The Central Valley has been hit incredibly hard by the great recession and many are finding it impossible to make ends meet. We need a representative that will help our community, not hurt us further. Rep. Jeff Denham needs to represent the needs of the people in our district by supporting the extension of long-term unemployment benefits and by supporting an increase of the minimum wage. Recent votes or current positions of Rep. Jeff Denham that hurt our community: * voted to shut down the government which cost our country millions of dollars * voted to let the U.S. default on its bills (even after more sensible, reasonable member of the Republican party eventually made the right decision to prevent it from happening) * Currently opposes extending long-term unemployment benefits even with the Central Valley's current 14.5% unemployment * Currently opposes raising the minimum wage which would help raise working poor families in the Central Valley out of poverty

In New Jersey, the minimum wage is $7.25. This amount is insufficient for any quality of life. Raising it to $10.10 per hour is a step in the right direction.

In a USA Today poll in January, 2014 close to three-quarters of Americans said that they would support an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. But even though a majority of Americans at least want this issue decided by Congress, House Speaker John Boehner will not allow it; precisely because the vote wouldn’t go his way. More than 4.4 million Americans currently earn federal minimum wage or less; more than half are adults and 284,000 of them are college graduates. Two-thirds are women, and almost 60 percent of minimum-wage women over 25 are the sole bread winner in their household. Two-thirds work for businesses that have at least 100 employees; so much for the argument that raising the minimum wage would devastate small businesses. Congress voted to bail out financial institutions; it is time to improve the lives of mainstream Americans. 71% of Americans support raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to at least $10.10 an hour, according to an January 2014 poll. However Representative Renacci has chosen to listen to special interest groups. After nearly half a century of neglect, today the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is decades out of date. In terms of purchasing power, its value is 30 percent lower today than it was in 1968. On the other hand, many corporations are posting record-breaking profits. The Wall Street Journal reported. Join us by signing this petition and hold Congress responsible for helping the middle class. Representative Renacci; it’s time to raise the Minimum Wage.

I've worked at many minimum wage jobs and they're all hard work little pay no benefits and thankless jobs-people deserve to earn a fair wage-Rep Kinzinger may want to switch jobs with one of the poor souls and see-hit the gas pump too and see how that goes as part of the budget-this is some of my thoughts on minimum wage work

I want to encourage a more positive view about the importance of paying taxes. The current narrative seems to be that candidates for public office should always promise to lower taxes or prevent any new taxes. But if people are employed and make money, that's a good thing. Paying taxes is a sign of financial well-being. Let's make the day that taxes are due a day to celebrate the many ways we contribute to one another and keep growing as a nation.

Every city has a fair, for example North Ogden has Cherry Days and Brigham City has Peach Days. Now both are really fun and I'm sure brings in a lot of money for the city. I remember spending up near almost 200 dollars at Peach days. Ogden is a Beautiful city we have our historic 25th street and we are building the temple that you can marvel at even if your not a mormon. Back when I was younger my family loved going to street fairs all around the state but we loved Ogden's most because it was in our city and we supported giving our money to the city to help business's and the city. I want the fairs back so that i can give my money to the city to help local business's and show that we are a fun town.

I am a small restaurant owner with 40 employees and I pay a minimum of $10.10 per hour to my employees. One staff member came to us after working for McDonald's for 10 years. She started in 1999 at $5.50 per hour and worked long hours just to get by. After 10 years she had to work overtime just to bring home $350 a week, and had no life and was exhausted every day. Now that she is making $12 per hour, she doesn't have to work overtime and feels that her work is valued when she gets a decent raise. She is able to pay her bills and is not worried every week about how she is going to make it. Raising the minimum wage means that people have more money to spend, and they will spend it at stores in the 23rd District on food, gas, books, music, electronics, entertainment and services. When I pay my employees more money, they also spend it in my restaurant. Keeping wages low does not make my business run better when my staff are stressed and worried about not being able to pay their bills. Increasing wages does not make me fire people, it provides me with a stable and satisfied workforce and low turnover. Increasing the minimum wage both helps workers and reduces the need for supplemental government assistance programs like food stamps -- goals that people favoring smaller government should support. In fact thousands of families in the poorest counties in the 23rd district would be lifted out of poverty with a minimum wage increase to $10.10.

I would like to get a raise. I make less than the proposed new Minimum Wage. And yet I am 57.

Adjunct Faculty make up 70% of the faculty at Colorado Institutions of Higher Ed. They receive ridiculously low pay and no benefits. This does not encourage the best teachers to teach. This is a glaring inequity that undermines our Higher Ed system.

It's not just teenagers working part time for spending money to replace their weekly allowances. Many families in our district depend upon minimum wage earners to pay the bills. The current minimum wage leads to poverty for many households. That's why I am asking Rep. Daniel Webster to show that his interests are with working families and not big corporations by supporting an increase in the minimum wage.

I am a public school teacher and have seen so many of my colleagues/para educators struggle to make ends meet, many have to work a second job. I see many community members come to the food pantry at my church, on a weekly basis.

Americans who work hard - some even juggling 2 or 3 jobs - shouldn't be struggling to pay their bills and feed their families. Yet this is the reality for thousands because big corporations are allowed to pay their employees poverty wages. Rep. Frelinghuysen should stand with working people by supporting an increase to the minimum wage.