Ever wonder what life would look like come January if Congress and the President failed to avert the now famous "fiscal cliff?"  Remember the classic Christmas movie, "It's a Wonderful Life?" The main character, George Bailey, is brought back from the brink by his guardian angel after a glimpse of what life would look like if he'd never been born.  A remake may be in order.  This time the plot falls in DC where Congress and the President get to see what their family, friends and many communities across the country would look like if they don't extend the current tax rates and find meaningful spending reductions.

Would you believe a 47-year-old farmer from Des Moines, Iowa would see a $1206 tax increase next year? Economists and labor experts at The Heritage Foundation have the numbers on how your family budget and community (click here for interactive map) would be affected.

Raising taxes on any income level is a lose-lose situation for our economy.  According to the Department of Treasury figures, 1.2 million Americans who employ people are earning $250,000 or more a year and paying their taxes through the individual income tax.  They would be hit head-on. The amount that their taxes would go up could be roughly equivalent to one employee's salary, meaning that's one person they can't hire in the new year. A study by Ernst and Young estimates that these tax hikes would kill 710,000 jobs.

Washington - A bipartisan group of U.S. senators representing states along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers is elevating a request for the Army Corps of Engineers to manage water levels on the Missouri River to avoid a catastrophic economic problem on the Mississippi River.

"Drought conditions mean very low water levels on both rivers, and there needs to be a coordinated effort to make sure navigation isn't brought to a halt all together on the Mississippi River," Grassley said.  "Such a major interruption in commercial activity would ultimately impact jobs in Iowa and throughout the region, and steps can be taken and need to be taken to prevent it."

To avoid a potentially months-long loss of navigation on the Mississippi, senators today urged President Barack Obama to issue an emergency directive to permit additional water flows from Missouri River reservoirs to maintain navigation on the Mississippi.  They also asked for Federal Acquisition Rules to be waived to allow the Corps to expedite blasting of the rock pinnacles near Grant Tower and Thebes, Illinois.

In a letter to the President, the senators said, "Absent emergency action to ensure that water levels do not fall below the level needed to support the navigation channel, commercial navigation on the middle Mississippi River between St. Louis, MO, and Cairo, IL, will be severely impaired as early as mid-December."

Today's request for presidential action follows a request made by senators earlier this month of the Corps.  Senators also have asked the Corps to provide information to justify its resistance to taking action.  Governors from impacted states, representatives of industry and other stakeholders have sought action from the Corps, as well.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) signed the letter to the President along with Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Al Franken (D-MN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), David Vitter (R-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

Here is the text of the letter.

November 28, 2012

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:

We understand that the governors of impacted states, representatives of industry, and others have written seeking action by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prevent an economic calamity in the center of our nation.  We write in strong support of their request.  Absent emergency action to ensure that water levels do not fall below the level needed to support the navigation channel, commercial navigation on the middle Mississippi River between St. Louis, MO, and Cairo, IL, will be severely impaired as early as mid-December.  Substantial curtailment of navigation will effectively sever the country's inland waterway superhighway, imperil the shipment of critical cargo for domestic consumption and for export, threaten manufacturing industries and power generation, and risk thousands of related jobs in the Midwest.

Given the magnitude of the economic impact that would result from a potentially months-long loss of navigation on the Mississippi, we support an emergency directive to permit additional water flows from Missouri River reservoirs to maintain navigation on the Mississippi, and to waive Federal Acquisition Rules (FAR) to allow the Corps of Engineers to expedite blasting of the rock pinnacles near Grand Tower and Thebes, Illinois.  These pinnacles pose a hazard to barge navigation during periods of low water levels and their removal will allow commercial navigation on the Mississippi to continue.  Once the rocks are removed, additional water flows from the Missouri River would be unnecessary or significantly reduced.  Waiving FAR guidelines could allow the Corps to sole source for the work, eliminating the 30-day requirement for bids and allowing the work to proceed in an expedited manner.

The Mississippi River is an artery of commerce critical to the movement of hundreds of millions of tons of essential goods and commodities such as corn, grain, coal, petroleum, chemicals, and many other products important to the national economy.  All told, cargo valued at over $7 billion, including 300 million bushels of agricultural products and 3.8 million tons of coal, could experience shipping delays that cause ripple effects and damage local economies up and down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  In addition, if shipping on the river is impeded, about five million barrels of domestically produced crude oil will not be shipped and purchases of imported crude oil will increase by about $550 million as a result.

Given the potentially large negative impact of this looming disaster, we hope that you will give due consideration to our request.

Sincerely,

SPRINGFIELD - Longtime advocates of ethics and transparency in government, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon and State Sen. Dan Kotowski will introduce legislation on Thursday that will overhaul the Statement of Economic Interests filed annually by tens of thousands of local and state government employees and officials.

The bill designs a disclosure form that asks clear questions on sources of income, lobbyist relationships and certain loans. It also closes loopholes that allowed filers to answer "not applicable" to almost all of the questions since the form was introduced 40 years ago.

Simon said the goal of the new form is to provide Illinois residents with information that allows them to determine if elected officials, high-ranking employees and candidates hold any conflicts of interest.

"Current disclosure forms are practically meaningless and haven't been revised since their inception 40 years ago," Simon said. "This bill protects the privacy of public servants while allowing taxpayers to better identify where a conflict of interest may exist."

Simon has released her personal tax return in an effort to demonstrate transparent leadership, and has asked her senior staff to file more detailed disclosure forms that allow citizens to better find any potential conflicts of interest.

DATE: Thursday, Nov. 29

TIME: 9:30 a.m.

PLACE: Senate Chamber entrance, Capitol Building, Springfield

Legendary "explainer" helps enlighten Illinoisans about pension squeeze

CHICAGO - November 27, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn's new web campaign to educate Illinoisans about the pension squeeze was bolstered today by legendary "explainer" Salman Khan, who unveiled two videos to explain pensions in general and specifically lay out the Illinois pension crisis. Earlier this month, Governor Quinn met with Salman Khan in the governor's Chicago office, and Khan agreed to create an explainer video on Illinois' pension problem.

Khan's video on Illinois' pension problem and general video on pensions can be viewed at ThisIsMyIllinois.com and the "Thanks in Advance" Facebook page.

Founder of the trailblazing Khan Academy, Khan's 3,600 teaching videos have been viewed 204 million times. Khan - named by Time Magazine as one of the World's 100 Most Influential People - has appeared on "60 Minutes," "Colbert Report" and NPR to share his vision of offering a "world class education for everyone everywhere."

"The power of Salman Khan's videos comes from his ability to make a complex subject easy to grasp, and he does so in an informative and engaging style," Governor Quinn said. "We're delighted to have his help in enlightening Illinois citizens about how the pension problem came to be."

Employing his trademark " black blackboard" style, Khan focuses on Illinois' pension obligations in a seven-minute video in which he explains how spending on pensions will surpass spending for education by 2016. In his more general 10-minute video, he explains the concept of pensions - particularly the distinctions between "defined benefit" and "defined contribution" plans.

"Khan Academy is about life-long learning and we strive to help clarify topics that are important for understanding our society," Khan said. "When I learned about the underfunded pension situation in many states, especially in Illinois, I felt it was important that voters understand the issue themselves."

Governor Quinn recently launched an Internet campaign to educate everyday people on the 70-year old Illinois pension problem, deemed worst in the nation by the Pew Center on the States. Since launching, more than 28,000 unique visitors have gone to ThisisMyIllinois.com and a video featuring "Squeezy the Pension Python" has been viewed 20,000 times. The "Thanks in Advance" campaign is designed to boost public awareness about the "squeeze" caused by soaring pension costs and the need for pension reform.

In April, Governor Quinn proposed a plan to the General Assembly that would rescue Illinois' public pension systems, ensure employees have access to benefits and prevent skyrocketing pension costs from squeezing out core services such as education, health care and public safety. Quinn's plan would fully fund the pension system by 2042.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Khan is a former hedge fund manager who founded the nonprofit Khan Academy after discovering a knack for tutoring. What began as a favor to his niece and nephews in 2006 - sharing his mathematics explainer videos - has grown into one of the world's fastest-growing, widely-used education tools. Last month, www.khanacademy.org had 6,000,000 unique visitors from nearly every nation on earth. Available in 16 languages, Khan's explainer videos cover topics ranging from math and science to history and finance. He is author of "The One World School House: Education Reimagined".