Meanwhile Congress is closing in on fast tracking health care without proper debate. Distraction anyone?

All this slight of hand, distraction and static is making it hard to see how to actually act proactively on the issues we can have an impact in. With so many issues at hand it's hard to make our voices heard clearly.

The democrats excuse is that the republicans did it to them twice regarding budget issues. When will we all get tired of their finger pointing. It's like they're singing "anything you can do... I can do better..."

I have to admit I called Rep. Boehner's office after reading his quote in the fox news article online.

I took issue with him referring to the Democrat spending.... I told the woman in his office that this isn't a republic or democrat thing, this is an American thing! Both parties are involved in this wreck.

I'm so tired of the finger pointing.

I told her that we didn't need our message cheapened by either party jumping on the bandwagon and trying to capitalize on what we're doing....

I did tell her to thank him for the support for the tea parties though.... I'll give credit where I think credit is due.

I really don't think we need to concentrate on these kinds of stories.

I am a dog person and I would not begrudge anyone making a responsible decision to own a dog.

I am sure the dog will be well cared for, and it is a good way for the Obama girls to learn responsibility and to care for someone who is completely dependent upon them.

I wish them and their new puppy well. (and please, let's not indulge in the same kind of senseless hatred that so many seem so ready to delight in.) Let's attack bad policies and leave the individuals alone.

Excellent idea. I like the idea of singing God Bless America and showing that we really are just people who love our republic.

The last thing we want to do is turn this into an us versus them contest. Proof is always in the pudding.

We will see how many people are working for the good of the country rather than who can spew the most hate.

My husband and I can not afford health insurance. I have researched it several times and as my husband works as a mechanic along with the owner of the shop, his employer can't afford to pay for it, either.

However, I do not expect someone else to pay for my health care.

When we go to the doctor we pay.

Yes, it can be expensive, but it is a wonderful incentive to stay healthy. I eat well, I exercise and I realize that if I don't take care of myself I have to pay the price. It actually feels good knowing that I can take care of myself without begging someone else to do it for me.

My husband's dmv physical (he has an A class license) is $120 every two years, and my doctor visit is $65. By my math, it's probably cheaper in the end to pay out of pocket. We use the doctor only when we are sick.

I used to babysit kids and it's sick how many people on medi-cal misuse the system.

Medi-cal did pay for the birth of one of our three children, we payed for the first two, but he was an unexpected miracle and high risk. It was a nightmarish experience with me having to call and nag my worker every two weeks to get them to even work on my case and even then they didn't pay anything until he was two months old, and only when I threatened to call Sacramento to file a complaint with their supervisor.

I refuse to feel guilty for that as my husband's payroll taxes for medi-cal and medi-caid have paid that bill more than once and he's still paying into the system. We both know that by the time we're retirement age the system will be bankrupt and social security and medi-care will be history.

As a mom with a daughter with asthma this concerns me. She still has two refills left on her last prescription, and they haven't said when they plan to make the actual change, but when a medicine works, it makes me nervous when they start messing with it for some political reason.

As a mom you can only hope that it atleast works just as well, especially when you live 45 minutes from her doctor's office and the local clinic half a block away told me after they thought maybe she had asthma that they didn't want to treat her anymore. It makes me really nervous about taking her to the hospital that's connected to the clinic when she can no longer breath!

Luckily she was two then and is eleven now and her asthma is well controlled. They start messing with rescue inhalers and that's when I get nervous.

Thank you!!!

Mine are all sent. Thank goodness for cut and paste!

I hope a lot more people step up and email, too. You're right. Mine won't matter by itself, but 250,000 should make it's mark.

Well, I have to say that while I agree with your sentiment, I live in Northern California (4 hours from Sacramento) so marching on up to Washington sounds nice, but it doesn't work for all of us.

I'm all for those who are able to do it, I'm just saying it's not an option open to all of us.

We all must do what ever we can, where ever we can. I am concentrating on making phone calls and emailing representatives and congressmen and women.

On this particular issue though there is something that you can do. Go to parentalrights.com and sign the petition and help us to get the parental rights amendment passed.

Then contact your representatives and let them know that you are dead set against the U. N. Rights of the Child Treaty.

Okay. I think that this is an excellent idea.

That is something that if we had the information (names, amounts and all that) we could do. I have a feeling that it would be a long list.

I am so tired of all the finger pointing and the headaches. My head is throbbing right now. I want to know what we can do!

The letters may very well at least get the point through, especially if delivered in mass, even if they don't give the money back, which they should. I doubt that we could get them to resign, though. I'm not sure how I would word that.

You know I am studying Revolutionary History with my 11 year old daughter right now and it was very grassroots. People sat around discussing problems like this in the pubs and finally decided that they would start refusing to buy goods from those who profited from the tyrannical laws of the king, they refused to sit on juries that were appointed rather than elected which was against the 1691 charter.

They acted in every small town, they made sure that all those who benefited or supported from tyrannical laws were penalized by the very people who lived around them. One time a whole church congregation got up and walked out when one of these guys came in among them to read hymns. Those of you who do not know this really should look into reading Ray Raphael's books on Revolutionary History. They are excellent history sources.

And by the way, they too allowed their rights given to them under the 1691 charter get stripped away until they started realizing that it really was do or die time.

I know that most people think they got up one morning, tossed tea in Boston Harbor and then grabbed their muskets, but it really wasn't like that.

Eventually they did, but they tried everything else first! My point is, we can and must do this again, but we need to do it the right way, with the right attitudes.

I really think we need to concentrate on peaceful and effective ways to get our points across. We need to know our history and use the tools that our forefathers gave us and that we still have.

And we really need to let these people that we are not blind and we are not stupid. I really don't think that they know that. But I think that is probably our fault, not theirs.

Hi everyone.

I just got off the phone from talking with Representative Garrett of New Jersey's office. I watched him on the interview on Fox and just had to call and express my support for him. I wished to thank him for his sane and reasonable thinking.

There are good guys in Congress still. But they are outnumbered or not listened to, I'm not sure which.

I can not tell you what a relief it was for me to talk to his office. The man LISTENED to me and he had a conversation with me.

He talked to me about Rep. Garrett's voting record, he explained that although I am not one of his constituents, he is representative of a large body and so he does represent all Americans. He told me how Rep. Garrett voted against this problem, that he warned about it. That he had not voted for any of the bailouts.

He told me the Congressman's position that it is not a right of the American people to own a home, but that instead that is something that they need to work for. Sanity. Finally.

Rep. Garrett is seeking real answers about who in Congress is really responsible. He is not in favor of using the tax code to punish or retake this money because it is bad for the American people.

I told him how I had contacted my Rep. (Mike Thompson) who had actually authored a bill and had told him in an email that in my view anyone who voted yes to using the tax code to recoup the bonuses was just as guilty of stealing in my book as a mugger on the street.

For once I am rethinking term limits.... I don't want this guy voted out! I want more congressmen and women like him!

I asked him to please tell the Congressman to continue and press on and to encourage others in Congress who think like him to stand up, too. America needs them!

There are good guys out there! We need to find them, encourage them and help them. For all our sakes.