Editor's Note: In spite of President Obama’s declaration earlier this week of a “national emergency” to address the H1N1 influenza virus, many watching Thursday’s "American Morning" were wary of the “hype.”

• Lenora: I am so thankful for the Internet and talk radio. It has been very strange to me that we have been in such a declared state of emergency as well as declared at such a high level of pandemic, yet the severity of this H1N1 virus has yet to come close to the normal seasonal flu statistics. It baffles me that the President wants to panic the American people into thinking that they need or even want this new vaccine. CBS exposed the CDC deception on the swine flu cases. examiner.com also reveals as well as many other websites that this flu is exaggerated and for what reason? CNN just claimed to pride itself on exposing the truth. Well we are waiting to see if you can find it and if you are professional enough to report it. There is no health emergency and 1000 people dying of confirmed H1N1 is going to be a hard stat to find. Try CDC website, it isn't there. They stopped specifying H1N1 cases in August. Now everything that vaguely resembles flu like symptoms is "scientifically" lumped together to inflate their numbers of "flu" cases.

Has the H1N1 virus affected you or your family? Is it a “national emergency’ when ERs are overloaded, or is this common for the season?

The Dallas police apology to those ticketed for “driving while not speaking English” concerned some viewers, who worried that these drivers were unable to read English as well: "Kinda scary to me…I do not think she should be driving at all if you can not read the traffic signs."

• Becky: The Lady that was given a ticket for not speaking english...well o.k I can see that being wrong but let me ask would you want to be driving next to her because it sounds like she can not read english..kinda scary to me, I do not think she should be driving at all if you can not read the traffic signs, her daughter had to read the ticket to her!! That is bad!!

How do you feel about being on the road with drivers who may not be able speak English?

Editor's Note: Thursday’s American Morning feedback was dominated by reaction to the Obama administration’s announcement cutting executive pay for the seven largest companies receiving bailout funds. Most angrily questioned the reasoning behind keeping or rewarding “incompetent” personnel who had created the financial chaos. Others were skeptical that the cuts were “real,” as any decreased compensation would be offset by increased stock, so executives would be simply be swapping forms of financial pay.

• Dan: Your guest this morning was talking about if you cut the salaries of the top personnel in these bailed out companies, then the top folks might leave, therefore, the company would go downhill. Is this guy an idiot or what? If the top personnel would have been doing their job in the first place, then we, as tax-payers, wouldn't have had to bail them out. So, I guess [their leaving] wouldn't hurt the company that much.
• Jerry: If the people getting large bonuses were as good as we're being told they are my question is: how did they lose or invest in products that lost billions of dollars while drawing large paydays? Time for them to suffer some; and since I'm a taxpayer, and I own part of the banks they work for, I don't see where they're earning their money.
• Bill: The worry that cutting exec salaries at the big banks will cause top execs to leave is not a bad thing. All the damage was done to the economy on their watch. They were either complicit or not watching the store. Either way, they were shown as being incompetent. How could getting rid of them be a bad thing?! In fact, they should be prosecuted for malfeasance. What should be regulated is someone else hiring them to possibly do it again somewhere else.
• Valerie: I think all this pay cut for Wall Street execs is mostly political smoke and mirrors. If the execs are going to get their cash portion of their pay cut, but receive additional stock, then their overall compensation is still the same. How is that a pay cut?

What do you think of the Obama administration’s proposed executive compensation pay cut plan?

Editor's Note: Wednesday's Talk Radio segment on the Fairness Doctrine split American Morning's audience opinion regarding its necessity. Progressives and liberals wanted more diversity, while conservatives were against the doctrine for radio. Others remarked that deregulation was at fault for a lack of “localism” in radio.

• Christopher: I don’t think we need any fairness when it comes to talk radio. It just goes to show that the side with the most and loudest is most likely the one that is insecure and needs to constantly remind people of the propaganda that they spew. The rest of us know the truth....
• Dee: I do not want a fairness doctrine. I am mature enough to turn the channel if I don't like what they are saying. I watch CNN sometimes, but mostly I watch Fox News, I am a conservative. When Obama reads off his teleprompter I just turn the channel. He needs to take care of the war, illegal immigration, and runaway Medicare and Medicaid crooks. He doesn't need to worry about what I hear or see, or how my child is educated, or how the police in Conn. make an arrest. His first and primary job is to keep our country safe. He is like a teenager with his stolen credit card.
• Denice: Yes we do need more localism. I live in Texas which seems like a different country from the rest of the world. (lol) We probably have 4 out of 4 stations that are conservative radio. I am an Obama supporter. I just listen to CNN from Dallas. It always gives me a different perspective than our local stations, It is as if we are in the wild wild west (lol).
• Carolyn: Using Carol Costello's logic for the universal repudiation of her talk radio story-one could conclude that the flat earth society is really on to something. Sometimes when you tick off people of all stripes it’s because you are in the land of nonsense.
• George: Here in Port St Lucie, AM radio is nothing but ring wing , Rush ,Sean,...Tom. Yes I like the local Thing, I will love to hear the Progressive side.

What do you think of the Fairness Doctrine being applied to talk radio?

Editor's Note: Carol Costello’s series on talk radio sparked Monday’s American Morning audience to angrily dispute aspects of today’s segment. Some believed the only people who listen to talk radio are other media. Others suggested that talk radio was so popular because broadcast media slanted left before Fox News became the alternative, and that liberal radio was failing due to lack of demand. Those opposed to conservative talk radio believed “What these people have to say is trash… because they cannot think further than their nose.” Another contingent rebuked the “liberal” label for PBS, calling it a moniker from “talk radio,” and not a true reflection of the network.

• Joshua: You just reported that Rush Limbaugh is the 'king' of talk radio with 15 million listeners. My guess is that 14,999,995 of those listeners are people like you in the media and the other five are his wife and children. Why would anyone spend their time listening to talk shows like his when they can get the Cliff Notes version of what they say from CNN?
• Anita: The vast majority of cable and TV news reporters are liberals. The vast majority of news is presented w/ a liberal slant, editorializing is liberal... liberal viewpoints are thrust down the collective American throat. I don't think some of these reporters realize their reporting is so opinionated-but viewers of other persuasions do. Why did talk radio become so popular w/ conservatives, or moderates, for that matter, who are willing to consider both sides? Because when it began, and hooked listeners, FOX wasn't big news & talk radio was the only alternative. ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, most print media, etc. weren't reporting news objectively. If talk radio is too conservative, take it as a backlash to the lack of objectivity in the media preceding it. If liberals don't like it, they should compete. Let the viewers decide. Conservatives are bullies? That's a little insincere. The only bully on the playground for the past few decades has been the liberal media.
• BT: Re: American Morning Show and comments by Carol Costello re "Talk Radio" wherein she stated that the reason people listen to talk radio is b/c it's entertaining. I can't speak for everyone but I wholeheartedly believe that those people would find her statement insulting. I believe most people (like myself) listen b/c it's the only place other than Fox News that we can get the truth. I don't mean to imply CNN lies – but b/c you don't report the entire picture (both sides) it's the same thing. I used to watch CNN most of the time until the year of the presidential election and lost faith in CNN b/ it was so terribly slanted towards Obama thus you did not report all on both sides. CNN almost never presents both sides and by your omissions, I quit watching. I have learned more about our gov't and politicians and the full picture of what's going on – from Fox news and talk radio than I ever did on CNN and your comments that people listen to talk radio b/c it is entertaining was very offensive and insults my intelligence. Just like the "tea parties" – and your comments that they are just a bunch of rebel rousers, etc. No they are people like myself, who happen not to agree with the current political agenda. We want health care reform but w/o government interference. Thank you for the opportunity to send this.
• Eliot: On the show today you stated that NPR is liberal. What […] is wrong with you? Have you heard it, or were you repeating the talk radio line unchallenged? Randi Rhodes is liberal, fine. Only a fool would think NPR is. Please make an on-air correction. Some people believe this stuff.
• Rick: Thank God I do not have to listen to these narrow minded radio talk show hosts. I do listen to PBS and there I get intellectual and intelligent talk. What these people have to say is trash anyhow because they cannot think further than their nose.
• Joy: With regard to liberal radio- only 9% listen but if people enjoyed it there would be greater demand – people listen to what they like – personally I can't stand the negative talk show-liberal or conservative!

How do you feel about “conservative” radio versus “liberal” radio?

Editor's Note: American Morning's Friday audience responded to breaking news of President Obama’s win for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. The majority offered praise for the president’s efforts for “consistently trying to open the doors of communication and peace between the nations of our global community.” Those questioning the Nobel Committee’s choice considered the win “an affront to President Bush plain and simple,” and asked “just what did he actually do?”

Approve

• Linda: Congratulations to President Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. He has been consistently trying to open the doors of communication and peace between the nations of our global community. He has demonstrated the peaceful means we hope to open honest, peaceful resolution to that community. He has brought Hope to world leaders, respect for American principles, and is very deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. Shame on the cynics...Hurray for our President and the honor he has brought back to the United States in the global community.
• Dr. Sam: Most deserving! Peace is the ever present challenge; without it, nothing else matters. While holding up the offensive arm as a superpower leader, Obama has also freely extended the opportunity for peace for all peoples throughout the world. Republican will say no to everything, including this one. I am most disappointed about Ed Rollin's comments.
• Ronald: Barack Obama wins Nobel Prize for Peace. Why? Because the world itself envisions the US President far more than the run of the mill media giants. Because, the world knows if any person is capable of bringing peace between Israel and Palestine, it will be Barack Obama. What the media channels should project is the dream for peace is closer than the knuckleheads of the past. To question the abilities for peace to become materialized is to question yourself whether you are a winner or a loser. Mr. Obama is a winner and the world knows it. He may have been in office merely 9 months, but just wait how the pages of history shall become written by those achievements he shall perform. Lastly, the world is abundant of politicians, but how many of them are truly statesmen? Now, you understand why!
• Rose: YAY! President Obama! He totally deserves this. He has made major strides for this country and for different races in America. We have hope that if you are a person of color you can have the same opportunity as a white person and we love the fact he is reaching out to other cultures and countries. We acknowledge that he is the one who ended the long war in Iraq. He acknowledges that America has not always been right, unlike in the past, we were sometimes starting fights and conflicts just because we are the USA and we can.
• Ken: I am delighted that President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. If nothing else, it is recognition of his defeating the Republican War Criminals!

Disapprove

• Alex: The Peace Prize? THIS WAS NOT GIVEN TO PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR HIS BODY OF WORK!!! THIS IS AN AFFRONT TO PRESIDENT BUSH PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!! THIS AWARD WAS GIVEN TO TRY AND EMBARASS GEORGE BUSH!!! I don’t know why but this just doesn’t seem right! It seems offensive. THIS IS NOT RIGHT!
• Greg: The world now knows just how big a joke the Nobel booby prize is! Why are your reporters not reporting he was nominated just two weeks after being sworn in. Just what did he actually do!
• James: This award is no doubt a surprise to the international community, let alone citizens of the United States. As of yesterday, many believed Barack Obama's policies were creating a first term worthy of the Peace Prize. Now, both supporters and detractors of the President cannot help but wonder why he was awarded so early. Unfortunately, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has rewarded a peaceful-minded leader who strives for disarmament, via a timeframe that leaves much to be desired, and leaves even more room for criticism.

How do you feel about the president’s win of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize?

Editor's Note: Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's education interview garnered the greatest response from American Morning’s Thursday audience. Teachers’ pay was hotly debated by teachers and those in the private sector, some of whom claimed educators were overpaid.

• First Grade Teacher: In reference to your morning coverage about education with Jeb Bush: A crappy doc still gets paid, so I believe that it is an unfair strategy to say that teachers should get paid based solely on results. (Can anyone imagine if we paid the presidents on their performance?) Remember that teachers cannot change the parents and the parental involvement! Extending the day will not change the home life, the learning problems, and the motivation of students, parents and students accountability and so much more, let alone provide the resources, man power and materials to support the students that we have to make the needed changes that everyone expects. Mr. Bush and other lawmakers, when was the last time that you were in the classroom working, teaching, planning, dealing with the children and parents that you are talking about? Not just listening to other peoples experiences or looking at data?!? What is the compensation for playing the parental role in the classroom before being able to teach? I am a teacher. I get up at 4:30 every morning to be at work 2.5 hours before I am required, and stay at least 1-2 hours after work, take work home to work on PLUS I am going to school for my master’s degree, which I pay for because I am REQUIRED to have it in order to keep my job. People wonder why we don't have effective and fantastic teachers in the classroom. I am a social worker, parent, care giver, then an educator. You have to do this job out of the goodness of your heart! Three months off – HA! I spend my summer in required conferences, preparing my classroom and materials for my students, going to school, and sitting in meetings among so much more… plus try to have a home and a family. This coming after I spend nine months working 12 plus hour days every day, every week. I would love to see the majority of the lawmakers be as effective as they expect in the classroom in the conditions that many schools are currently in. I would enjoy seeing and learning from their greatness because obviously, I'm not doing the best job. Don't worry about considering the given that the students, expectations, requirements, peanuts and lack of appreciation I receive!!! Please be careful to make huge changes, demands and unrealistic expectations without preparing and supporting the ‘ineffective' teachers that are crazy enough to put their heart and soul into this job, doing the best they can considering. Along with your expectations, please expect to put LOTS of money into the education system (and not all for our pay) to support the needed accommodations to produce the results you are referring to. 26 six-year-olds to 1 teacher…I guess I need to be a magician. Please look at whom and what teachers are starting with and realistically set expectations. I work hard for often the small gains the students’ produce, but the life they are living is often the biggest barrier, and teachers have NOTHING to do with that aspect and can not change that!
• David: Teacher's Salaries: The comparison of teachers salaries to lawyers and doctors salaries is absurd. How many teachers have advanced degrees? Compare teachers salaries to the average salaries of other college graduates and you will see teachers are well paid for the 9 months they are in session. They earn every penny and should get more based on their productivity, just like the rest of us.
• Mick: Bad comparison regarding teacher salaries. The $43,000.00 is for a 180 day contract & a B.S. Edu. degree requiring only 12 hours in the discipline you teach. Hardly a fair comparison with the advanced degree programs, internships, residencies & liabilities of medicine & law. But why be fair?

Can private sector jobs be compared positions in public education? Are you a parent who believes your school’s teachers should be paid based on the performance of the children they teach?