This petition is addressed to the Alaska Legislature to ask them not to undo the Alaska Clear and Equitable Share act (ACES) which greatly benefits Alaska. ACES has provided much extra revenue for many necessary and beneficial projects in Alaska, and the jobs to build them. There will be a loss of jobs and project revenue and benefit to Alaska if it is overturned. When Alaska became a State, we didn't model our constitution after run-of -the-mill constitutions, but after the best at the time. This was the case with the creation of ACES, which was long overdue in it's creation, and a miracle it actually happened under a Republican administration. It provides strong incentives for exploration and development our oil resource, but still gives Alaska a fair share. If anyone should profit from the price of oil skyrocketing worldwide, Alaskan projects are as worthy to benefit, if not more so, as anyone standing to profit incidentally may be. The Petroleum Industry is financing a full-scale campaign to persuade us to fatten their profit margins. Not that it is hurting in this state. It is profiting, significantly. But they want even more wealth, which would probably not remain in Alaska. The facts belie many of the industry's arguments. Petroleum Industry employment and projects on the north slope have not gone down since the creation of ACES. And the spending on Alaskan infrastructure development has been able to go up. It is probably a good bet that the oil development will expand in Alaska in the near future no matter what, given the huge resource and profit incentive. And if it didn't happen immediately, it would be there for our children. Norway shares the diverse latitudes and climate of Alaska, and also an oil industry; yet it has over $500 Billion of oil resource wealth in its permanent fund, after paying for benefits for a population six times larger than our state. Norway's petroleum royalty is the only to exceed that of Alaska, at current rates, and yet and the oil industry is in no hurry to leave Norway. They are doing fine. When it comes to this current big push to overturn ACES, we should not be so dense as to not consider the source at this time - Governor Sean Parnell. It is often overlooked that he has been a long-time lobbyist for ConocoPhillips, who is financing much of the current campaign to overturn ACES, and who would stand to make billions in return for their media campaign investment in this regard. Let's not get caught up in the emotional propaganda generated by the "undo ACES" campaign, and keep a very sound policy for Alaska. It is something to be proud of, without apology!

Landlords in the City of Lewiston are facing greater difficulty maintaining quality housing amidst the current economic climate. As a City with the highest poverty rates in two of the most densely populated census tracts, the rental market is unable to respond to increases in operating expenses by spreading costs amongst tenants who have limited ability to pay. Landlords are asking the City of Lewiston to remove the trash collection fees that were formerly included as a benefit of being a tax payer.

The PA State Legislature has the opportunity to save lives by adding a tax to non-smoking tobacco products and by increasing monetary support for tobacco cessation and prevention programming. PA is the only state that does not tax non-smoking tobacco products. These changes may prevent youth from becoming tobacco users.

Long before the economic tailspin, Flight attendants were being replaced with cheap labor, and to make it more palatable to our Commander and chief, and the public as well, it appears that they are only replacing foreign unionized interpreters. Instead, with the union removed, we are all slowly being replaced by "language speakers". "IT'S Discrimination!" America does not need a huge group of baby boomers collecting unemployment and retirement. instead we need our Jobs to continue helping the economy recover!!

130,000 Italians just signed a petition calling for the Catholic churches in Italy to pay taxes on all properties they own to help cure it's financial ills. I propose that ALL churches here in America do the same: Close the tax loopholes that exempt ALL properties owned by churches!

It's the year 2012. The permitting process for mining is both lengthy and exhaustive to mine for copper and nickel in Minnesota. The actual mining process takes place 3,000 to 4,000 feet underground not on the surface. Neither the State of Minnesota nor the residents of Ely, MN want to see their backyard destroyed but DO believe that in these modern times, we actually can mine unobtrusively and without damaging our precious environment. Ely, MN is suffering significantly with a declining ability to survive on tourism as the years and bad economy have chiseled away steadily at the population here. We need to do something and sell a product that everybody needs, that being nickel. It's is used in every thing from iPads to cellphones to stainless steel and the US currently imports all of it. Let Ely, MN contribute to its own sustainability and the economy of the United States in a meaningful, tangible way. Support the mining efforts for the underground mine south of Ely MN.

http://wh.gov/81O I was on a recent conference call with White House officials, during which research funding was discussed. It seemed to me that these officials did not fully understand the central importance of NIH funding to our national research enterprise, to our local economies, to the retention and careers of our most talented and well-educated people, to the survival of our medical educational system, to our rapidly fading worldwide dominance in biomedical research, to job creation and preservation, to national economic viability, and to our national academic infrastructure. In response to a question from a participant, they staunchly defended the proposed flat $30.7 billion FY 2013 NIH budget as being perfectly adequate, remarking that “The NIH receives more funding than any other research entity; it will continue to be strong; it will do just fine.” This is not the case. The proposed flat NIH budget will severely exacerbate a catastrophic crisis that has been ongoing since 2003, when growth in NIH funding fell (and has continued to fall every subsequent year) behind the rate of inflation. As a consequence of this deeply flawed public policy, promising careers have been cut short, amazing research projects have been aborted, hundreds of laboratories nationwide have shrunk or been shut down, established and accomplished senior researchers have been forced to abandon their programs, young scientists have departed from research of even left the country (even after many years of productive training), thousands of ancillary jobs have been lost, our worldwide medical research dominance has been eroded (ceded to China, India, and other nations), and a large support network of laboratory supply and biotechnology companies has been drastically attenuated. We successfully rescued the auto industry because we understood the ramifications of letting it fail. Our biomedical research infrastructure is just as far-reaching and vitally important to our nation’s economy as is the auto industry. I hope that our Administration understands this. In response to this apparent lack of understanding of the current medical research crisis, I started the following petition: Dear friends, I write to let you know about a recently created petition on "We the People", a new feature on WhiteHouse.gov <http://WhiteHouse.gov> , and ask for your support. If this petition gets 25,000 signatures by March 18, 2012, the White House will review it and respond! We the People allows anyone to create and sign petitions asking the Obama Administration to take action on a range of issues. If a petition gets enough support, the Obama Administration will issue an official response. “You can view and sign the petition here: http://wh.gov/81O Here's some more information about this petition: Increase NIH budget to $33 billion dollars next fiscal year! A flat $30.7 billion will kill jobs and hurt research. Increase NIH spending to $33 billion! The proposed flat NIH budget will close labs nationwide, kill good-paying jobs, damage our worldwide medical research dominance, and hurt state economies. NIH jobs cannot be outsourced. NIH funding created 350,000 jobs and contributed $50 billion to the national economy in 2007! Insource our jobs!! Stephen J. Meltzer, M.D. The Harry & Betty Myerberg/Thomas R. Hendrix Professor Departments of Medicine (GI Division) and Oncology The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine & Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center 1503 E. Jefferson Street, Room 112 Baltimore, MD 21287

The right to work law pending before the Minnesota Legislature, is a blatant attack on Workers Rights. It will affect everything from lowering workers wages to contract negotiations and health and welfare.

Dear North Saanich Resident and/or Owner, A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure 83 acres of land for agriculture, in perpetuity, for North Saanich residents is before North Saanich council right now. However, it is being met with resistance from some council members. The current owners of Sandown Racetrack have offered to give the District of North Saanich 83 acres of agricultural land in exchange for retaining 12 acres for commercial development. To compensate for those 12 acres coming out of the ALR, the District of NS has twelve acres of land it will put into the ALR, so that there is no net change of land in the ALR. This proposal has the support of the Agricultural Land Commission, and the CRD under the Regional Growth Strategy. It is a tremendous opportunity for present and future North Saanich residents. To make this proposal a reality for the benefit of all North Saanich residents we need your support. Signing this petition will help make this happen. We will benefit by: a) A significant increase to our tax base in perpetuity (estimated at a minimum of $350,000 per year of new tax revenue from just the commercial portion, a total of $371,000 when added to present lease income); b) 83 acres of farmland as a community asset for the benefit of present and future residents. While the final uses of the land have not been determined yet, it could be used for leasing to farmers, community allotment gardens, teaching school children how to grow food, a permanent farmer’s market, agricultural education – and lots more; c) Economic spin off and potential revenues from development of the lands, both commercial and agricultural; d) Additional local jobs from the commercial development; e) Enhanced food security. If this proposal is rejected, the owner advises he will sell the land, as 8 estate lots, which would result in annual taxes totaling no more than $18,000. Full details of the proposal are available at the district website: http://www.northsaanich.ca/Municipal_Hall/District_Projects/Sandown_Racetrack_Proposal.htm Critics have voiced the following concerns: Myth #1: The municipality will “become farmers”. Fact: That has never been the intention. Once the municipality has acquired the land there will be further consultation with the community to consider possible options for third party leasing and/or management agreement. Myth #2: The farming will be subsidized by the District, thereby competing with existing farmers. Fact: Since any farmers using the land would pay fair lease rates, this is not a concern. Myth #3: There will be an increase in our taxes. Fact: This point is simply false as new taxes and revenues from the Sandown lands will cover all costs to meet ALC conditions. This proposal is self-sustaining using tax revenue and lease income that will not materialize if the proposal is not approved. And once the reclamation is complete, all tax revenue will continue to the benefit of the Municipality in perpetuity. Myth #4: There will be significant start-up costs that will need to be “front-ended” by the taxpayers. Fact: Again not true as any early stage costs will be paid from lease revenue and contributions from the present owner. Please sign the attached petition, and forward it to any other adults who live in your household, as well as any other North Saanich residents or owners you think will be interested. This is too good an opportunity to let pass us by, and it will be lost to us if we don’t act. Please sign now. Thank you, The Friends of Sandown Community Farm Email: [email protected]

Stuart Shaw of Bonner Carrington is proposing an "Affordable Multi Family" 244 unit complex off 290W between Ledge Stone Dr. and Four Star Blvd. To complete this project he will be requesting a tax abatement from Hays County. A tax abatement will unnecessarily burden the citizens of the Dripping Springs area.

In South Carolina, unemployment insurance as we know it is on the chopping block. Over 200,000 South Carolinians are currently unemployed. These are our friends, neighbors and family members who are struggling to find work. But instead of helping create good jobs, right-wing legislators and Gov. Haley have proposed a slew of destructive bills this year—blaming jobless workers and their families for an economic downturn they didn’t create. Their latest stunt? A bill which would require unemployed workers to pass drug tests to get their unemployment insurance, look for only full-time employment opportunities after a certain period and force them to take minimum wage work after a short period of time on unemployment. It's time for South Carolina lawmakers to stop these attacks and focus on real policies that create good jobs for South Carolinians.

Right to work law. Republicans are trying to bust the Unions.