Offshore accounts should be illegal, so that those who earn over $250,000 annually should pay US taxes & be held accountable. This would decrease the deficit substantially.

We have the most regressive tax structure of any state. The poor are suffering with high sales and property taxes. Of course even apartment dwellers pay the property tax through their rent. We need to add an income tax to make our tax structure more progressive - and hopefully reduce sales and property tax - and fully fund education.

Passing legislation now to raise the minimum wage to $10/hr by 2015 is not only necessary, but long-past warranted. Many Americans left behind in the wake of corporate greed have been left no alternative than to accept positions with organizations that only pay minimum wage, no matter what skills or experience the employee brings. That has had the effect of throwing millions of workers into poverty. In the richest country in the world, where corporate profits and CEO compensations have never been higher, that has a stock-market that has come roaring back, to have millions of working families living in poverty is a travesty. Please, join me in telling our representatives that this is no longer acceptable and the minimum wage must be increased to allow our fellow citizens the simple luxuries of food and roofs over their heads.

In the State of the Union, President Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage and to tie it to inflation. This is a huge step -- minimum wage workers have been falling behind for decades. Raising the minimum wage and tying it to inflation will ensure we don't leave them behind in the future. Here in Connecticut, we know we can't wait for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell to agree. We need the State Senate to take the first step. It's time to raise the minimum wage. Sign our petition to tell the State Senate to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation!

I am an owner of a one family residential house in Union, NJ, purchased in 1996. My property tax in 1996 was roughly $4,200 and now its $9,400 in 2012.

In the State of the Union, President Obama called for raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour. We need it desperately. Please, Congress, raise the minimum wage. I immigrated to Maryland from Cameroon in search of a better life. Today, I work as a day laborer, making just the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour. I do construction and other physical labor. If the boss tells you to go breakdown a wall, and you spend all day breaking it down. It's demanding. You use every ounce of physical strength and every muscle in your body, and when you get home you are exhausted. But you have no money to show for all the hard work. The money goes to rent, bus fare, food, and taxes. It's frustrating and it's scary. It's impossible to keep my rent paid, keep the lights on and keep food on the table on the minimum wage. It's impossible to save for the future. It's impossible to imagine supporting a family. Workers making the minimum wage are truly struggling. Please, Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader McConnell: don't block President Obama's minimum wage increase. We need a raise.

I was a an Officer that was assaulted in DC Jail by an Inmate. Because I did not sleep around with the Supervisors, I was never placed in another position. I lost my home because I am a single parent of three daughters in College. No policies are in place for Officers that are hurt (No light duty posts). You have to do sexual favors for Supervisors and Management to get results.

The Goverment Tries all sorts of tatics to stimulate the economy, but the Power houses such as Sallie Mae will make it impossible. The unreasonalbe amounts they try and make you pay after shool leaves no money to put into the economy. School Loans are the biggest source of debt in America, want to stimulate the economy, make school loan repayment affordable.

On November 6, Long Beach voters overwhelmingly approved a minimum wage for hotel workers in their city. The law guarantees that these workers will be paid about $2,000 a month for full-time work and receive five paid sick days a year. These modest provisions would help hotel workers and their families, while boosting the economy for everyone in Long Beach. The hotels, many of which are owned by wealthy out-of-state corporations, have been thriving and could easily afford to pay the minimum wage while maintaining healthy profits. However, they are doing everything in their power to thwart the will of the voters and punish their own employees – putting a few extra dollars of profit ahead of the interests of Long Beach residents and businesses, as well as the lives of hotel workers’ families. Now we need your help to save the Long Beach minimum wage. For the past two months, hotels covered by the law have gone to great lengths to circumvent the minimum wage law. Some have claimed to have closed rooms, since the law applies only to hotels with 100 rooms or more. Others have reduced workers' hours so they no longer qualify for health benefits, increased workloads to unmanageable levels, or taken away meals and parking. Hotel workers are not the only ones being hurt by these tactics. Studies have shown that the law would bring $7 million of revenue to the city - a huge boon to local businesses and the Long Beach economy. This critical economic stimulus is now in jeopardy. It's up to the Long Beach City Council to pass legislation to honor the will of the voters by enforcing the minimum wage law and restoring the benefits of hotel workers. Please sign our petition today.

I'm just a working class head-of-household American that is tired of worrying about "small" issues like Social Security and Medicaid. Rather than cut these worthwhile (and dire necessity) programs, why not put a tax on the people who caused much of our economic problems.

I am a 13 year veteran in the Hospitality Business and have worked on both coasts of the United States. While living in San Francisco, CA I was compensated with living wages and city wide health care. The differential of cost of living from coast to coast in major metropolitan areas is not so great that wages should differ so signifigantly. In addition, working long hours, with no daily overtime pay, or working with illness because of no state ordained sick pay is, in essence, abuse of minimum wage workers, trying to live day in and day out. Please help support my cause and urge congress to increase hospitality workers rights, compensation and benefits!

The Cleveland Plain Dealer printed an article on 2/11/2013 detailing the impact of Governor Kasich's proposed reduction of income tax rates and expansion of services subject to sales tax. Lower and middle income families will be unfairly impacted by these proposals.