I have a thought also. How about we cut the ones to zero that are not constitutional and just get rid of them. All those departments that are needed and legal can take a cut in pay, but the ones like DOE, EPA, HLS and many others that we really don't need and are against our constitution can be sent home for good. Why do we need Homeland Security when we have the FBI? They should be the ones taking care of things like that anyway. I'll bet by the time we get done cutting that at least half of them are sent home for good. Especially the clowns at our airports groping everyone for no good reason. We got along fine without them and we will get along fine without them in the future. Strip searching an 80 year old woman in a wheelchair is not looking for terrorist anyway. That is abuse plain and simple..........

I have a thought, inspired by Big mikes post about who the rich are in America... The amount of tax moneys the Government spends on salaries is obscene with our economy fighting to get going this money could be put to better use... So here it is.... massive pay cuts across the board... there are 100s of 1000s of people making well over 150k... lets all join together left, right and center and cut the fat cats back until we are back on our feet again, the lower wage employees could be cut back much less depending on the amount they make,,, maybe then they would do their jobs or get out of Washington...There is nothing in our Constitution that said our elected officials had to become rich.. you might want to check mikes post about who are the rich... very interesting

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Good thought with which I agree wholeheartedly. That is the very FIRST round of cuts that should be addressed. Everyone in our government is overpaid with the possible exception of maids and janitors. Of course our enlisted men in the military are not overpaid, but underpaid. These cuts should also be done before ANY new tax or penalty can be charged to the citizens. Would you mind heading up this issue and rounding up a crew to help you get the word out that THIS IS WHAT WE WANT DONE in the name of helping our nation survive? I think everyone of us should be DOING SOMETHING for the cause.

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Good thought with which I agree wholeheartedly. That is the very FIRST round of cuts that should be addressed. Everyone in our government is overpaid with the possible exception of maids and janitors. Of course our enlisted men in the military are not overpaid, but underpaid. These cuts should also be done before ANY new tax or penalty can be charged to the citizens. Would you mind heading up this issue and rounding up a crew to help you get the word out that THIS IS WHAT WE WANT DONE in the name of helping our nation survive? I think everyone of us should be DOING SOMETHING for the cause.

I am proposing a sit down meeting of those on the political right and those on the political left to solve the problems of this nation. We don't have to rely on courts or Congress or states or the President. What we DO have to do is agree on some things and agree to disagree on other WITHOUT ANIMOSITY.

We must address any issue that anyone wants addressed, and once we do that, we must all agree to sign said petition that we write together to be sent to every governor, every state legislator, every federal congressman, the US President, every member of SCOTUS, and all state and federal judges. If that doesn't get some things changed, then we utilize Common Law to effect some changes.

I have listed some areas of discord. Some of you will agree, some will disagree. We will note EVERY comment and will do so in a business like manner

Something to work with.
1. Our worst problem is that our citizens are very divided on what is happening. How do we address that?
2. We have two very strong political views, opposite ends of the pole. To "compromise" means BOTH will give in on some things. In the past this has NEVER, NOT ONCE in my lifetime of 75 years been how "compromise" worked out. It ALWAYS worked out that the Republicans tried to get their ideas heard and ALWAYS caved in to the Democrats. How do we address that?
3. Can we agree that our two major political parties who run everything are poisoned and corrupted beyond the pale? If we cannot agree on this, then we cannot save our nation.
4. Can the conservatives in this country give in to abandon our Constitution? Can the progressives in this country learn to honor it and abide by it? In both cases, I tend to think not. I hope I am wrong about the Progressives. I can assure you the conservatives will NEVER agree to abandon the Constitution - it isn't perfect, but it is as close to perfection as we will ever see provided in today's world.
5. What constitutes decent citizenship? Let's all lay it out on the table, discuss it and decide if we even agree on what makes a good citizen.
6. What about Welfare do we agree on and what do we disagree on? Can we come closer together?
7. Race. I can't believe this has once again become a factor in American politics. I had thought it was a dead issue until Obama took office and now we see blacks ignored when they beat up people, and whites jailed for doing the exact same thing. Does anyone see this as equality under the law? I'm totally in favor of equality in everything provided by government.......is there a liberal living who can say, and mean, the same thing? I doubt it, but I hope I am wrong.
8. States rights and responsibilities. Where does the left stand on this issue? Conservatives are strong about it. It goes hand in hand with Big nanny government. So what should we do about this?
9. Nanny government seems to be cherished by the left and hated by the right. I am on the right and I despise big government for several reasons which I will be happy to list should you be interested. For now I will say I will never be content to live with big government primarily because it is unconstitutional, but also because it is horribly incompetent and oppressive. What do we do about this?
10. Many, many Americans live by principle, vote by principle. Many, many Americans don't live or vote by principle, but by what they LIKE or WANT. This gets in the way of "compromise" because principles should NOT be infringed.
11. Another conflict is what constitutes personal rights and what constitutes the "right to life"? I.e., abortion on demand. This boils down to a person's religion, a person's rights, what constitutes a person, decency vs degradation. How do we handle this? If we DO NOT handle it and handle it correctly, we are consigning our offspring to hell.
12. There are millions of differences, but if you can contribute any questions and solutions, I'll be happy to join you.

Bottom line: if the citizens could actually come together on some of these issues, we could start telling DC what to do, hold their feet to the fire, and "get'erdone!"

Second bottom line: there will be numerous critics of this post which truly is an attempt to bring us together, not divide us. Our leaders do a good enough job of dividing us. Let's show them we are better than they are - because it is the truth.