In early February, the Senate narrowly failed to pass a three-month extension of assistance to the long-term unemployed, due to disagreements over how to pay for it. While many Democrats object in principle to offsetting an extension of unemployment assistance, as a practical matter there is no plausible political path in the near future to extending assistance to the long-term unemployed that does not include an offset. Fortunately, the roughly $6 billion cost can be covered by cutting $5.7 billion from the war budget that never belonged there in the first place - it was money put there by Congress that the President never requested. Congress put that money there to pay for Pentagon contractor pork that wouldn't fit in the base Pentagon budget. If that money isn't redirected to some useful purpose, it's going to be wasted on Pentagon contractor pork. Sign our petition to Congress and the President: the $5.7 billion that is about to be wasted on Pentagon contractor pork should be used to help 1.7 million unemployed Americans and their families instead.

The Minnesota House recently passed HR 92, a bill that would raise Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50. The current minimum wage of $7.25 just isn’t enough for workers to be able to provide for themselves and their families. Send a message to the Minnesota Legislature now and urge lawmakers to pass HR 92 and give a raise to 256,100 Minnesota workers.

AB 750, ripped straight out of the ALEC model-legislation playbook, will decimate what remains of Wisconsin local control. The anti-living wage initiative makes it impossible for local municipalities to enact regional ordinances to fight record income inequality. Tea-party obstructionists, corporate meddlers, and Milwaukee's millionaire County Executive Chris Abele are using state preemption to undermine the will of the people. It's a direct attack on democracy, don't stand for it!

Sen. Bob Corker has made some very serious intimidating, threats intended to sway the outcome of a union election at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Here’s what Sen. Corker said: "I've had conversations today and based on those am assured that should the workers vote against the UAW, Volkswagen will announce in the coming weeks that it will manufacture its new mid-size SUV here in Chattanooga." Corker hasn’t cited a source for this comment and previous statements from Volkswagen indicates this is not accurate. It seems like Corker’s statement is solely intended to dissuade workers from forming another union in Tennessee. Please sign and send the emergency message to Sen. Corker demanding he stop intimidating workers and threatening his own constituents with economic misery in order to swing the results of an election to unionize.

The union label is something that stands for quality and is a sign that workers are being paid fairly and have a voice in their workplace. "Roofers Union" recently opened in Adams Morgan, DC and not only give a nod to the actual United Union of Roofers, AFL-CIO, but their logo even is meant to resemble a union bug. Bringing attention to workers and unions is excellent for all workers, but it is only right that by doing so, "Roofer's Union" restaurant will also pay their workers a fair, living wage and provide them with benefits, as all unions do to their members.

All over the country, immigrant women work hard to support their families. Many immigrant women count on the federal Child Tax Credit to provide crucial financial support for their families. Right now, the Senate is considering the Ayotte amendment -- an amendment to a bill that would eliminate this key support for hard-working families. The amendment would deny the federal Child Tax Credit to the families of 1 million little DREAMers -- young children who have come to the United States with their families and whose parents file taxes using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. Tell the Senate to support families and kids. Don’t let them eliminate the Child Tax Credit for the families of little DREAMers!

New York has the worst income inequality in the nation--- that’s more than 3 million men and women who are working hard, playing by the rules, and still living in poverty. Part of the problem is the state’s woefully inadequate minimum wage. Especially in high cost areas like New York City, $8 / hour just isn’t enough to pay the bills, much less save for a brighter future. That’s why Albany should allow cities and counties to supplement the state minimum wage, so it more realistically reflects each area’s cost of living.

There is people that were born, grew up and lived their entire life using these public lands (Organ Mountains). Some even make their living off of these public lands, by leasing the land from the BLM. We don't want this land to become a national monument. President Obama please do not sign the bill to turn the Organ Mountains into a National Monument.

We cannot force these Companies to bring back our jobs, but we should not subsidize, or support Companies that do export American Jobs. When jobs are shipped overseas there are fewer Tax Payers to take up the slack for the massive tax breaks these Companies already receive.

Widening inequality--with a small number of people getting an increasing share of income and wealth—makes a mockery of equal opportunity, slows upward mobility, undermines democracy, hobbles our economy by reducing overall demand, and risks the fracture of our society. Everyone, even those at the top, would do better with a smaller share of a rapidly growing economy than with a large share of an anemic one. We must restore the basic economic bargain epitomized by Henry Ford that workers are also consumers and must earn enough to buy the goods and services they can produce. There is a moral urgency and a practical one. We must act now before both our economic and political systems crumble under the weight of dissention and conflict.

Last year, in the midst of a budget crunch, Illinois could have generated $108.3 million if we modernized our state’s tax code by closing offshore tax haven loopholes with a simple reform similar to recent laws enacted in Oregon and Montana. This would eliminate incentives for moving businesses offshore, level the playing field for Illinois businesses that compete with multinational corporations, and protect regular taxpayers who are picking up the tab for tax dodgers. The $108.3 million saved would be enough to cover the salaries for 3,000 Illinois teachers, or could be used to eliminate hunting and fishing license fees and cut amusement licenses by over 90 percent without any loss of revenue. Rather than waiting for Congress to close offshore tax havens, Illinois can follow the lead of other states and save millions of dollars to help alleviate our budget crisis without raising taxes or cutting spending to important public programs.

General Electric is one of the worst corporate tax dodgers out there. It has managed to pay ZERO dollars in federal income taxes for four recent years -- thanks to some big tax loopholes and some clever accounting. The company has mobilized a small army of lobbyists in Washington this year, because one of its most profitable tax loopholes has just expired. This loophole -- known as the "active financing" loophole -- lets General Electric put off paying its U.S. taxes indefinitely when it shifts the profits it makes from interest and dividends to offshore tax havens. This one loophole will cost $70 billion over the next 10 years. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that a large package of corporate tax loopholes, which includes the active financing loophole, should be renewed without the cost being covered. That’s not right. Our country should not go further into debt to keep a tax loophole open for a profitable, tax-dodging corporation like General Electric. This loophole shouldn’t even exist in the first place. Tell Sen. McConnell to end the active financing tax loophole, period. Make General Electric and other big corporations pay their fair share of taxes.