There are so many hard workers out there who get no credit for what they do. I am a person who worked off the clock on my days off and only got paid $8.15 per hour every two weeks before I was a manager. I was training managers and never got a raise. Enough is enough.

The Republican Party has owned the Small Business dialog for far too long. No one has failed Small business more than the Republicans. With the breathtaking consolidation and monopolization of the past decades, Job #1 with regards to rebuilding America and establishing a rock solid, living wage society is to ensure a vastly broad and diverse business community. Small Business is of fundamentally vital importance not only to “organically” rising wages and benefits, but to real Job Security as well. Equally important is Small Business’ positive effect on our Nation's Tax and Revenue Base. Let’s pitch in and help pay for rebuilding our infrastructure by getting the Entire Democratic Party behind supporting a Huge, Comprehensive Small Business Initiative. Let’s rebuild a brand new and powerfully effective Small Business Administration. The Republicans have forgotten or conned Small Business for Decades and the Democrats have hardly acknowledged them, yet they make up a gigantic voter base, and Small Business is as American as Apple Pie and Mom & Pop and fun Road Trips and Baseball and BBQ's. History has shown that Trickle Down Theory has long proven a failure; The New Economy that the "Globo-Corporatists" began selling the people starting in the 1990’s has failed (several times now). The Walmart Economy has sent more middle class jobs overseas than should ever have been allowed. America is done with bad "used car" sales pitches. "We the People" are no longer willing to empower these plutocratic goals. Let's reopen those boarded up store fronts! End Urban Blight, and let’s restore the Charm and true Character to our Neighborhoods and Communities. From Cafes, to Bicycle shops, clothing stores, Pizza and Burger Joints, Jewelry stores, and anything we can imagine and need! Community by Community, State House after State House, all the way to the White House. We are living in dangerous times for America. Random Violence, Racism, and Scary Radicalism are on the rise. These are all the earmarks of a Society and Nation in decline. The vast majority of the Republican Presidential Candidates have clearly stated that they intend to destroy the last threads of protection for working class Americans. The consolidated power of Big Finance and the Media, Industrial, Retail and other Monopolies has effectively seized control of our Legislative Process and Our Electoral Process. Citizen’s United has attempted to seal the Fate of our Democracy and must be abolished. The very paper that it’s written on must be burned to ashes! We refuse to accept the loss of the basic principal of “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”. Our course of action is clear and our cause is right, based in fact, history and truth. Please sign and share! Please Get Excited! Better times are coming and we only just need to do our part. It’s time for All Democrats, as well as Republicans and misguided Tea Party supporters, to Unite! Also Every former small business owner now working the floor at Home Depot, Fast Food, Walmart, etc. for less than half of what they and their former employees once earned. The Democratic Party has its Marching Orders. We the undersigned cannot stress this cause with any greater urgency. We implore for your support of this cause. Thank You

From Seattle to San Francisco to Los Angeles, cities and counties up and down the West Coast are leading the charge to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and lifting thousands of working families out of poverty along the way. Why not Portland, Eugene, Salem or Bend? Oregon law currently prohibits cities, counties, and local governments from setting a minimum wage that is higher than the state minimum. It's called "preemption" and it's holding us back. It's time to do away with Oregon's minimum wage preemption law and allow local communities to set their own minimum wage. Add your name!

Friday at the Netroots Nation conference, in one of the most powerful speeches of her career, Elizabeth Warren challenged power -- calling for fewer Wall Street insiders appointed to top government positions, while also calling out structural racism and declaring Black Lives Matter. She told those present, "Anyone who wants to be President should appoint only people who have already demonstrated they are independent, who have already demonstrated that they can hold giant banks accountable, who have already demonstrated that they embrace the kind of ambitious economic policies that we need to rebuild opportunity and a strong middle class in this country." Earlier this week, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee teamed up with Democracy for America on this very issue -- asking all presidential candidates to promise an Attorney General, Treasury Secretary, and other appointees who will fight for the little guy and challenge power. Elizabeth Warren continued, "The only way that candidates for President -- or for any office -- will slow down the revolving door, the only way candidates will say 'enough is enough' is if you -- YOU -- demand that they say it." Please sign the petition and share it with your friends.

I am tired of paying twice as much for gas in California than other states

I AM A 70 YEAR OLD RETIREE ON A FIXED INCPME AND I AM FORCED TO RESTRICT MY LIFE AND WELL BEING DUE TO THE GREED AND MISMANAGEMENT OF FUNDS BY THE STATE AND THERI REFUSAL TO STOP THIS CONSTANT ESCALATION OF COSTS. THE OIL COMPANIES NEED TO BE FINANCIALLY PARALYZED IN ORDER TO MAKE THE OINT CLEAR THAT WE ARE FED UP WITH THEIR BS!!! WE NEED TO STOP ACTING LIKE LOST SHEEP AND START OPENING OUR MOUTHS AND JUST SAY "ABSOLUTELY NO" TO THESE GREED MONGERS!

My husband Dan has 17 year old autistic twins. We received over 14,000 signatures to help defend the rights of the Intellectually Disabled community of Connecticut earlier this year. The previous petition helped to mobilize a community of parents, workers, aids, etc. to take a stance again Governor Malloy's dramatic proposed cuts. After seeing the budget battle and how this community was short changed, these pay increase are especially offensive. We need to make a very strong statement and tell Governor Malloy this is NOT OK.

This petition advocates for the re-establishment of the United States Civilian Conservation Corps in the 21st Century (HR 1966 - 114th Congress)as a direct INVESTMENT for both our Nation's most valuable Human Resource Capital and our precious Natural Resource Capitol! FMI http://www.goccci.org Consider joining: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CCCIniative/ FYI: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1966 Please help our non profit to get this NATION - Back to the Future http://wecantakeit.org/id63.html

Governor Christie and his predecessors which include the New Jersey House and Senate have brought about the worst pension crisis in New Jersey history and the very real possibility that public employees will lose part or all of their benefits due to their inability to work together to come to a solution. By adopting an accounting change that will save the state an estimated $2.5 billion annually the state can secure a loan to fully fund the pension with no net cost to employees, no direct cost to public institutions, and no increase in taxes and allow pension fund to be saved. This will allow the state to improve it's credit rating and save the most important asset public employees rely on in retirement. Public employees and tax paying citizens should all join in to force the state government and public institutions to adopt the accounting change in order to save the pension system to avoid the inevitable short term kick the can down the road fix that has led to the current pension crisis. Otherwise, there's a possibility that the fix will come at the expense of everyday taxpayers who are not responsible for their governments inability to solve the pension crisis. Without the $2.5 billion annual accounting change savings, taxpayers will be asked at some point to come to the rescue of the pension system thru higher taxes and public employees will be asked to increase their contributions and give up a big percentage of their benefits, all because the state and public institutions cannot ask for more revenue to put into the system without raising taxes.

We want to know who's playing the music we're hearing, who produced it, who arranged it, where it was recorded and by whom. When this information is withheld, our identity has been stolen.

NAFTA COST THE UNITED STATE MANY JOBS. TPP WILL BE EVEN WORSE. WE NEED A PRESIDENT AND A CONGRESS WHO WILL KEEP THEIR WORD.

Since the Great Depression in 1938, the GSEs (Fannie Mae and more recently Freddie Mac) have been providing liquidity in the housing market and enabling Americans to obtain 30-year, reasonably priced, fixed-interest rate mortgages so that they can purchase homes. Homeownership is the mostly likely path for middle class Americans to gain some measure of economic independence. Since 2012, the Treasury (in an illegal money grab) has been confiscating all profits of the privately-owned GSEs. This type of abuse of power should concern all Americans, especially since it destabilizes a main component of our economy - the housing market. Many in government want to eliminate the GSEs and give all their business to their political donors, the Too-Big-To-Fail Banks, making these banks (that caused the 2008 recession) even bigger and more powerful and likely eliminating the 30-year mortgage and the American Dream of Homeownership.