John McCain famously said that he had a lot to learn about the economy. Apparently, he's a Rhodes Scholar compared to Congress when it comes to the topic. Congress throughout the Bush Administration has channeled increasing amounts of money to the least productive segment of society: the super-rich.

The Republicans keep harping on cutting taxes, but the truth is that if you have trouble paying your taxes it's no longer because taxes are too high--it's because your income is too low.

At what point will Democrats in Congress hire one or more experts on the economy and put their financial house in order? Just as a thought, why don't you require that all future spending for military operations be paid for out of current funds, rather than leaving this to someone's children to take care of?

Taxes ought to be apportioned so that the pain is spread evenly. That would mean that each person would be giving up some share of their discretionary income in proportion to how much they earned and how much they had. Since the bulk of the American people have no discretionary income left, we are wondering why those who do are left off the tax hook.

Which brings up the minimum wage. Why is there a discrepancy between the minimum wage in most of the country and the living wage (the wage that would cover all necessary spending including funds for retirement and healthcare), with the living wage coming out on the losing end? Based on the size of the minimum wage and the way taxes are apportioned we suspect that most people in the country aren't represented in Congress.

Are you personally willing to offer a bill that would redress this situation? If not, why not and which one of your fellow representatives should we turn to?