One of the posters has brought up an extremely important point. If we don't provide incentives right now for our kids to learn math and science (and no, it doesn't have to be a bore)then who is going to run NASA? Who's going to be on the cutting edge of finding cures for diseases? Who will be determining how and what software will be developed? Yes, my friends...those that have special immigrant status. If we don't get busy providing youth with positive incentives, both financial and otherwise to study the sciences and math, we will truly become a third world nation.

I am sure this is just a beginning. A lot of things can be done. Why don’t we participate? What can be done on the local level? “Change is the law of life, ” said J.F.K.

Did you vote for Change?

How do you feel about it?

What are your hopes for your future?

What would you want new life to be?

What do you want new America to be?

Tell your story, share it, let people know, find friends, build a community.

http://is.gd/aIEk

Hey Joe, Federal Money is MY money! It's OUR money and the Congress has rendered US broke! We're Trillion's in debt and you advocate spending Trillions more? You're an idiot, moron, ideologue! Obama should slash taxes, and slash spending, NOW! What’s he going to spend it on, roads you’ll put tolls on to drive on, buildings with their names on it, more hand outs, more payoffs to Unions, it’s insane! All Govt Programs should be cut by 50%, 50% of govt employees should be gone, all pensions paid by the taxpayers, gone, all benefits for all govt employees, appointees, and "Public Servants" gone. Bill Clinton is worth $140M he can provide his own security, Jimmy Carter no more security. The House is on fire and you want to pour gas on it. The Govt does nothing right, Biden, Frank, Waxman, Dodd, Pelosi, Reid, Clinton...Blago... the corruption list goes on and on! Dodd and Frank are responsible for the economic disaster we're in. The US GOV'T is RESPONSIBLE for this mess. We need LESS not more, you moron! The Loons are running the asylum!

As the President elect shapes his stimulus package, I hope he keeps in mind one crucial way in which it should differ from the 1930s version: we need jobs for women as well as men.

I recently reviewed a book about the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps which provided hundreds of thousands of conservation jobs, but only to single men.

Now Obama is talking about repairing the infrastructure. That takes place in industries where only 9 per cent of the workers are women.

Please let's remember this time that women need to work and eat too.

USA is a federation of States politically.Truth is an American is an American across the nation.What hurts Ohio will not spare Illinois and Washington DC is aware of it.If the situation as Joe puts is so bad, then the Federal Government should come up with a plan to guarantee all Bond route financing for lifting up the crumbling infrastructure,populating schools,hurrying on health care and housing that each State proposes realistically.While the Federal Government does its part the States are the sum of the whole and they need all the assistance and support that gets confidence back on track.It is sad to imagine what a torture it would be for ordinary folks to be on social security and soup kitchens when out of jobs for no fault.If Mr.Obama is a party to helping the Financial Institutions that sold dreams soaked in greed and went kaput,he ought to look more closely at protecting communities that will pay a huge price for follies of a few.Every enterprise that was providing service,generating income and was a place of work needs to regain its status.If much is talked about and little is done while time is lost on defining ideas and defending those questioned the sufferer will be the average American.He has dream and always wants to realize it and reasonable and fair sacrifice will be forthcoming.It is now a time for truly demonstrating patriotism and on American soil by American people from all walks of life.

All those firms related to civil engineering projects took off today. Those evil evil capitalist swine.

"cops, teachers, nurses, firefighters,"

The US has a shortage of nurses--they can write their own ticket. Most people don't think about cops and/or firefighters getting laid off, and it's not likely that they will be.

But the Post Office workers? Hell yes. And all those timeservers who pay dues to the AFSCME--the same people who complained when Clinton signed the welfare reform bill--no more overtime for them!

I had to comment. this especially after reading about how deep in the financial cesspool california appears to be. connecticut is in a similiar,deep economic cesspool right now. this after having a huge surplus back in the rowland days[ before he got convicted of the tomasso mafioso fiasco state construction " bids"] they are cutting everything like the social services that I , and many others in this high rent and high taxes state depend upon, along with education , roads and just about everything else like state worker's pensions.

yet Ms. M. Jodi Rell- republican governor whom got reelected after first taking the reigns from the former crook john rowland-R; simply fucking refuses to raise the CT income tax even 0.5 to 1 percent on the highest wage earners; or top 5 percent. the top five are those making over $250,000/year, and in most cases here in connecticut [ land of rich ass towns and the nation's poorest cities like hartford -4th poorest in all USA]; well over 1 million to more than 20 million! [eg: clothing designer tommy hilfiger and his north greenwich estate costing $4.9 million!]

Rell also refuses to do what every other new england state, including the former " tax-achusetts"[ MA] have done; in the sense that those with incomes below the federal poverty level[ $28,000?] get a tax rebate/exemption on their state income taxes.

she says it will only hurt the state more, one which is already losing jobs by the thousands to both lower taxed southern states like NC as well as china. Ms. Rell claims that to raise the taxes on even the top one-percent would only increase the umemployment rate[about creating jobs? well some years ago I learned from a bi-lingual speaking guatemalian immigrant in new york's lewisboro that tommy hilfiger's estate is well-maintained by the many , hard working $8-10 an hour, spanish-speaking only landscape workers on green cards.]

as for those " hard working state workers"? well I too often wonder about my own DSS worker, Mr R. Gugliotti; whom often seems about as disinterested in actually helping anyone as anybody. whenever you call, he's always either " away from my desk or working on cases."

last year I asked him what my rent subsidy would be if, when mom's condo sells; would be if I decided to stay in CT. his answer being " up to $300 but being on social security already, you'd be probably looking at half of that maybe." he couldn't even give an exact figure and when I tried to explain that the average 1 BR anything around southbury/roxbury is about $950 and up!

his excuse for why those like me dependent upon sometimes I wonder if he, like so many of them; is simply always " I'm sorry but, as state caseworkers, our hands are tied by bugetary constraints."

personally I've got to wonder if he, like so many of CT's well-paid state office workers like him even know what it's like to depend on $176/month in food stamps. sometimes I wonder if they even give a shit less?

or if they can actually figure out just why all those inner city waterbury residents, mostly women with their "love children" can afford to buy expensive Hilfiger Apparel yet still depend upon state assistance.[ maybe their "sugar daddy" has a very lucrative " second job" on the side dealing dope or as a football bookie???] something I'm sure that those DSS workers already know, as it does not take much brains to realize that wal-mart/ Asplunduh tree cutting jobs alone do not nesessarily make that 52" screen TV easy to afford.

note that everybody ought to be lucky enough to have a good , state job, including all those living in waterbury's north/south end " hoods" and even myself. one where the union sees to it that your workload is geared toward your ability-level and that it really does take four men/women to spread tar on that road. and at least 20 supervisors to make sure that it is done right the tenth time!

one woman I know of got her back injured on the job at connecticut valley hospital mentioned that she was just going to simply take her early retirement after 20 years; rather then get the back operation. I wonder if wal-mart or even the unionized stop and shop treats its workers so nicely?

my mom was once a connecticut state worker at the former fairfield hills state hospital[ 1978-81] and ended up quitting after four years after blowing the whistle on her co-workers helping a state psychiatrist with his medicare fraud scheme of biling for services never actually provided!

and , like she so often says, in Connecticut, this seems to work from the top right down the line. that the ones most deserving of those pay cuts are not the state workers so much as the governor herself whom " could not find that highway money" needed to finish US 7, along with the big politicians themselves.