Gross neglect on the part of our government is rampant. I read stories about corporations that hurt the people in our communities and walk away with no accountability or are granted immunity by our very own government. In the neighborhood where I work, people are afraid to eat food grown in the soil because of an oil spill that took place years ago and was never properly cleaned. This same neighborhood houses one of the highest cancer rates in the country. Increasingly, we fear the food we eat and the medications that are prescribed to us by the same doctors who have sworn to uphold the Hippocratic Oath. How is this a country “For the people, by the people”?

• I would like to see the entirety of the 9/11 Commission report suggestions implemented. It seems that since September 11, 2001 the policies that have been implemented for our safety have very little to do with safety and much more to do with insuring an environment of fear and saving face—a veil that allows the greedy factions of the current administration to erode the rights afforded to us by the constitution. In an airport, I now remove more clothes in a line of strangers than I would on a first date. It’s clear to most of us, that IF our safety were the primary concern THEN safety precautions would have been implemented much differently. The bottom line is this: If a culture of fear is not the most evident motivation for these precautions, then neglect and incompetence are the only other explanations available. Assuming that “the powers that be” have our best interests at heart, then one other explanation exists; our governments desire to make people feel safer by implementing procedures that are not helpful or necessary but are very visible, just so that people feel tended to—government sponsored acts equivalent to placebos replacing actual, less obvious, safety procedures. Who needs that?

• Require any and all financial institutions that requests government assistance to provide complete transparency of all records, assets, and holdings before granting their requests so that we may determine precisely how the failure of these institutions came to fruition. Grant their requests only after you have fully assessed the exact needs and causes. Do not allow the solutions to such vital issues to be made up of wild numbers that estimate what might fix the problem. Before a bank will grant a loan they require business plans and specific solutions to marketing issues. They assess the viability of return on their investment. They make sure that they will profit. Do not give loans to financial institutions that they would not grant themselves. “We the people” have paid too much for the mistakes of deregulation and government neglect. The attributes of deception that have ruled the financial market indicates criminal behavior and those responsible must be held accountable. I have never witnessed such gross incompetence or such immense failure in my life time, so I have nothing to compare such events to. I can say that our long standing relationship of trust with our financial institutions has now come to an abrupt end. Many of us did not see it coming. Many of YOU ignored its existence. Yet here we are, our relationship is in shambles and we are faced with decisions we don’t even fully understand. I can only say that the worst decisions I have made were made in haste without proper understanding. We can do better and we should.

• Protect our Ports. It’s amazing to me that, with all the talk of our endangered safety, our seaports are no more protected in 2008 than they were in 2001. How is this acceptable? We do not need the “United Arab Emirates” to protect our ports for us. We are capable. This is our country. We want to help. Let this be one of the many ways we offer every American the chance to “Be all you can be.”

• Protect the cargo that enters the country by plane. Again, we disrobe in public airports yet there are no precautions taken to insure that the cargo being shipped by foreign companies and individuals other than those listed on the flight is indeed safe. How is that acceptable?

• Assign Homeland Security funds to areas that are High-risk territories for acts of terrorism. As a resident of New York City, I am awed by the distribution of security funds. These funds should be re-accessed and re-assigned to more appropriately “at risk” regions and specific targets. The current allocation of these funds leaves many known terrorist targets vulnerable. How is that acceptable?

• Implement an agenda that sets forth a clear plan for addressing the every day and long term needs of New Orleans residents and all affected by the circumstances of Katrina. One storm devastated an American city and took with it many smaller southern towns. That was 2005. It is now 2008 and we still have no clear indication of what will come of these areas. How is that acceptable?

• The EPA and it’s failures: In both the aftermath of September 11th and Katrina, the EPA assured residents that they would be safe to breathe the air left following these tragedies. They were wrong. People now suffer long-term illnesses and live limited lives as a result of the incompetence of the EPA. First responders to 9/11 are now struggling to breathe. Short breath and sleepless nights are how we have rewarded them. Long-term illness ends in death. How is that acceptable?

• The FDA and its failures: Be it incompetence, or pre-meditated neglect the FDA has failed us in recent years. They refuse farmers the right to test all cows for mad cow disease. They have allowed flawed pharmaceuticals such as Hefren and Vioxx to enter the public mainstream at the cost of public health. The FDA officially supports the genetic engineering of seeds with very little research despite growing skepticism regarding the quality of foods yielded from these seeds. In addition they do not allow foods, which are not genetically engineered, to label themselves as such. The FDA is now responsible for making our decisions for us and the decisions they have chosen are questionable. Regulation standards have not been enforced bringing forth a whole new host of food precautions. It seems that every month there are new warnings about common foods making people sick: cantaloupe, sprouts, spinach, and tomatoes are a few that come to mind. How is that acceptable?

• Trading treaties should be re-negotiated to account for child labor, harmful ingredients and environmental impact: As we move forth, we begin to negotiate new treaties such as the Columbian Free Trade Agreement. Already we take part in NAFTA, and CAFTA. Trade is good for communities but it can also be bad for communities. In part our job, as a country, is to engage in treaties that encourage the welfare of all communities involved. Accountability is a vital part of any contract. Trade treaties should be no different. The Federal Trade Commission should understand this and act accordingly. Deadly toys from china invade the safety of our homes and the vulnerability of our children’s health. Our pets fall prey to pet food that causes their death, sent to us from China. If I bought an imperfect item from an American store I would simply take it back. I do not have this option where China is concerned. It is the responsibility of government to implement trading standards with our trading partners. Those standards should address the practices involved in bringing about the products that are sold to us. We claim to be leaders though our recent history shows that we have yet to lead.

• Let us, once again, return to a time when the division between individual and corporation was defined clearly in the court system. Corporations do not deserve the protections of the Fifth Amendment. Corporations are not human beings and they do not suffer the same personal repercussions that American citizens do. The growing power of corporations is daunting. The average individual does not have the means to fight against a corporation that has harmed them. If we continue to protect corporations in the law the way that we would a human life, we will lose our ability to prosecute the manipulations and incursions of big business into our daily lives.

• Accountability for the labor practices used in the building of the US Embassy in Iraq. Nicola Smith, in an article titled “’Kidnapped’ Filipinos build US embassy,” gave this account of the building practices use to build the American embassy in Iraq: “An American civilian contractor has described scenes of panic and hysteria last year as Filipino construction workers were told that they were on a plane bound for Baghdad rather than Dubai. Passengers jumped out of their seats screaming in protest until a gun-toting air steward ordered them to sit down, claimed Rory Mayberry, an emergency medical technician traveling on the same flight. Mayberry said the men were “kidnapped” to build America’s luxurious new embassy in Baghdad’s green zone. He gave his account to a congressional committee investigating allegations of fraud.” Since when are America structures built with slave labor?

• Address the epidemic of unchecked emergency spending that is now dominating the funds supplied to the Iraqi Liberation/ Occupation/ War. Jason Leopold writes in his article “Iraq War Costs Skyrocketing, But Congress Unable To Scrutinize Spending” posted at countercurrents.org: “Nearly all of the $516 billion allocated by Congress to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has come in the form of emergency spending requests, a method the White House has abused, depriving Congress the ability to scrutinize how the Pentagon spends money in the so-called global war on terror. The use of emergency supplemental bills to fund the wars has likely resulted in the waste of billions of taxpayer dollars, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office.” He further explains, “Over 90% of [the Department of Defense] funds were provided as emergency funds in supplemental or additional appropriations; the remainder were provided in regular defense bills or in transfers from regular appropriations,” the report said. “Emergency funding is exempt from ceilings applying to discretionary spending in Congress’s annual budget resolutions.” This is unacceptable. How can we maintain checks and balances if our congress has such little say in how our country spends its money?

• Re-instate the original filibuster. According to Dick Durbin, Senator from Illinois, when speaking of the Senate minority he stated “the Republicans of the US Senate have performed 77 filibusters during the current session. This count breaks the previous record of 58 filibusters previously held by the 1999-2002 Senate terms.” In addition, a report put out by Campaign for America’s Future details the many bills thwarted amongst these 77 filibusters. The report highlights several bills that could have been beneficial to our current state of affairs:

“About $18 billion in tax credits would been provided to improve energy efficiency and produce renewable energy, paid for by the repeal of tax subsidies going to oil companies at a time they are earning record profits. Seniors would pay lower prices for prescription drugs, as Medicare would have been empowered to negotiate bulk discounts with pharmaceutical companies

A “cap-and-trade” process would be in place that would begin to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and would raise billions of dollars that could have helped defray the rising cost of gas for working people, while aiding in the development and deployment of green energy alternatives

Victims of pay discrimination would be able to pursue corrective action against discrimination, even if they didn’t discover the bias until later.”

If we continue to offer this option as a tool for congress to play politics, then it is our responsibility to discourage its abuse and it is your responsibility to implement those safeguards. It should be mandatory that the filibuster be launched and maintained in person before any further senate business is allowed to take place. If you feel compelled to impede congress then you should be present for the process and its affect on your peers should be equally compellin

• The following suggestions are offered by legislativeaccountability.org for fighting the lack of transparency and accountability in Government:

“No member of Congress may vote, either yes or no, on a particular bill without submitting a signed declaration that he or she has read the bill in its entirety and understands it.” For myself, I list this suggestion because I grow tired of the increasing number of congress people who offer excuses for having supported legislation. Many of those excuses are simply derivatives of “ Have you seen those bills. They’re so big. Who has time to read all that stuff?” It might be time to enlist new technologies that will facilitate better understanding of the bills you pass. Perhaps the media department could make audio files of each bill and load customized iPods for each member of congress. I don’t know what the solution is for you to be better at your job but I cannot see how you can defend the country if you do not take time to read the bills that you sign into law

“The first paragraph of each law passed by Congress, up to a maximum of one hundred words, shall state the purpose of the law.” If a bill clearly expresses its intent at the time it is published, then it will be that much easier to decipher intent when necessary for current and future generations to review the laws we have built our communities upon

“No bill may be voted on by the legislature until a copy of said bill has been made available to all citizens within the United States for a minimum of 48 hours. Such access must not require nor collect any personally identifiable information from citizens.” How could this do anything but make Democracy stronger

“Bills shall be known and recorded by numerical identifier only. No titles may be used.” Much to my dismay, a recent trend in government is the rampant use of misleading titles for bills. Names such as “the clean air act” have offered a false sense of public security by sounding as though our legislators are mindful of our needs and safety—when in fact some of these bills have done the very opposite of what their name implied. It is with this in mind that I support regulations that encourage the abuse of language and propaganda used to mislead the public

“Congress shall pass no law which exceeds in length two 8.5” x 11” pages of Courier 10-point font.” If reading the bills is too time-consuming for our public officials then perhaps this suggestion will lessen their burden

“No Court having jurisdiction within the United States may interpret any portion of the law to contravene the express purpose of the law as stated in its first paragraph.” Clarity in law making is long overdue.

• The first page of every bill should have a bulleted summary that lists any and all bundled portions of the bill as well as any earmarks added to the bill. Congress members should be required to submit that bulleted summary to public record indicating which parts of the bill are supported by that congressperson. For too long, government officials have taken refuge in their ability to hide legislation within legislation leaving the American public unaware and uninformed. The mere existence of this ability encourages dishonesty, corruption, and greed. The public cannot protest what they do not know. I want neither side to use this cloaking ability to deceive the public any further.

• Accountability for participants in unnecessary police brutality cases. Our police need to understand that we know their job is difficult. Our police need to understand that we know they risk their lives to protect us for minimal pay. Our police need to know that the responsibility they choose to uphold in American communities is immense. Our police need to know that IF they fail to protect the community by unleashing undue harm on our citizens there WILL be consequences.

• Legalize prostitution. When will we publicly admit that this is the oldest profession in existence and that it will continue until the end of human race? It’s true; I would not want my own child to choose this profession but my judgment, nor your judgment, has any relevance when discussing the safety of a fellow American. The same way that it does not make it acceptable for America to treat those who do make this choice as less than human. The benefits to legalization are numerous. AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases are a constant factor in a profession such as this. With regulation, we can begin to put an end to this unnecessary aspect. The abuse of those who work in this industry can likely be eradicated. Rape and incest are constants in our modern society. Though it would not end rape or incest, it would provide an outlet for otherwise non-violent offenders. The reality of history proves that people will continue to buy sex be it, legal or illegal. We can continue to act like this is not true but we are harming ourselves.

In a presidential election, the media holds our “ability to choose” hostage by their lack of even coverage to all candidates. In the 2008 election many candidates were pushed aside or outright ignored by the media. In one instance, the media did not include an active presidential candidate in an official presidential debate. In fact, I would go further to say that the media holds hostage our ability to make informed decisions by inundating the public with poorly sourced and often times misleading information. News is a word that is tossed around frequently in this new media age. With the advent and popularity of the Internet, news is everywhere. Broadcast news has been a part of the profit sector for some time now. As a result we have seen a steady decline in the quality of news. The purpose of “News” has changed drastically. Coverage of daily and world events now includes cliffhangers and bold text meant to entertain the public. News no longer informs the public.

The river of misinformation that educates the public, cleverly disguised as news, fosters division amongst the people of this nation causing the American audience to believe they are on separate sides of issues already proven to be common ground, thus pushing many Americans toward voting against their own best interests. Overt bias has all but ended our expectations for an objective press. The standards that governed the ownership of media have weakened and information monopolies are beginning to bud. The corporations who own media are more aggressive than ever. The FCC seems to look the other way, so long as nudity or foul language aren’t involved. The culture of media has relinquished the high road. In the last six years, news scandals have included Brit Hume and Armstrong Williams who were caught passing government paid propaganda as bona fide news. The government paid high-ranking retired military officials as well, to offer positive press for the endeavors of war. The media accepted this information without question. It is still illegal to use government propaganda against the American public. Employees of FOX News sued FOX for requiring them to cover news they knew to be false. Our very own courts condoned the lies because FOX is a for profit company and these press members were it’s employees. Jeff Gannon, a male prostitute with no journalism credentials or experience, was mysteriously granted a much-coveted seat in the White House Press Core. As a whole, the media chose not to uphold their responsibilities to the people in the lead-up to the Iraq Liberation/Occupation/War and by doing so allowed and encouraged our government to run head first in to two wars. One, of which, was unprovoked against a country that posed no valid threat to our nation. Too many questions were not asked. Too few facts were verified. The “fourth house of the government” no longer holds the government accountable for it’s indiscretions.

Much like the FCC, it is more likely that the press will pay attention if there is nudity or betrayal involved. The failures of the pharmaceutical companies, the EPA, the FDA, and Congress do not interest the corporate media. As a result, we are less safe as a country. The world has been busy. Americans have been preoccupied. The majority of the public hasn’t even noticed that news no longer offers truth. Most Americans don’t have time to fact check. Instead they believe what they hear. They assume that the media has their best interest at heart. In the past, this might have been true. The media has always been a primary component of the checks and balances that the founding fathers intended when they insured the right to a free press and the right to free speech. Now that the media rests in the profit sector, too much time has passed unnoticed and unchecked. The press is no longer free—in the grand American spirit of the word. We are inundated by entertainment. Our deepest need is not entertainment. We need to be informed. The time has come. We need a press that cares for the people it was hired to inform. We need a press that is noble and unflinching in its pursuit of truth.

• Truth Standards: the FCC should issue New Network Licenses. These licenses should delineate the lines between entertainment, opinion, and News. Once in place, these standards should be reviewed as strictly and as passionately as the separation of Church and State.

News credentials should be awarded to establishments that can stand behind the facts in their articles or broadcasts

Opinion credentials should be awarded to news sources that are biased in their coverage but still adhere to fact checking standards

Entertainment Credentials should be awarded to those establishments whose content is not dependent on fact for it’s effectiveness.

• Address Media Consolidation: As there are fewer owners distributing information to the masses there is, and will be, less diversity in the information that is distributed. “Freedom of the press” was originally instituted with the direct purpose of protecting the people from the “powers that be” by giving voice to their grievances and triumphs. Support “Freedom of the Press” by controlling the rapid consolidation of media that threatens the education and evolution of the American people.

• Enforce “Freedom of the press”: I am disheartened by the recent evolution of the American free press. If our Democracy can no longer point to our free press as a symbol of what freedom can offer, then we have failed.

• News for profit: News as a part of the profit sector is, in my opinion, a disaster. For quest of knowledge we view our nightly news. Instead of knowledge we find fear, disinformation, propaganda, and catchy graphics. Facts are rarely checked and bias is evident. This is not news. This is entertainment. It seems the news has been cancelled. It is in the interest of Democracy to return “news” to its original values when media fought to inform rather than distract the public.

• The ban, which outlaws photographs of war coffins, must end. The National Security Archive offers this historical account “The ban on media coverage of returning casualties was imposed by Defense Secretary Cheney after an embarrassing incident in which three television networks broadcast live, split-screen images in December, 1989, as the first U.S. casualties were returning from an American assault on Panama. In that incident, President Bush was seen on television joking at a White House news conference while somber images of flag-draped coffins arriving at Dover Air Force Base moved across viewers’ screens. The ban on war casualty images was continued during the Clinton administration, which made several exceptions to allow publication and broadcast upon the return of victims of attacks against U.S. personnel abroad, including the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000. President George W. Bush continued the ban following the start of the Afghanistan war in October 2001 and the Iraq invasion in March 2003. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Henry Shelton, coined the phrase “the Dover Test” to describe the impact of images of flag-draped coffins returning from a battlefield to the military mortuary at Dover, potentially affecting public support for a war.” There must be a public apology to the families, the American people, and to the press. We cannot understand the reality of war if we cannot see its effects.

• C-span viewers should be allowed to view the entire chamber so that roll call is visually apparent and so that speeches carry their appropriate context. According to the Washington Times, shortly before Christmas of 2006 Congress rejected “C-Span’s request to use its own cameras and operators to televise House proceedings.’ As a result “C-SPAN viewers will continue to be shortchanged. Their view of Democracy in action inside the People’s House would remain strictly confined to the podium.” The people could use a little “electronic sunshine” in these dark times. I think it’s the least you can do.

We are governed by a greedy system of loopholes that chip away at our income and our freedom. Poor people are paying more to live a lesser life and rich people are paying less to live a richer life. Across the country I have witnessed poor people giving up percentages of their paychecks to check-cashing facilities because they don’t qualify for bank accounts. Those same check-cashing venues offer small loans and provide terms only a desperate person would accept. Some of those people choose to pay their rent week to week because they can’t save enough to afford deposits for monthly rent even though it would be cheaper but is it really accurate to call that a choice. Some of those people rent furniture monthly because they can’t afford to buy a couch or a dinner table or maybe they just aren’t certain that they will be able to maintain the income required for their current living situation. My previous roommate used to collect cans and bottles to help pay his rent. He worked full time. On my way to work, I see others collecting cans and bottles for dimes. I even see them arguing with the people who accept the cans and bottles because they do not accept all cans and bottles. I know people who grew up in neighborhoods they can no longer afford to live in. In my neighborhood, a family of 11 shares an apartment the same size as my two-bedroom apartment that I feel is too small. Friends of mine have lost their apartments because their employers laid them off. I have friends who have been laid-off repeatedly because in every state business is downsizing or simply moving abroad. All around me, the daily expense total increases but the living wage does not. More often than not, I see people who don’t have time, for their families, friends, or for themselves because they work ALL the time. My neighbor’s mailboxes fill with free offers that bait them into contracts that are rarely as beneficial as they were represented to be. Not so long ago I lived in a neighborhood where numerous neighbors lived without running water, electricity, insurance, or heat. Some of those same neighbors had houses that held their balconies up with 2×4’s because that type of repair was too expensive even, if they were lucky enough to own their own home. In the neighborhood I grew up in it is common to cover a leaky rooftop with tarps until repair becomes affordable—if it ever does become affordable. Insurance companies now determine our yearly rates based upon our credit ratings. If your credit rating is bad but your driving record is good your insurance rate will still be high. Across the board, poor people have bad credit ratings. The ill-advantaged scrape and save to pay their bills late or to pay partial amounts. You don’t get good credit ratings by paying partial amounts. Large segments of the United States population are poor and we still tout that we are one of the richest nations. How do we justify that?

I know people who had money that don’t have money now. According to Sam Davis and Daniel J. Weiss, in an article entitled “A Better Solution for Gas Prices“ As of May 1, 2008: “during the Bush administration’s tenure, family income has slumped. Median family income was $61,000 when Bush took office in January 2001. Today, median family income has actually fallen to $60,500.” The country is now full of middle class citizens that once owned homes and now are homeless. For them, adjusting to this emerging economy has not come easily. The people, that I know, who still have wealth and have always lived with money experience discounts and free offers everywhere they go. Their companies send them to far away places and they reap the rewards of air miles. They travel. Those same friends enjoy free merchandise and are often paid to pay attention to new products. Athletes and movie stars make more money than any doctor, teacher, fireman, or police officer could ever imagine. According to James Parks of the AFL-CIO “The 20 highest-paid CEOs of U.S. public companies were paid an average of $36.4 million last year, three times more than the 20 highest-paid European CEOs, 38 times more than the 20 highest-paid leaders at U.S. nonprofit organizations and 204 times more than the 20 highest-paid generals in the U.S. military.“ Upside down might just be an understatement. You, our government, continue to grant tax cuts to the rich while increasing the burdens carried by the middle class. I can only assess that our priorities are upside down. There has to be a better way to live. President Bush told a woman on national TV that her reality of working three jobs to support her children was a “uniquely American” ideal and I thought “Aren’t we lucky?”

• Revoke the George W. Bush tax cuts for the top 1 %. The notion that giving the owners of the companies more money so that it will eventually trickle down to the common people is absurd. People WITH money HAVE money because they know how to KEEP money.

• Respond to the rising costs of oil by releasing measured portions of the strategic oil reserve.

• Implement public financial programs that advocate, mediate and educate on behalf of the American middle class so that the less fortunate can protect themselves from greed.

• Mandate a “Living Wage.” The minimum wage, in the US, is more equivalent to a poverty wage. Congress has begun the move toward a higher minimum wage and I commend this move. In saying this, I think it is also important to note that raising the minimum wage is not enough. While reading the UFE’s 14th Annual CEO Compensation Survey I found that “Workers at the bottom rung of the U.S. economy have just received the first federal minimum wage increase in a decade. But the new minimum wage of $5.85 still stands 7 percent below where the minimum wage stood a decade ago in real terms. CEO pay, over that same decade, has increased by roughly 45 percent.” In addition, Robert Longley writes “Congress has now voted itself a total of $16,700 in raises over the last six years. Since 1990, congressional pay has increased from $98,400 to $154,700 in 2003.” It seems that in the current economy the middle class is seeing less distribution of wealth while the upper class and congress maintain or exceed they’re previous standards of living. Congress must consider the minimum wage for the people in context of geography as well as fluctuations in cost for necessary items and inflation. How better to begin providing a fair chance to all Americans?

• Impose a moratorium on housing foreclosures until those mortgages can be renegotiated to more appropriately represent the economy we now live in. In 2008 alone, our economy shifted drastically when we saw the failing of numerous financial institutions such as: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bear Sterns, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Washington Mutual. In an article titled: “How to Remedy the Subprime Catastrophe” John Atlas, Peter Drier, and Gregory D. Squires highlight that “In 2007, 405,000 households lost their homes, an increase of 51 percent in 2006. CRL projects that two million families are likely to lose their homes in the next few years. More than 80 mostly subprime mortgage lenders went bankrupt by the end of 2007. Regulators anticipate that between 100 and 200 banks will fail over the next two years.” All the while YOU continually assured the American public that the fundamentals of the economy continued to be strong. AGAIN, you were wrong and AGAIN we pay the price for your neglect. The newest amount of 700 billion dollars of tax payers money is proposed to bail out the very institutions that have misrepresented themselves by the government who told us that the economy was fine in the name of the tax payers who are loosing their homes. As of September 305,291,731 people now live in the United States. Why not give them each one million dollars to stimulate the economy OR if that doesn’t work for you, find a way to help Americans keep their homes and stop making them pay for your mistakes.
• Congress must take more responsibility for regulating the states usury laws. According to Wikipedia, usury laws are defined as “state laws that specify the maximum legal interest rate at which loans can be made.” In further explanation they also offer this tid-bit : “Congress has opted not to regulate interest rates on purely private transactions, although it arguably has the power to do so under the interstate commerce clause of Article I of the Constitution.” At a time when our economy is in a state of crisis it seems logical that regulation of interest rates is necessary.

• Regulation VS. Deregulation: I would like to take this moment to say that I have had enough of deregulation. I would like to take this moment to say that I have had enough of deregulation. We could discuss my cable bill, my electric bill, my gas bill, or my phone bill, what I see on TV, what I put in my gas tank, the quality of the water that I drink, the air that I breathe, or the banks that I entrust my money to and the sentiment of the conversation would be the same. What I, and many others, have learned from deregulation is that I can expect to be charged but not served. Above all, I no longer expect to be safeguarded. Water, communications, gas, and electricity— these are necessities, not luxuries. The government has the power to regulate this national anxiety so that people have less complex, healthier lives. You, my government, have the power to soothe the people and you must use it.

• Corporate greed must be held accountable. In the wake of federal bailouts for the US Airline Industry, AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac there has been much public disapproval and distrust. I personally feel that if our government is willing to nationalize the debt of a private company in times of hardship then our government should also be willing to nationalize the profits of that company in more lucrative times. I don’t suggest that the government should start running around seizing corporations and nationalizing their profits at will. I do suggest that if nationalizing debt is a habit we intend to allow then the American people should profit as well. As these companies defer their debt to “we the people,” these bailouts come at a high cost. We, the taxpayers, now witness the passing of a dying corporation, as we are the recipients of their last will and testament. They breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their debt is now in good hands: “We the people,” the same taxpayers that find it more and more difficult to file for bankruptcy when we need a bailout in our own lives. What can be done? I found the following suggestions at legislativeaccountability.org in a posting titled “Handouts should come with strings attached” with a note that stipulated that these same criteria would apply to any corporation filing for bankruptcy protections:

“Any corporation receiving either direct monetary assistance or loan guarantees from the Federal Government shall be subject to the following restrictions

No employee’s total annual compensation package, including any deferred compensation accruing, may exceed the salary of the President of the United States

All “golden parachute” clauses in the contracts with current or former employees are immediately declared null and void

The corporation may not loan money to employees or directors

The corporation is forbidden to engage in any lobbying activities at any level of government, nor may it contribute financially to any organization that engages in lobbying

…Corporate welfare is not the free market at work, and We the People have a right to expect something in return for our tax dollars, and the right to demand that no corporate executive claim to be worth more than our executive.

• For the sake of the American Public Enact Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights:

“Cardholders deserve protections against arbitrary interest rate increases

Cardholders who pay on time should not be penalized

Cardholders should be protected from due date gimmicks

Cardholders should be protected from misleading terms

Cardholders deserve the right to put limits on their credit

Card companies should fairly credit and allocate payments

Card companies should not impose excessive fees on cardholders

Vulnerable consumers should be protected from fee-heavy sub-prime credit cards

Congress should provide better oversight of the credit card industry.”

• I would further propose that the above guidelines or the spirit of these guidelines be applied to the banking industry as well.

• Cap the income of CEO’s by maintaining a minimum ratio of “CEO pay rate” to “Employee pay rate.” For instance an example might be, that no employee, contractor or otherwise, will receive pay no more than say 60% higher than the lowest paid employee—or some well thought out version of that. The Annual CEO Compensation Survey, that I mentioned earlier, noted in it’s findings that “CEOs of large U.S. companies last year made as much money from just one day on the job as average workers made over the entire year. These top executives averaged $10.8 million in total compensation, over 364 times the pay of the average American worker, a calculation based on data from an Associated Press survey of 386 Fortune 500 companies. “ The economy is top heavy. We must restore balance.

• Predatory lending is out of control. Loan centers and credit card companies target low-income individuals whose needs often outweigh their education. As law-makers, you have not only chosen against providing accessible assistance to those who desperately need it, but you have shown a further lack of consideration by refusing to acknowledge the effects of your decisions on the circumstances of the less fortunate. Jeanette Bradley and Peter Skillern discuss these practices in an article titled “Predatory Lending. Subprime lenders trick homeowners into expensive loans” In this article, they point out that “studies by Freddie Mac and Standard & Poor’s indicate that 63 percent of subprime borrowers would have qualified for conventional “A” or “A-” quality loans.” As a nation, we have failed to protect the needy from the incessant pursuit of companies who KNOW better. Our soldiers, minorities, their families and our college graduates are targeted just as easily and as often—if not more. Who is protecting them?

• Promote housing solutions that expand the opportunities and accessibility to decent, moderately priced, conveniently located housing for every American. Brookings.edu notes “With one-third of Americans in renter households, more families cannot find apartments or homes that they can reasonably afford. The nation’s housing challenges undermine other top domestic priorities: making work pay, leaving no child behind, growing the economy and protecting the environment.” We must be committed, as a nation to providing stability so that we may move forward together.

• Incentives for companies that do not “Outsource.” Outsourcing has affected homes throughout the country. Companies are paying cheaper labor costs and making more profits at the expense of American families. Even Haliburton now resides in DuBai. Entire towns have folded up their sidewalks and closed their doors following the trend of factories that have shut down and relocated to other countries. “Made in America” used to be a sign of pride, now we just assume it was made somewhere else.

• Reduce Public Debt. As of 04/03/08 the “total public debt outstanding” totals 9,454,715,220,812.19. Our country has extended its credit limits beyond the acceptable boundaries. We cannot help others, if we cannot help ourselves. Any basic financial seminar will discourage using money that you do NOT have, to pay for what you WANT but do NOT need. America now employs this approach as standard practice in its fiscal goal setting. As a country, we are not as rich as we once were. We sell off bits and pieces of our economy to foreign entities more and more every day. In fact, the Chrysler building was just sold for a pretty penny. If this continues, our country will no longer belong to us. Where will we be then?

• Bankruptcy reform: The most recent reform to the bankruptcy guidelines seemingly enabled corporate greed while it disabled the last resort survival tactics of the average citizen. Bankruptcy is often the inevitable aftermath of predatory lending, and or overwhelming unpaid medical expenses. This option offers salvation to many good American families or, perhaps more appropriate, it did. Future bankruptcy reform is necessary. As it stands, bankruptcy is not written for the relief of the common people. All future reforms must prioritize the citizen’s needs and the environment that brought that citizen to those needs. This reform must also clarify whether or not a corporation deserves the same rights as a human being. When corporations lose what they own to bankruptcy, they walk away bruised but not beaten. When an individual loses their belongings to bankruptcy, they just keep walking because they no longer have a home. How is that the same?