The Panama Papers [1] has highlighted how Panama encourages the formation of anonymous "shell corporations" that help rich people and corporations avoid taxes and help criminals and terrorists launder money. But the leak has also highlighted how that tax evasion and money laundering was facilitated by the Panama trade agreement that Congress approved in 2011 after the Obama Administration, including then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pushed for its approval. The State Department was aware of warnings from watchdog groups [2] that the Panama trade agreement would make it harder for the U.S. to crack down on tax evasion. [3] In his opposition to the agreement at the time, Sen. Sanders said on the Senate floor, “Panama is a world leader when it comes to allowing wealthy Americans and large corporations to evade US taxes by stashing their cash in offshore tax havens. And the Panama free trade agreement would make this bad situation much worse.” [4] There will be a Democratic debate in New York on April 14; CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash and NY1's Errol Louis will be moderators. [5] Urge Blitzer, Bash and Louis to ask about the Panama Papers, tax evasion, and U.S. trade policy by signing our petition. References: 1. https://panamapapers.icij.org/ 2. http://www.citizen.org/documents/PanamaTaxEvasionReportApril2009-FINAL.pdf 3. http://www.ibtimes.com/panama-papers-obama-clinton-pushed-trade-deal-amid-warnings-it-would-make-money-2348076 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrsI0Sw2hq8 5. http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/04/politics/democratic-debate-brooklyn/

We demand no more tax havens for the wealthy. Make them pay their fair share of taxes.

This petition is about the thousands of people who live in the state of Illinois who do not have a voice. This is about more than passing a budget, this is about what can be done to help others and saving the state from financial ruin. Social service agency are closing daily because they cannot keep their doors open, people are living on the streets because the state cannot put aside their pride and pass a budget. This has to end, or more and more people with suffer at the hand of the Illinois government, and this state will be in financial ruin. Please sign this petition so governor Rauner can see that it is affecting the lives of the people he has sworn to protect.

We believe that no one should be financially destroyed if they, or a family member, were to contract a terminal disease, and so we believe it is our responsibility to collectively support our citizens in such dire times, as we recognize the objective truth that humans have always lived and thrived in communities, and never as "lone wolves." The main ethics problem with universal healthcare is that doctors are not a commonly shared resource. They have sacrificed thousands of hours of their lives to learn the healing sciences, and they should not be penalized when we seek to provide universal healthcare for all citizens. To prevent penalizing doctors, a logical and fair proposal is hereby submitted: Tax Churches, Not Doctors. In order to provide universal healthcare, without effectively penalizing our #truehealers, does anyone have a problem with doctors not paying federal income taxes? We hope that churches will also contribute their fair share of taxes in order to live up to verses like, "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" We believe the solution is simple: Tax Churches, Not Doctors.

Thousands of people in our community work hard but are struggling financially because they cannot access jobs that pay a living wage. Unfortunately, many of the same people can't access workforce programs because of limited English or formal education. The new Fund would help close these gaps and ensure that everyone has a chance to find a decent job and build a career.

I work at Dunkin Donuts – and our bosses steal from us. Not at gunpoint. They skip overtime payments – or simply erase hours from our checks. If I took $20 from the till, they'd fire me – or even call the police. When they take it straight off of our paychecks? Nothing. It's illegal, but it happens every day to thousands of workers across the country. Right now, we have a huge opportunity to end these illegal pay practices. Congress JUST introduced a bill cracking down on employers that steal from workers like me, and they need to hear from us that this is an urgent problem.

Inflation keeps going up and wages keep going down.

Mayor Bowser backed a $15 minimum wage in her State of the District address. This is huge news! Big business tried to tangle up our $15 ballot initiative in the courts and keep DC residents from having a say on our city's minimum wage. But now, thanks to our organizing efforts, the Mayor has come out strong for $15 and the real fight begins. The Mayor is sending legislation to the DC Council in April. We need to make sure they do the right thing and stand up to big business by giving DC a raise. SIGN THE PETITION: I support a $15 minimum wage for DC!

The Maryland General Assembly wanted to strengthen our state's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which helps working people who struggle to make ends meet. But then, some legislators introduced language that would give a tax break to the wealthiest 1% of Marylanders while giving the rest of us almost nothing. We need to stop this corrupted version of the EITC before it passes the House of Delegates and pass one that helps those who are truly in need.

In 1946, U.S. coal miners faced the prospect of a long strike that could have hampered our nation’s post-war economic recovery. The government took action, signing the historic Krug-Lewis agreement, which created a welfare and retirement fund in cases of sickness, permanent disability, death or retirement. Knowing the dangers of the industry, Krug-Lewis also created a separate medical and hospital fund. Over the past century, nearly 105,000 miners were killed on the job and another 100,000-plus have died from black lung disease. These workers accepted less in wage increases and pensions so that more money could be dedicated to their health care in retirement. But as America’s coalfields face depression, companies are filing for bankruptcy and receiving approval to shed their retiree obligations. The United Mine Workers of America Pension Fund lost a significant portion of its value in the Great Recession. With approximately 13 retirees for every active union worker in the coal industry, the fund can’t rely on employee contributions to close its shortfall. To address the financial pain of the situation, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) have introduced legislation—S1714, the Miners Protection Act of 2015—that would amend the Coal Act once again to allow retirees from recently bankrupt companies to get health care from the UMWA Health and Retirement Funds. The bill also would repurpose the balance of an existing appropriation to provide funding to shore up the pension plan. Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) has introduced companion legislation in the House.

We stand with Charlotte, NC city workers who are fighting to raise wages to at least $15/hour , expand union rights, and to demand a city workers bill of rights that builds power and addresses the many issues facing city workers in Charlotte.

Before streaming obliterated CD sales, musicians could work hard and potentially sell CDs to maintain a modest career using CD Baby or Itunes. Now, Spotify and the major labels, as well as Apple Music, have destroyed the impetus to compensate musicians and the respect for the musician as the creator of works of art is eroding. Many accept that Music creation should be seen as a hobby. As professional musicians-We cannot accept this view of Music and Art creation. We want to be compensated fairly for our music! .10 per play adds up to $15 if each song on a CD is streamed 10x. Valuation of music at this rate encourages people to purchase a CD. This gives sustenance to the actual creator of the music! Streaming tends to devalue an entire industry by stripping musicians of profits and creating tech savvy billionaires by passing unfair copyright and usage laws. #wealththroughmusic seeks to keep musicians in the middle class! Streaming creates corporate piracy of our entire life source.