Dont get me wrong I think wat you are doin for hatii is wounderful, but what everyone fails to realize is we have millions of people here in the us. that are homeless with no shelter, kids that go to bed hungery, elderly that need meds. and cant pay for them. n special needs people that need help but everyone fails to realize that the us is just as bad as others.People will jump to help others but when it comes down to it no one is helping our people if someone would just stop n think about it they would realize the problems.

So now that Mass. has a new Senator the congress can slow down and do the health care properly instead of steam rolling it through. The Democrats better take notice of this and get in touch with the people who put them there or they will be voted out.

OMG,Where I live you can steal cable,live on township,sell your snap card>some people do it in 2 states,and get away with it.I called the Mayor twice about it and he said its not his job.Wish i could i could sit and play all day.

Why create a new health system why can't the people without health insurance use what the Congress has. But wait they are not willing to share this. In fact they are stopping the cost of living increase for those on S.S. to computerize their health care. They then also voted themselve a 3% salary increase.

I was just watching 23 news and can hardly believe my eyes as I see the people smiling as they report the democrats in the senate passing some trillion dollars in spending (of our money). Unbelievable! These people are morons!!! Don't blindly trust your government. Especially this government, the closest thing to Hitler's Germany we've ever had in the USA. Then I see on this website where these same morons are promoting the vacine for the 'H1N1' virus. I am certainly glad I don't have to count on the mainstream media for my information. This and most all vaccines are more dangerous than they are good. There is some validity to the thought that there is no good to it. Mercury, antifreeze, aluminum, squaline, etc. make these vaccines seriously bad. You are better off to get the flu virus itself. Just trying to help open your eyes. This current socialist government and the drug companies are trying to destroy you. Wake up! Mainstream media is worthless!

SENATORS AND CONGRESS HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT KNOWING YOU TOOK MONEY OUT OF THE POCKETS OF AMERICAN SENIORS???? JUST TO FUND COMPUTERIZING YOUR OWN HEALTH INSURANCE AND GIVE YOURSELVES A 3% PAY RAISE. IT'S TIME THE CITIZENS OF AMERICA SPEAK UP AND FIGHT BACK---- SHOW THEM WE ARE NOT TAKING CRAP BY OUR SO CALLED GOVERMENT OFFICALS. SHOW THEM WE ARE TIRED OF THEIR CORRUPT WAYS.

I don't see any thing better with our economic situation. The only people that say its getting better are the wealthy. The rest of us are still struggling trying to get by. And the senior citizens on social security are not getting a cost of living increase while the cost of medicine and insurances are going up. Not to mention living expenses and utilities and gas. They are not working and therefore are not intitled to getting a tax refund like an employed american does. SOME ARE REMARKING TO ME THEY WANT THE CITIZENS TO DIE! IS CONGRESS STILL GETTING THEIR 50% RAISE OF WHICH THEY CAN GIVE THEMSELVES AND THE SENATE???? It's time the SENIORS speak up BEFORE Obama gives everything to the illegals!!!!!! And deport his illegal aunt who is living here in hiding.

If Your happen to be stable with money right now you may be able to survive the economice times without a scratch . right now giving the season to come, with christmas just around the corner , I think there is alot more of us than not that are tightening the money belts . specially when those people are fighting to keep ahead of the bills here now . Not including the ones for gifts .

Political figures and economists keep saying how the economy is improving and the recession is over. Well, I think that's crap, in my opinion! I've been looking for a job for almost a year now, and thank God my husband still has a job! Of course, he has to drive an hour outside of Rockford everyday, because everyone knows, there is absolutely NO jobs here in Rockford! We have the highest unemployment rate in the state, yet our taxes keep increasing, and there is no end in sight to all this madness! We need help, or we're all going to be on the street.

Here is something to think about when you go to the polls next year. Our U.S. Senators and Representatives have frozen S.S. cost of living increases and increased the co-pay for insurance. But here is the kicker they voted themselves a 3% increase in salary and they are using the money from the cost of living increase to pay for computerizing their own health insurance.

Illinois is one of 10 states in money troubles. But yet our Governor can create a new position with a salary of $100,000.00. The reasons sited is our state government borrows too much money and is late on making payments. They have robbed the state pension funds to pay bills and haven't repayed the money. If a small business did this, not a big Corporation from the good ole boy club they would be arrested. Now is the time that the taxpayers in Illinois speak out and vote them out of office.

I agree with Cindy, Lets see a real copy of the budget posted in the paper.I mean real numbers of income and expenses.We have trusted our leaders to year after year keep us in debt. Maybe a new set of eyes could help us out.We cannot keep doing what we are doing.

The economy is our own fault. American's want so many things that we embraced the cheaper products from China a long time ago. This eventually led to the situation we are in now. We are all stupid for spending money we did not have and saving very little. Keeping up with the Jones's has killed us. Our federal government has basically done the same thing. Our deficit is enormous and American's have yet to realize how serious this is. Yet we still clammer for more services like national health care. We must decide if we want to pay more taxes for more services. Or do we want to keep more of what we earn and decide for ourselves how we buy things like Health care. Many people don't have health care because they choose not to spend the money for it. Who's fault is that?

I'm reading about now how the Insurance Companies are not on board with this health care bill and they are using hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising against it. Maybe if they were not making all this money by overcharging comsumers or declining their claims they wouldn't be spending their money this way. Maybe it is because the government is catching on and they are trying to stop all this excess profits. Doesn't this have the same ring as the Oil Companies and their large profits?

Rockford has gone from a manufacturing community to a service community. The "you buy a burger from me at lunch and I'll buy some wings from you at dinner" is not enough to support a family and community. Rockford is slowly dying. It is on life support now. Funding services come from sales and property tax. Sales, eating out, car sales and holiday sales are down. What do we do about it? First STOP sending a $100,000 fire truck with four men on it with every ambulance run. It a waste of expensive equipment. We NEVER hear, how fortunate it was to have had that equipment on site. Fire trucks are expensive to replace. The mayor is working on bringing manufacturing back to the city but is bringing business from a communist country a good idea? They are our enemy after all. So what about my wife and I? With Illinois in serious debt, one governor in prison and possibly Blago also, with the state raising fees, the city slowing dying, we are leaving for Texas.

About a month ago, Frito Lay had a big day with the media and the Wisconsin Governor visiting the plant. They made a big announcement about a new Cheeto department coming to the Beloit plant and graciously accepting a fat million dollar check from the Governor and said this new department will bring about 25 new jobs to the local economy. BULL! What they didn't say is the new department is all automated. It will be run by robotics! They are also replacing 2 departments of packers with robotics thus displacing about 50 more packers with automation. ISN'T TECHNOLOGY GRAND??? Its just swell that they can double their production but the local economy sure doesn't need jobs being replaced by automation! One of the key perks to working at Frito Lay is that they have never layed off workers. That may be true but being forced off a day at a time isn't better. A day at a time can still add up to income reduction of at least 50%.

We are all facing tough times right now. If the city is over budget then they have to do what they need to do to cut the budget. If that means lay off thier employees then that's what they have to do. I don't see that raising costs on garbage will help us out in theses tough times. If that is what it will take to save jobs then why couldn't they raise the cost on something else to save eveyone else jobs that is laid-off from their job.

I would like to see the Mayor post a copy of the city budget in the paper. I would like to know why we are in such a dire economic state. Where did the city go wrong? Besides blaming the snowfalls, paying back payment fees to the police and fire fighters, what expenditures put us over the edge? He can easily disrupt and destroy his city workers lives by laying them off. Whay did HE do to get us here in the first place. I would like to know how many of the people he has laid off the work for his immediate office. I would also like to know why he has such a problem with our city police and fire departments. His animosity is obvious.

Our government raising mandatory licence fees proves they have no compassion for the people struggling in this economy.

Why take from my family to give to people we don't need. If you call a policeman they might come an hour later and then they just drive around the block. You call an ambulance and 4 firemen show before the ambulance why? They just stand around. You drive around town and watch city workers standing in groups in the area they are working in and talking, maybe one working. Now you want to take money from my family to keep these people working. If they don't do there job any better than that we don't need them and if my money is paying there wages I should have some say in the matter. So why wasn't I asked.

Now county offices are closing earlier. So much for the working person that needs the county services and can't get there before they close on Fridays. Would it serve the same purpose by opening 2 hours later?

the route 66 race track had a chance to come to rockford but i was told the alum. bleachers would cause problems for radar at our wonderfull airport. will the solar panels do the same.rockford blew on that one . unemployment would be a hell of a lot lower if we had that track!!!!!so i retired and moved the heck out of here

I have to agree with the man interviewed last night concerning the deficit. It was not this President or the last President that made this trillion dollar blunder but to say it is putting this on our children and grandchildren is not correct. When was I younger (30 years ago)I remember our elected officials saying the same thing about my generation having to repay millions in debt. Things don't change the money borrowed is the same and it has been our elected officials who have placed this burden on us taxpayers by over spending. ie $400.00 hammers, blueberry studies, the bridge to no where, it goes on and on.

I just saw a news item that a VP from AIG is resigning, he recieved over $700,000 after taxes in bounus money and he is going to give it all to charity. What is wrong with this picture. He didn't like AIG's CEO comments before congress last week. Then the Post Master General is saying that they are going to run out of money before the end of the year. They are over 2 billion dollars in the read. He blames it on the economy. Maybe he needs to tighten his belt too.

I have yet to see anything promising from President Obama. The only thing I see right now is the fact that this country is going deeper in the hole. I think that our government is very shady. What they need to do is stop spending money or giving it to businesses. They should send the "hard working people" a hefty size stimulus check and let us spend it they way we need in order to get caught up on bills, buy things for our households etc...instead of all of us going into foreclosure and further into debt. Most people that I know personally are in a financail crisis, and it's all thanks to the government.

The Governor is being exact on what taxes and fees he is going to raise but he is leaving us tax payers in the dark about how he plans on cutting government spending. He's needs to figure out his cuts and reforms and tell us about it. How many of us taxpayers get a pension or retirement if we only work 4 years. Our elected officials get one. I had to work at least 10 years to get vested for retirement.

I think that if all our crooked politicians would pay back the money they have stolen our taxes wouldn't have to go up.

All of the middle class has cut back. But our government hasn't. We have AIG getting Stimulus money and paying big bonous' becasue they had a contract that said they get one well how about saying no and tell them to go look for another job. Now our governor wants to increase the income tax to get the state out of the red and is blaming it all on Blago, but it is all of our elected officials that have done this. They don't cut back they just keep spending. When will it stop. We keep hearing that the people who put us here at this point will be the ones to get us out. The good-ole-boy club can we trust them?