San José has suffered 10 years of budget deficits; closed $300 million in deficits through layoffs and cuts in services in the past 3 years, and yet the General Fund will be $78 million in the red next year, and hundreds more layoffs expected. While the city’s population has increase by 100,000, the workforce has shrunk by 30%, providing dwindling services. Since the ‘90s, previous Councils, or labor arbitrators, have increased retirement benefits, particularly in public safety. A public safety officer receives an average pension of $102,000, increased 3% yearly, with free health insurance. Unfortunately for many reasons, including the economic crisis, these benefit increases have created unfunded liabilities in excess of $3.5 billion in San José’s retirement funds, and most of the burden lies on the General Fund. There are no frills to cut; without change these retirement costs will continue the cycle of massive layoffs. Many of us have found our retirement significantly reduced with no bail out. Most of us do not make a 6-figure salary, especially after retirement. I'm not anti-labor, it's just that City Services are essential and cannot be sustained without sacrifices during hard times. Petitions circulated by Councilmember Ash Kalra implied that workers would lose benefits and collective bargaining rights with current proposals. He provided no background information about the dire straights of the city, the efforts undertaken, or inform you that 5 of the city’s 11 unions are currently collectively bargaining! As a San Jose resident who has hosted many Moveon events and parties, I call for all to focus on solutions for the budget deficit, rather than political attacks. Workers, residents and ALL labor leaders need to quit the blame game, and work with the San Jose officials to provide rational solutions to this budget crisis. All residents and businesses of San Jose need to find ways to keep our libraries, parks, police and fire safety services. Let’s work together to solve this budget crisis!

Update - 7/22/2011: Today, the Minnesota government re-opens, and Minnesotans can finally get back to work. Sadly, Republicans chose millionaires over Minnesota’s future. They insisted that tax hikes for the richest Minnesotans be off the table. But your pressure played a vital role in stopping GOP plans to erode critical public services, take away Minnesotans’ workplace rights and put tens of thousands in the private and public sector out of work through mass layoffs. And because of the huge public outcry, Gov. Mark Dayton was also able to put more Minnesotans back to work with his jobs and infrastructure bill. Because of GOP legislators’ continued insistence on protecting millionaires, Minnesota’s revenue shortfall will continue over the next two years. Ultimately, the only way we will truly solve Minnesota’s revenue shortfall and build a better state is for the richest to finally pay their fair share in taxes. We know the public is on our side. And with your help, we are confident that this is a fight we can win. To stay up-to-date on our work, "like" the Minnesota AFL-CIO on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mnaflcio and follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mnaflcio.

What's happening in Madison is unlike anything I've seen in my career in politics. Scott Walker and his allies embrace the cruel, selfish philosophy of Ayn Rand that is devoid of any social responsibility. At a time when we need our leaders to work together to solve our serious problems, Walker and his allies have pushed an extreme agenda that slashes millions from education, makes it harder for seniors, students and minorities to vote, and strips away collective bargaining rights from thousands of workers -- all while handing massive tax breaks to corporate special interests.

We all know a hard days work should pay a decent wage but 300,000 Maryland workers currently earn $7.25/hour - the lowest POSSIBLE minimum wage in the U.S - not enough for a family to survive on. Putting more money into the hands of those who need it most and will spend it quickly on goods and services will create jobs and help rebuild the middle class and our economy. Please sign this petition to call on the Maryland General Assembly to raise the minimum wage to $10/hour over 3 years. Then please forward it to others, learn more, and get involved at RaiseMaryland.org.

Urgent: a budget already approved by the Pennsylvania House inflicts massive pain on working families and the poor—and we only have days to stop it from becoming law. The current budget cuts almost $1 billion from Pennsylvania public schools and slashes $471 million in funding for health care, services for people with disabilities and vulnerable children. It even stashes away $540 million in a “rainy day” fund, while unemployment remains at record levels. But it fails to close corporate loopholes or enact a Marcellus Shale drilling tax—which could help avoid cuts to services for seniors, kids, and other vulnerable citizens, while also helping to mitigate the environmental impact of drilling. (Pennsylvania is one of the only states that does not tax drilling.) We still have a chance to influence the final budget—because negotiations with the governor and Pennsylvania Senate are ongoing. But there isn’t much time. A vote could happen as early as this week.

Pennsylvania is the only state that does not tax drilling. Not only do the Marcellus Shale "frackers" pay no drilling tax, no other drilling is taxed either. Whether you oppose all drilling in the Marcellus Shale, support drilling with restrictions or hold another view, Pennsylvanians agree that drillers must pay their fair share in taxes.

HR 589 was introduced by Representative Barbara Lee in February, 2011. HR 589 would add a 14 week extension to unemployment benefits ( a new Tier). 99ers, many of whom are older workers, were left out of the last extension, leaving them to fend for themselves for over a year. With no jobs and no benefits, not everyone survives.

Stop Pre-Emploment Credit Checks! Many states have already banned the discriminatory practice of checking credit ratings before offering employment but many have yet to catch up. This petition is in effort to raise awareness to Government Officials at all levels in Tennessee that this practice is discriminatory and elitist in nature. It prevents those who have recently fallen on hard times through no fault of their own from joining the workforce again and being productive members of society. I urge you to take a stand for the hard working Tennesseans that want to work. US States That Took Action to Eliminate Credit Checks in Non-Financial Employment * In the Northeast: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Maryland, Pennsylvania. * In the Midwest: Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, * In the South: Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina * In the South/West: Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Arkansas * In the West: California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Nebraska

Men and Women are being denied jobs and homes or apartments and other important things because of bad credit and other things such as judgements or liens and they are not the ones who signed for the loans. If your spouse or ex spouse does not take care of loans or credit it hurts innocent people that may be resposible in the past but new things hurt the innocent spouse or in the case of divorce ex spouse

Urgent: Gov. Walker and Wisconsin Republicans are calling an “extraordinary session” of the legislature, beginning Tuesday, June 14. By this Friday, they're expected to use this session to slash our education, health care and support systems, and jam through rights-stripping attacks on Wisconsin workers. The people of Wisconsin have stood together for over 100 days in a historic response to the unprecedented assault on the working and middle classes. Wisconsinites have rallied, marched and even set up tent cities to call attention to Gov. Walker’s devastating budget proposals and to stop the attacks on working people. But even with recalls of anti-worker legislators looming, the attacks continue. Even if we don't stop Walker and his friends in the legislature, we need to continue to make sure the governor, the legislature, and the media understand that the people of Wisconsin don't support their radical agenda.

In the state of Oklahoma there are countless men and women who are felons and cannot attain profitable employment due to discrimination by business & industry with restrictions on hiring people with felonies. Leaving many homeless and relying on welfare and generosity of strangers to survive. We need jobs!

NYS homeowners will learn soon enough that unless you accompany the tax levy cap with true local tax relief, and seriously address mandates and other sources of rising costs, the only way is out - out of New York. Pay for Circuit Breaker relief with extension of the Millionaire's tax on true millionaires. Or, re-direct the $1.5 billion property tax revenues - realized by rescinding middle-class STAR - to Circuit Breaker legislation before the legislature right now. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers paid 10-50 percent of their income in property taxes this year, last year and the year before. A tax cap, whatever its merits, assures annual increases in those tax bills. The ranks of the overly taxed will grow as the recession continues. NYS's problem is NOT state income tax - or maybe it is. When you and those before you say, "No new taxes," you're talking state income taxes. We at the local level know what follows: increased local taxes. Yes, rein in costs with mandate reform, healthcare reform and intelligent policy - but do something NOW that will honestly help the middle-class stay in their homes and in New York. Please, lead with the facts and good public policy for all.