Minimum wage has been frozen for decades. Instead of $7.25 per hour, $11.00 per hour is more appropriate. If 5.2% of our working population is at or below minimum wage, this would be a win, win, for everyone--even those who are paying more for their minimum wage employees would see an increase in their sales volumes, and the country would see an increase in tax revenues available for public works. I propose the change start on the local level--by the city and by the county. Incentives for local employers to pay more could be encouraged by local cities, for example, stating there will be an increase for business license fees, or perhaps, building permits and others except for those employers who are willing to increase their minimum wage employees to $11.00 per hour. It would be good PR for the big box stores within the city to lead the charge.

We need to institute a 1% tax on derivative sales transactions on Wall Street. Currently, Wall Street makes about 100 TRILLION DOLLARS per year on derivative sales...and...they pay NO TAX at all for this profit. A 1% tax of the sale of derivatives will bring about 10 TRILLION dollars in revenue which can be used to eliminate our national debt in about 2 years! Some Democratic and Republican representatives are considering bills in Congress to do this...they need our support! Europe has already voted to implement this tax to cure their debt issues...we need to do the same! For more details on this tax, visit http://www.robinhoodtax.org/ .

Do not amend the Constitution to require a balanced federal budget. Defcit spending is appropriate sometimes ---- in a poor economy to invest in the future and make up for a lack of private spending. Balanced budgets are appropriate sometimes --- in a good economy to pay back the debt built up in the poor economy. Balanced budget amendments in the states usually mean no tax increases, only spending cuts of the programs that benefit the most vulnerable. We would all be affected by a balanced budget amendment. It would tie the hands of our government and enshrine the growing inequity between the rich and the poor.

The title it self is deceiving! Most Americans when asked to decide if Right to Work was for them were misled by legislators and major Corporations that this bill would give them more pay, a bigger voice in deciding what happens in their work enviroment and UNIONS would have little to no voice in deciding who gets a job. Since it's approval workers realize they have no voice, their job can be tqaken from them as easy as it was hard to get and that UNIONS are their only menas of protection. Given the choice to reassess, I believe this law can be defeated.

Paying a living wage would solve many problems in our country. Over half of the poor in this country work, yet they need government services such as food stamps and Medicaid. Turn these folks into taxpayers rather than people needing our tax dollars. Stop the subsidies to business that pay poverty wages. Give work dignity by paying people a fair and just wage. We all do better when everyone is doing better.

When the Rich get all the money, they either run the business into the bankruptcy ground or just close the doors taking all the money. This whole process has driven products & services into other countries leaving us with no jobs, no products or Out Sourced by the likes of Bain. The Rich, having all the money, have tied up their money such that the money can not be used for other businesses needing loans. This is called pulling up the ladder of success from everyone else. This makes the banks caretakers of THEIR money and not an finical institution designed to work for the total good of any community. We need loans, too, for our cars, trucks, & homes. But with the money tied up security notes or other finical instrument, it is not available to the banks to loan out.

YES, I AM PAYING HIGHER TAXES SINCE OBAMA HAS BEEN IN OFFICE. I'M TIRED OF HAVING THE MIDDLE CLASS TAXED WHILE THE RICH AND ULTRA RICH PAY LITTLE TO NO INCOME TAXES. LET THE BURDEN FALL ON THOSE WHO CAN TRULY AFFORD THE TAXES!!!!!!!

As a past college administrator, I am so concerned about the level of student debt in this country. Students have been led to borrow huge amounts of money often at for profit colleges without the placement statistics to give students a fighting chance at landing a job which will allow them to ever pay back their loan. They may never have enough money to own a home, buy a car or put anything away for their own retirement. Additionally, it becomes an albatross around their necks that affects their energy and capabilities to the detriment of the country as a whole. Without some way to defeat these loans through some form of civil service, loan forgiveness, employer incentives as part of a benefits package or other creative process an entire generation of citizens could be lost to poverty. Also, the vast size of the debt has the potential to become the next bubble to burst as graduates, unable to meet their pay back requirements default, the country could once again be facing an economy melt down.

Edward Rose and Sons is the landlord for the apartment I live in. Each Month I scrape together enough to have a place to stay but often it is not on the day it is due. If you pay by the 5th of the month there is a $25 late fee that rises to $75 if rent is not received by the 9th. By the 12th of the month, the landlord begins eviction papers and the tenant now incurs court costs of $120. Thus, if I am relying on my unemployment to pay my rent by the time I can get it together ( $294/ bi-weekly) (rent=$545) there is an additional $220 in fees which get tagged on to my bill. There should be AT LEAST one month before eviction papers are filed with the court, as most renters have a security deposit and tenants should not be squeezed for fees that impede the ability to get ahead.

Those of us who are of "retirement" age and who haven't been able to find intelligent positions that pay intelligent salaries, and who need to find such positions because our savings & assents are melting away, need to be able to find such jobs. We need real work that is realistic for our ages and abilities, useful for society, and that pays enough to live on.

To run and control a State bank outside the big banks that brought us this event.This can be revenue generating for the state and the residents.

Senior Citizens are having a much harder time supplementing their social security with paying employment, yet it's first on the list to be cut for the good of the budget, as well as medicare. Yet congress has no such concerns.