People only pay in to social security on the first $117,000. If they earn $5 million, they only pay into the fund on the first $117,000. Social security saves millions from dire poverty. Social security creates public spirit, that joy and thankfulness that can make life exuberant and interdependent. Generations could trust and respect one another with sorrow "more distant than a star" (Donovan). The cap is an anomaly that makes no sense in our day of near zero interests and outsourced manufacturing.

The acreage they want to give away is the most scared lands of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. They want to strip all of the copper ore out from under the lands where the tribes have used for burials and scared ceremonies of hundreds of years. The company even admits this will cause "a little subsidence" of these lands. What that means is these mountains will collapse after having a huge amount of rock removed from under them.They do not even talk about the fact that this scared mountain is an important part of the water supply to the entire very arid region. Another fact ignored is that they will have to pollute the water resources that are already used in this area in order to get the "Low grade copper ore" out from under them since water is necessary for ore processing. What will the scared lands look like in 10 years? This area of fragile ecology supports many endangered species. All that will be left is a smoldering pile of pulverized rock surrounded by drying up ponds of polluted water. This will not only be an environmental disaster, but the total destruction of the San Carlos Apache Tribe's culture and past. Why are we even talking about allowing a foreign company to destroy Native American property? This does no benefit anyone except a company with ties to China and Iran. Or perhaps certain politicians. The Native Americans have been lied to and cheated by the American Government too many times already. Now they want to allow San Carlos Apache Tribe's most sacred lands to be destroyed so a foreign company can get richer? This is completely immoral and should be totally illegal! Some other American National lands scheduled to be given away or heavily exploited include: 1,600 acres from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State for industrial development 70,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska would be opened to logging A couple thousand acres of National Lands in North Carolina There are hundreds of thousands of acres of American to be handed off or tied up for industrial destruction in this massive land grab. Why is is all hidden away inside of a defense bill when it has nothing to do with defense, but everything to do with greed? Just when I thought that our Congress could go no lower, they find a new way of demonstrating their complete disdain for the people that they are supposed to be representing. Now they are helping themselves to land that is supposed to belong to all Americans The Congress is giving away out National lands to anyone that they want to. Where do they get the right to give away any American National Lands? Also included in this horrible bill are other areas important to people that they want to give away including National properties in North Carolina. Our National lands belong to the people of this country not to Congress! These people need to be stopped before they destroy the entire country so they can get wealthier! They will be able to afford to leave the remains of this beautiful country after they pillage and rape it, but millions of Americans will not have the same luxury. This is our future generation's heritage that they are so callously wiping out for the purpose of a few selfish people getting richer.

The United States is the only developed nation that uses torture. Obama, as well as several of our past presidents should be prosecuted for signing off on that. During our endless foreign wars we have murdered over a million innocent civilians as "collateral damage". Future presidents will continue this process unless they see that ignoring international rules has lethal consequences.

Many people get most, or all, of their news and opinions, from one sorce, be it MSNBC, FOX, etc. This has led to increasingly divided voting blocs, in the public, and in Washington.

Not only would such a bill allow everyone the chance to have good health insurance, it would also shore up Medicare!! Wouldn't that be an utterly simple goal to work towards? No new network to be formed. No one forced to buy insurance from a profit making company, no one FORCED to do ANYTHING!!! Totally a free choice! This should have been part of the ACA but the insurance companies would not allow it and the Dems went along to their enduring shame (and trouncing at the polls).

Florida's nickname of the Sunshine State is entirely appropriate. We enjoy one of the greatest numer of sunny days per year anywhere in the US. It is time we put all that energy to work for our State and provide much needed clean and non-polluting electrical power to our economy. Such enterprise could provide a large number of well remunerated high technology jobs to our citizens for many years to come. Reducing our dependency on fossil fuels could set the example for our nation and the world.

No more bad behavior by banks and speculators in the housing industry, a too big too fail sector of the national economy.

Recently the minimum wage in Minnesota was raised from $7.25 to $9.50 by 2016 and tied to inflation by 2018. This is unacceptable. By 2018 a minimum wage of $9.50 tied to inflation will be no more beneficial than a $7.25 minimum wage tied to inflation today. The nearly 300,000 low-wage workers in Minneapolis cannot support themselves and their families on anything less.