Wal-Mart built their business on the basis of being all American. They have since thrown that out the window, and import all of the junk they sell. They buy massive quantities of garbage to sell at low prices. Most of the garbage is not any better than items you can buy at a dollar store.

Wal-Mart is putting other higher quality department and grocery stores out of business with their super low prices. Unfortunately consumers don’t realize they are buying garbage and that is why the prices are so cheap. Folks in rural areas are losing local stores, because of the huge effect of just one Wal-Mart. This costs these rural folks more money/ They have to drive 30 miles to get the groceries they need, and are limited to convenience stores or the big bully Wal-Mart.

They pay their employees minimum wage and keep them just under the hours needed so they can not have medical insurance. The employees are required to have an open availability and be able to work whenever asked. This ensures that an employee would find it extremely difficult to find another part time job to try and support their family.

Wal-Mart is purchasing these extremely low cost wholesale goods from countries that are using child labor to manufacture their goods. They have taken to purchasing goods made from countries that have no labor laws. These laws require women and children alike to work for .20 cents a day up to 12 hours a day seven days a week. Wal-Mart is no longer an American company. They have knowingly hired illegal workers, and have been caught for it, but still continue to do so. They have chosen greed instead of supporting fellow Americans.

Do your part to help these corporate goons get the message. Do not spend another dime at Wal-Mart. They will never stop their un-American ways if we keep supporting their business. They own several brands including, Faded Glory, Equate, Great Value, Ol Roy and Sam’s Choice. Purchasing any of these brands will keep fattening the pockets of the Wal-Mart giant. Encourage every one you know to stop buying from Wal-Mart.

I support gun control because it makes sense in America today. To many people, "gun control" means "no guns at all," but that is not what many supporters of gun control advocate. In fact, many police departments advocate forms of gun control that would keep automatic and semi-automatic weapons off the streets. In many areas, the criminal element has more ammunition and firepower than local law enforcement, and this endangers everyone in the community, not just law enforcement officers attempting to keep the peace.

Therefore, gun control isn't about "taking away my guns," as many conservatives would like to believe. Gun control legislation should look at ways to limit the most dangerous weapons, especially to young people, and stricter licensing and purchasing restrictions should apply to these most dangerous weapons. There is no real reason a person should require a semi-automatic or automatic weapon to defend themselves, hunt, or collect. These weapons were initially created for warfare, and they do not belong in America's communities, they simply are not necessary, and when they fall into the wrong hands, they are deadly.

Stiffer regulations would not remove handguns and other guns that people already own, they would just make it more difficult for known criminals and gun runners to get guns. Currently, guns bought in the United States are being used in drug gangs and criminal gangs in Mexico, because it is so easy for them to come over the border and buy them here. This is wrong, and it should be stopped. Stricter sales and licensing laws could help stem the flow of guns across the border, and it could make it safer to live in our own communities, as well.

Much of the uproar about gun control comes from misinformed and emotional people who feel their Second Amendment rights will somehow be violated if they cannot buy guns. While there are some who would restrict all gun purchases, most of the people who support gun control believe that controls should be stricter, but that certain guns should not be restricted. There will never be a way to restrict all guns, it doesn't make sense. However, it does make sense to keep the deadliest weapons off the streets and out of the hands of criminals and gangs. These guns should not threaten our communities, our law enforcement officers, and our very lives, and that is why I support gun control laws that would remove these guns from the hands of the people who prey on others and have no care for human life.

I believe we need climate change legislation. All the scientific studies show that human impact is changing the climate and in not unpredictable ways.

That said, opponents of Climate Change can point out that these changes occur naturally. What is different and gives us a belief that human impact is making a huge difference is the speed of the changes. Carbon Monoxide levels are the highest they ever have and continue to rise.

In addition, we know that what we release into the atmosphere is making it thicker and thicker. This is the greenhouse effect.

The Suns rays come to earth and heat us up in the day. But at night they are not able to be released and are held in. This accounts for a warming of the earth. Some Scientists believe that we have gained one degree in the earth's temperature over the last few years.

While one degree doesn't sound like much it can have huge consequences. Movies such as Al Gore's Inconvienient Truth, point to the melting of Polar Ice and glaciers. A Piece of Polar Ice the size of Rhode Island if it melted, would raise water levels in the Ocean by as much as twenty feet. This would put much of Florida, New York City, and other parts of our shoreline under water.

Two other consequences of melting polar ice would also have significant consequences if left unchecked. One is that as the earth heats up so does the water. Storms such as hurricanes blossum when they have contact with warm water. It is theorized that as the earth heats up the number of extreme storms would increase.

Lastly. warm water goes North on ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually the water cools and sinks to the bottom where it returns south as colder water with a higher salt content. As the polar ice melts it dilutes the salt water and the flow stops ending the northward descent of warmer water and the return south of colder saltier water. This would drop huge sections of the United States and other nations in the Northern hemishere into another ice age.

The things we need to do in terms of sustainable energy to address these consequences would create, by some estimates, 5 million new jobs. These involve control of carbon emmissions and use of sustainable sources of energy such as solar and wind.

These sources of energy are in their infancy. Because fossil fuels like oil have reached peak potebtials we need to seek alternatives just because they are running out. A comprehensive plan would enable us to avoid the major crisis not doing anything would create.

Economic Bailout (in support)

The concept of an economic bailout is something that was supported by people of both political parties. The bailout process was begun by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and continued by current Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The bailout process was supported by people on both sides of the aisle within the United States Senate. This was especially true when it came to the Committee Chair Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Ranking Member Richard Shelby of Alabama. Dodd and Shelby both saw the need to bailout the automobile companies as a way of saving manufacturing jobs amongst auto workers. Very few Democrats within the United States Senate opposed the auto bailout so the fact of the matter is that since the American people have been consistently voting to re-elect Democratic representatives and U.S Senators over the last two cycles, the American people must have gotten what they wanted. Traditional conservatives such as Mike Crapo of Idaho of course voted against the bill.

One of the few people who actually spoke eloquently about why he voted against the auto bailout was the junior United States Senator Jon Tester. Tester spoke about a truck that he just bought recently actually got worse gas mileage than a truck he bought four years ago. He desperately wants the auto companies to change up their act when it comes to fuel standards. Tester was in the definite minority on this vote as the will of the people was spoken. President Obama then took action after the auto bailout came into place and General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner refused to change his way of doing business and to meet some of the demands of the legislation. This was despite the fact that his company had received federal tax dollars. Obama then made sure that Wagoner was no longer going to be the CEO of General Motors, going around ignoring federal statutes. It was the right move on behalf of the taxpayers of America to have Wagoner step aside. Ford and others did not have that kind of trouble following the auto bailout.

It could be argued that the Cash for Clunkers was a logical extension of the federal bailout program. The fact of the matter is that the federal government did more to stimulate the auto industry than any program in recent history. The Cash for Clunkers program moved forward despite the objections of some conservatives.

Congressman Barney Frank has become a familiar politician in our family rooms. We have seen him tiptoeing through the quandary of one desperate bill after another that some one or another is trying to push through Congress. Because of Barney Frank's long term association with the Congress of the United States, he is an important person and his opinions hold water since he has the support of people who support him as a representative. We elect people to represent us not because we know everything about everything but because we expect our elected representative to know. That is what a representative of the people is, someone whom we expect to know what is in our best interests. If we discover that his voting record and his initiated bills are not in our best interests, then we vote him out of office. Currently, Congressman Barney Frank has shown himself to be a diplomatic member of Congress allowing for the new administration to make mistakes and trying his best to cover up those mistakes.

He is a loyal member of the Democratic Party. As such he supports his President and must answer his call. Of course, he also represents those voters of Massachusetts who elected him. And, he must answer their call or be voted out of office. Since what I have seen of Mr. Frank is mostly favorable, evenly balanced support and a willingness to withhold criticism, I would say that he is a man who has made peace with himself and can represent us as a knowledgeable member of Congress. And, if saying Ah, Choo, makes me a fellow citizen of Massachusetts , so be it. Because Barney Frank is a decent, hard working member of Congress who is obviously not into hiding his behavior and would expect that no one else hides there's.

A sign of a good politician is an honest politician, and, if ever there was an honest politician, it is Barney Frank. Perhaps, he could call himself Honest Barn. Some people have attacked him because of his open admission to his personal behavior. But, I would rather see someone who tells it like it is then someone who says Don't Ask and Don't Tell and leads secret hate campaigns against people whose personal behavior he finds titallating. Congressman Barney Frank is at work in Congress and not in Congress to accept visitors for Sunday high tea.