the jobs they were designed to do. for the sake of this country and it's citizens, especially our VETERANS, do something !!! repeal all bush era income tax cuts for individuals making more than 150k. RAISE REVENUE ! didn't the election teach anyone anything ?

The state of the union? Extreme peril. It is sad to watch the purposeful destruction of our nations security, prosperity and culture.

President Obama is employing a divide and conquer tactic by implying the NRA leadership is out of touch with their membership along with a majority of gun owners by claiming a broad based support for "common sense" gun laws with a implied consensus of increased background checks even for private firearm sales. He has used this divide and conquer tactic in previous legislation, ObamaCare mandatory health insurance (which created a poll tax via the IRS in tracking health care compliance). Taken from his state of the union speech: "Overwhelming majorities of Americans – Americans who believe in the 2ndAmendment – have come together around commonsense reform – like background checks that will make it harderfor criminals to get their hands on a gun. " The President is using the call for increased gun ownership restrictions and increased government scrutiny on private sales as a distraction from the more important issue improving the economy and balancing the federal budget. Yes he mentioned the need for more middle class jobs and an improved middle class but he did not mention any policy approaches lead us to this end. I think the President is using the emotion of this incident to lull us into a willingness to surrender our personal and state level freedoms in a naked federal government power grab. He is willing to over use the power of the Presidential Executive Office in pver issuing Executive orders to foster this political gain over a sound sensible fiscal and constituional policy. For this reason, he provokes the consertive members of the Senate and House to use the power of the purse (willingness to allow sequestration to take it's course) as the only means to oppose this naked power grab.

There are two posts on this blog, George M and Taylor that have identical writing styles, not similarities, but exact same styles and both are very pro liberalism and progressivism. They simple attack any conservative idea and principle. What is interesting is I have seen the same post, style of writing before and it came from the Obama campaign "truth squads". Congressman Forbes you are one of the few responsible leaders in Congress, but one thing, do not give in to Obama's and the Democrats proposals and promises. No matter what they will back stab you and blame the Republicans for all the ills of this nation, you might as well do what is right for the country!!!!!!

Congress is failing us, and the Executive and Judicial branchs now rule. This is a constitutional contradiction as far more lines in the Constitution are devoted to the legislative branch than the other two branches of government. America belongs to the people, and that is precisely why the founding fathers devoted most of their attention to the legislative branch of government. Rule by executive order is not what the founders intended. I ask rhetorically, is America becoming a giant banana republic under a dictatorial government because Congress lacks the guts to stand up and make the hard decisions that will ultimately our nation?

I support the presidents clean energy approach to takling global warming. This is good for the country and the economy. It is the only long term solution to energy independence since fossil fuels will run out. I support smart gun laws to end these mass shootings. I don't want to hear that some I love has been shot by a violent person. I support better preschools for all and better technical school and more affordable college to have workers who can get 21st century jobs. For profit schools are not the answer, I work in It and have never worked with anyone from a for profit school like ECPI. We need to pass his education proposals. I support a jobs bill. I wish congress would stop philibustering and pass some of these laws.

We are in a position of ultimate decay in my opinion. We have our US Dollar trading at roughly $0.76 to one Euro and we continue the onslaught of printing currency. We have a President who will use sequester to smash the mouthes of conservatism even further by blaming all of the military cuts on the GOP. Obama's team will ultimately claim that the GOP is the reason for the reduction in force of our military even though he has worked in concert with George Soros' think tank on ways to diminish the benefits of our service members by delaying their benefits, cutting the percentages, undoing the medical benefits due to them after retirement, and so on. All the while, we seem to be completely disengaged regarding entitlement reform from a Congressional level. This is a very disheartening situation to say the least. We have employers who are being taxed so heavily now that they are starting to see the coming Obamacare as a relief so that they can pay a fine and be relieved of providing medical benefits to their employees. Essentially, Obama has been very successful at giving the country death by a thousand cuts. He has emasculated the GOP to the extent that most of us would prefer to dissolve the party and start fresh. No man is an island unto himself and with that said he has been allowed to do this by a lack of leadership from people like John Boehner. Boehner has been shot in the foot over and over by Reid and Obama. It is time that we stood our ground and created a marketing blitz to get out the message to the American people of what is really going on and how to really fix it.

I don't think compromise and consensus is possible. I believe the current administration is seeking to destroy the Republican party. They have a cooperating press who can destroy any individual they choose (witness the snide comments made about Marco Rubio). They have a press who can declare ahead of time what problems are solved (witness words in the Washington post about the debt crisis not being a debt crisis anymore). The Republican party somehow has got to realize politics as usual are not how things are done now.

There's a union? We're pretty much completely doomed. Lord have mercy.

Let's be clear here congressman Forbes. You posted on your blog you have been recognized by the National Association of Manufacturers. WHY SIR DID YOU NOT TELL THE CONSTITUENTS THIS IS A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE? Sir, don't you think you need to tell all of us if they support an increase in the minimum wage, and what about you sir. Do you? I think we need an answer to this sir, ALL the voters need an answer so hundreds of us do not have to call your office to get an answer.

Our nation is divided. I say separate it, into two nations. Democrats and liberals go north, and Republicans and conservatives go south (or visa versa) and those in the middle take a stand for once... ...and pick a side. Then each side can live the way they want - and we will see who is where in 20 years - and who was more accurate in the direction the country should take. LOL! But more than 50% of the liberal side will be takers - as they won't want to be on the conservative side as they won't get a thing, they will be expected to fend for themselves. Survival of the fittest over there... ...and I wonder where all the hollywood stars will end up... ....on the left they will have no more money, the govt will take it all - and on the right they will have to deal with issues they disagree with (freedom to own guns) but currently glorify. LOL! Choices, choices... ...this is the perfect solution. Who's betting which side would survive and which would not...

Pay ATTENTION to the comments YOU ASKED for NOT what the LOBBBBIIIEEEST tell you what vote for

The state of the legislative branch of our government is disastrous. Republican and Democrat and Tea Party members of Congress are so intransigent in their holier than thou attitudes that nothing of substance can be accomplished. Democrats should increase the retirement age on tiered basis for younger people, agree to a change in the COLA formula if it is more accurate, means test Social Security and Medicare benefits, among other things. Republicans should agree to increase the cap on annual taxable Social Security wages, eliminate tax expenditures, loopholes and subsidies to industries such as oil, and agree to seriously reduce waste in all areas of government including the military in a measured way calculated to minimize the negative impact on our people and our economy. Everyone should agree on immigration reform of some sort, but nothing will work in the future without enforcement of existing and any new legislation. President Obama is not leading the country into becoming a socialist state...Why? Because he doesn't have the authority to do that. Only members of the House and Senate can pass laws that lead to socialism or any other ‘ism. So stop blaming Obama for taking the country into socialism. Obama can propose legislation but Congress has to pass it, and he can't take the country into socialism with executive orders either.