About four weeks to go

It's about four weeks until the election. There's a lot at stake this time
around and no one can afford to be on the sidelines. You need to make sure
you're informed and vote for the candidates youfeel will do the best for
this country,your state and or local area.

Our vote will influence the direction of the country for years to come.
Business is not investing due to uncertainty. They don't know what
regulations will be coming down the pipeline; they don't know what they will
be paying in taxews and they don't know how much their costs will rise as a
result of Obama Care. Business won't hire or invest until they know the
answers to these questions. To that end, who wins will say a lot about the
direction of the country.

If the Democrats win,it will be more of the same thing that we're getting
now. There will just be more regulation They willhave succeeded in taking
over health care by mandating what must be covered; who must be covered and
how much can be charged for said coverage. When private companies are
reduced to offering what the government mandates just to stay in business,
that's a takeover despite what the media would have yu believe. What will
be next? That's a scary thought.

If the Republicans win, we will see an effort to repeal the onerous
takeover of one-sixth of the economy. We will see regulations reduced and
taxes will be reduced which will allow for investment. Bailouts would end
and they need to as taxpayers should not be funding failng businesses. If
they have a bad business model, then they fail under capitalism.

The Democrats view business as evil and greedy. Just look at their
so-called financial regulatoryreform. It strangles business and regulates
what credit card companies and others can do. Granted some changes were
needed but not in the manner that the Democrats did it.

Republicans, on the other hand, see business as innovative and the creator
of jobs. It is the private sector who creates job, not the government.
Democrats believe just the opposite when it comes to who creates jobs in
this country.

The future is in our hands and we need to make sure we let everyone know
what direction we want to see things go. That's why it's important to get
out and vote as if your life depends on it because it does..

Taking the opportunity tocomment on cell phone access

Rarely are we given an opportunity to comment on such an important issue.
This is such an opportunity and it has been made so easy. I urge all who
read this to do so, encourage others to do so or help someone to do so.
These comments are due to the FCC by October 15 and were sent to
pam.gregory@fcc.gov. let her hear our voices.

Docket #10-145
Accessibility of cell phones
I appreciate the extension of the deadline for comments on this very
important topic.

While it is nice that Applle has made a phone that is accessible out of the
box,not everyone will want to use a touch screen. Some people,like me, will
not have the patience for such a device. I saw a friend's I-pod touch over
the weekend and know I am in that category.

This leads me to my next point, that being that there must be options out
there; and that's not the case unless one is willing to invest money over
and above the cost of the cell phone. I, as a blind hard of hearing person,
should not have to do that. Right now, I have to pay $300 additional for
the cost of a screen reader to make my phone accessible as I cannot read the
menus, text messages or anything else on the phone. I then must invest
money to keep that software current, something a sighted person does not
have to do. That puts the cost of access at right around $500 over and
above the cost of the phone itself. Sighted people don't have to pay this
extra cost and neither should I. I am happy with Verizon, my current
carrier, and I don't want to switch just to obtain accessibility out of the
box. I should, like anyone else, be able to choose the carrier from whom I
want to obtain service.

As I wear hearing aids, I also had to test the phone in the store to make
sure it was going to work for me. Thankfully it did and the representative
in the verizon store knew something about the ratings system for hearing aid
compatibility (HAC). In the past, I've had to use a loop which added
additional cost to the phone. However, I've not had to use such a device
since 2006 and I'm not going back.

In conclusion, Apple has shown that accessibility out of the box is
possible. However, the I-phone is the only phone for which this is true.
Other manufacturers need to follow Apple's lead. It's good for business and
the consumer.