Currently the situation in regard to delinquent child support is lose (child / children: food, basic needs) - lose (custodial parent; not able to provide for children without assistance...) - lose (impoverished and/or irresponsible father will certainly be unable to remedy the situation from a jail /prison cell) - lose (when a non-custodial father goes to jail, the taxpayer (you, me, every taxpayer!) is apt to pay (collectively, big money...) for all of the above. Instead, why not put those delinquent in paying their child support into a structured but respectful work facility where the monies earned go into a pie consisting of self-pay (1 slice; personal needs); child support (2nd slice; taken out and mailed directly to responsible party); and (3rd slice - personal savings; so that upon program completion the individual leaving the work program has a sincere chance at becoming self-supportive and staying up to date on his / her child support). At a theoretical pay rate (less than it cost to keep a person in jail and/or prison for a year) of $9 an hour, for example: $3 per hour ($120 week) would go for personal expenses; $3 per hour ($120 a week) would go for child support; and $3 an hour ($120 a week) would go towards savings (with the goal of obtaining secure housing upon release and staying up to date on child support payments). This is not a trick theory. Rather, it is an idea that would take us, at least in this area, from lose-lose-lose-lose to win-win-win-win. How to finance it? Take the money from the prison system (busting at the seams with non-violent offenders) and redistribute it. Eliminate the Child Support Collection Unit and utilize that money to operate a more dignified program. Give everyone back their dignity. In fact, if you pay one individual - per county - to oversee such a program, with a couple of part-time or even full-time staffers - you have earned back your investment with the first person (or collectively, people) that you keep out of you keep out of jail/prison for a year. Imagine (and I can't imagine why not) the multitude of people - children and families that could be well-served in such a manner - and think of the money (taxpayer wise) that would be saved!

Gandhi said that poverty is the worst form of violence. Our Declaration of Independence states that all have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Poverty denies those rights. At best, a person in poverty has only a half-life - if that. One has little or no liberty as one is imprisoned in the desperate struggle for food, shelter, health care etc. One cannot pursue happiness when one lives perpetually on the edge of starvation. Approximately 50 million people live in poverty in the U.S. according to government figures. 5 million children go to bed every night hungry. Clearly our system has failed and will continue to fail these people. The only solution is to make poverty unconsititutional and to require the government to do whatever it takes to get rid of this grinding poverty. For example, the government could make it a criminal offense for an employer not to pay a living wage. Not a minimum wage, for there are no minimum human beings. A living wage. Every man, woman and child has the right to adequate food, clothing, housing, medical care and education. And we have the resources to do it. If you employ somebody to help you, common humanity says that you should pay him/her a living wage, and not a sub-human wage. I hope that the good people of this country - and there are many good people - rise up and sign this Petition to make Poverty Unconstitutional? Once and for all we need to end the scourge of poverty - both here and around the world. So, let us start here, and let it be a different kind of shot that is heard around the world. We cannot be the UNITED States if we are not united. So, let us unite together to end poverty by enshrining it in the Constitution. Thank you

There are many people nationwide who have been unemployed longer than six months. Unfortunately, company hiring managers or recruiters admittedly disregard resumes or fail to interview based on unstable work histories. The use of this terminology represents being unemployed too long. This ambivalent practice stifles the optimism of securing equal employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of individuals. Stop the omission of qualified individuals from having their livelihood stymied by unfair practices. Allow your opinion to be expressed!

Raising the minimum wage would also restore the dignity of the middle and thus make for a more positive and productive state.

Build America Jobs Program to build up our country's infrastructure like: roads, bridges, schools and libraries.

President Obama is reportedly considering Larry Summers, known for his outdated, chauvinistic views of women, to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. I'm asking Senate Democrats to oppose Summers' confirmation if President Obama picks him to be the next Fed chairman.

We have a sheriff eviction notice to vacate our home this next Thursday July 25th. My wife of 27 years is unable to work and is being denied disability benefits and my daughter is a full time student trying to complete college.

Increase minimum wage to $35 dollars across the board, everyone will benefit, because you will have to raise prices on everything, milk could be as expensive as $20 dollars a gallon, but every service or enterprise would raise their prices so everyone even the lowly Americans barely bringing home $200 hundred dollars per week will benefit, the economy will rise

It was recently reported that the Department of Economic and Community Development has been hiring children and other close relatives of employees for high paying summer jobs within the department. The child of one employee is being paid $14 an hour, and made over $12,000 last summer. There are a limited number of these jobs, just 13, and 3 of them went to family members this summer. These jobs were unadvertised, so locals that might have been interested and qualified didn't even have the chance to apply. This simply isn't right. The DECD should have to perform a fair and open search to fill these positions. Tell the DECD to stop giving out jobs to their employees relatives.

Through the hottest days of the year, workers at the 27 West Lake Dunkin Donuts were forced to work long hours, through the heat of the day, without air conditioning. After days of feeling sick, tired and dizzy they had enough and went on strike until the unsafe conditions were resolved. Thousands of workers are experiencing the same unsafe conditions and Dunkin Donuts should make their safety their number one priority.

In the middle of a heat wave like this, to be expected to stand in a hot kitchen with no air conditioning is inhumane and unsafe. One of my coworkers had to be taken out in an ambulance. We are human beings. We've told McDonald's before that the air conditioning doesn't work and that we can't take the heat but they don't listen to us. We can't take it anymore. No one should have to work like this. That’s why we’re fighting for $15 per hour and the right to form a union free from retaliation.

The housing crisis is not over. Nearly 13 million homeowners owe more on their homes than they are worth and 1 in 4 homes are not only underwater, but at high risk of foreclosure. Our communities can’t afford to wait any longer: we need a chief housing regulator who will stand with homeowners, taxpayers and communities - NOT with Wall Street. Rep. Mel Watt is well-qualified to head the FHFA and will prioritize homeowners and taxpayers first. He’ll set the housing market on the right path to strengthen our entire economy. It’s time for a chief housing regulator who will stand with homeowners, communities and taxpayers. Source: http://npa-us.org/files/housing.crisis.fact_.sheet_1.pdf