Readers list what they would do if they were a member of Congress

On Aug. 12, the Chronicle Editorial Board asked Chronicle readers to share what they would do about the budget, deficit spending and the debt ceiling if they were in Congress. The question was prompted by our own Congressman, Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, who asked voters for their ideas during a town hall meeting Aug. 10.

The Editorial Board asked readers to respond to these questions :

• What is the main thing you would cut to balance the budget?

• How would you handle Social Security and Medicare?

• Would you raise taxes?

• Write a headline reflecting your efforts.


Here's what some readers said:

• What is the main thing you would cut to balance the budget? There is NO one main thing. It's a combination. Foreign Aid, The wars, All the businesses leaving the U.S., Nafta. Stop the lobbyist, stop all ear-marks and special favors.
• How would you handle Social Security and Medicare? Remove the cap on S/S. Remove millionaires from receiving S/S and Medicare, increase weekly S/S taxes 1% and Medicare 5%. I would go after companies that pay under the table.
• Would you raise taxes? I would raise taxes on those making 150,000 and up. I would work to close the loop-holes. I would work to tax the person not the business.
• Write a headline reflecting your efforts. I would hope it would read, "The budget is balanced for the first time since 1997 and the government no longer has to borrow money".
Now I sit back and listen to the complaints. 

I would immediately take a 20% cut in salary and benefits to demonstrate my leadership qualities. And, I would dismiss 50% of my staff. Thirdly,. I would start working 5,000 hours per year to show I was serious about solving this nations problems. Fourth, I would give each of the major Departments, i.e., Education, Energy, to meet with me and show me all of their financial data and objective accomplishments. If they failed to meet, any one of these objectives, they are history.

And, that is the first 48 hours. Then I will get serious.

The main thing I would do is to obtain the facts. I would do this by listening to economic experts who hold a variety of perspectives, rather than listening to every uninformed opinion that is promulgated by partisan interests.

How Does The Ear Work - News


Readers list what they would do if they were a member of Congress

We are already paying the unemployed (who would like to do work), and those on welfare (who may need to learn how to work), why not have them improve the nation, regain self-esteem, learn about work, and pay taxes? The longer term goal would be to



Strapping on the ear-goggles: The wonderfully uneasy escape into headphone-land
Strapping on the ear-goggles: The wonderfully uneasy escape into headphone-land

But the hoops we have to jump through to keep our technology working can be endearing, too. The clever jerry-rig, or the temporary patch that holds for months… these bind us to our gadgets. I could never hand my Walkman and headphones over to others



Will South Padre Island get a skate park?

They were able to catch the ear of the elected officials and kind of get their point across as to how much they really want this skate park. The kids were able to talk directly to the mayor and the mayor pro-tem.”



Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings: Two Voices, 10 Kinds of Sad

I've said before one of the nice things that can happen to you is if you happen to be somewhere and someone is playing your music, but they're playing it a long way away, and you hear out of the corner of your ear, "What is that? That sounds good".



School is Already Right Around the Corner

Our job is now to support them as they figure out things for themselves and how to survive in college and beyond. How do we survive this new chapter ourselves? I found a very helpful Web site called www.collegeparentcentral.com that covers many topics.




HEARING AIDS – Baltic Sea Science Congress

HEARING AIDS

Having hearing loss problem and need hearing aid reviews ? Worry no more! Consider your problem solved and enjoy daily life at its normal course. There are now hearing aid devices that can do wonders for you! Just in case you are still in doubt as to the effectiveness of hearing aids, let us first define the device in brief. Hearing aid is a small electronic device or apparatus that amplifies or intensifies sound which is worn behind the ear or right in the ear to indemnify an impaired hearing. Thus, it is quite clear that hearing aids help people with hearing problems to communicate and participate normally in their daily routines.

There are a lot of advantages one can get in using this hearing aid. Let us know how useful and beneficial this device is to a hearing impaired person and what are the different types of hearing device that one must use to get the most benefit out of its use.

Benefits of using Hearing Aids â

As hearing aids are designed to help the hearing impaired, of course its main purpose is to improve speech comprehension. It helps improve the hearing capacity of a person who suffered hearing loss due to some disease or injury and aging. In this instances, what is usually damaged is the hair cells within a personâ s inner ear which results in sensorineural hearing loss or deafness. And how does it work? Hearing aids contain amplifiers which magnify the sound vibrations and frequencies that enter the ear. The hair cells in the inner ear which are not damaged and are still working well can detect these vibrations through this aid. This is true in most cases, however, varying degrees of hearing loss require different amplification levels, thus, this would depend on how much hearing loss an individual is suffering.

Only in rare cases that even hearing aids will not provide help if a personâ s ear has been damaged extensively in that amplification may not be effective at all. But if hearing aid is useful to you as explained above, it is important to know the different types of Hearing Aid Styles so it will be easier for you to choose which is right for your hearing needs. Find an audiologist right now!


How Does The Ear Work - Bookshelf

Exploring psychology

Exploring psychology

How does the ear transform sound energy into neural messages? Through a mechanical chain of events, the sound waves ... How does our sense of smell work ? ...

Congressional edition

Congressional edition

How long a circuit can they work, without repeating, by paper ? Sir. Orton. I cannot answer that question. They are not obliged to work very long circuits ...

Encyclopedia of recorded sound

Encyclopedia of recorded sound

Indeed, it is not even clear how the ear and brain are able to distinguish among ... How does our brain allow us to imagine, as we listen to a musical work, ...

School work

School work

How much meat does the dog steal? He steals a piece of meat. 3. Is this a piece of meat? ... How does the dog carry the meat? He carries it in his mouth. 6. ...

The parents' guide to cochlear implants

The parents' guide to cochlear implants

How does the imp/ant work? In order to understand how an implant functions, it is important to understand normal hearing. Briefly, the outer ear collects ...

Complete Information Directory


How does the ear work
What is the ear and how does the ear work? Anatomically, an ear is a ... The external ear consist of two portions, the first being the pinna, the skin covered ...

how does the ear work?
11. How does the ear work? Image courtesy of NASA. The structure of the ear can be divided ... The outer structure of the ear is responsible, in part, for helping ...

Southern ENT Associates, Inc-Ears
Anatomy of the Ear. How the Ear Works. What is Otitis Media? Ear Infections and Earache. Swimmer's Ear. Noise & Hearing Protection. Approx. Decibel Level ...

How Does the Ear Work?
Description of the ear, its parts and many functions. ... How Does the Ear Work? The ear is the major organ of our auditory system which helps to detect and perceive sound waves. ...

Your Ears
Now hear this! Here's an article about ears. Find out how your amazing ears do their amazing job.