I was laid off from my previous job almost a year ago. Since then I have been applying for city, county and different government jobs that suited my background and experience. I was excited at first, since I thought if I passed the written examinations with high scores and interviews, I would have the chance to find a job in the system. Little did I know that it is not about WHAT you know, rather about WHO you know in the system. Unfortunately I have no inside connection. LA County DHR is posting bogus jobs on their website, invite people to apply, spend thousands of dollars on written examinations, and all this for a show only. They do this to simply show that they abide by the law. Nonsense! They never announce how many positions they have open. I asked one time and I was told only one position was open, and yet, there were more than 3000 applicants full of hope to find a job. In addition to this, the county system is full of grandfathered employees who barely know how to use a computer, yet, the young people with more potential and energy are jobless. I met several employees in the county who could barely talk clearly, and yet, I am here with my UI benefits being threatened by a cut (since CA does not have a budget for that!!!). If someone may ask how does CA spend her budget? When was the last time the board of supervisors reviewed or updated the policies of DHR and how the department operates? I think it is time to get someone's attention to this fact of concern to me and thousand other Californians. After you go through the entire stressful process of examination and interview, you get a letter that your name is in the eligible list of candidates and that list is active from 6-12 months only. What the hell is that? After 6-12 months, the entire process will be put on show again with different candidates. I tried to contact DHR and ask them why is the list life so short? All they did, emailed me the link to the civil codes governing DHR. Great! Who is in charge of updating or revising these codes based on today's economy and life??? One time I had to go through 6 stressful phases for one position, and at the end, after I inquired about it, the list life my name was on, was only for 6 months...If they have one position open at a time, the hell, I will get a job within 6 months...Ridiculous...Someone, please help me understand the reasoning behind this, please...Who is the mastermind behind this unreasonable codes?

The United States has had one of the best, if not the best postal service in the entire world. When I was a girl, I even had my savings in a postal account! This Christmas, while UPS failed, Priority Mail got my packages coast to coast in record time. I don't want to see our country rely solely on private services, available only to sophisticated urban communities. Save our postal service!

Our rights are not worth anything unless we are willing to stand up for them. The collective voice of our democratic process is under fire from special interests who are able to buy a much larger chair at the negotiating table. Their influence has become so strong, that the candidates WE are left with on election day are usually already bought and paid for. In effect, the election is more of a selection... because special interests have already provided us with THEIR candidates - and that is a BIG part of the problem. What's more, the influence of special interests in Washington has become so powerfully corrosive that it is the special interests themselves that write much of the legislation that is passed. There is also a revolving door and a very questionable conflict of interest for those firms who provide favorable employment to those politicians who cooperate after they leave office... often making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Before we can effectively tackle anything meaningful in this country, we have to make our voices heard again. Otherwise, even the best legislation will likely become corrupted by those who have the power and influence to profit from it. The rich and powerful have made their voices heard in Washington. The truth is the power has always resided within the masses of the people if we act together and make our voices heard. NOW IT'S OUR TURN.

Some successful petitions on the White House petition site have received no official response for a very long time. The least they can do, if they provide a site like that, is to make prompt responses.

Marijuana prohibition causes more problems than it solves, and ruins thousands more lives than it supposedly tries to save. Despite more than 70 years of federal marijuana prohibition, Americans' consumption of and demand for cannabis is here to stay. It is time for members of Congress to acknowledge this reality. It is time to stop ceding control of the marijuana market to untaxed criminal enterprises and it is time for lawmakers to impose common-sense regulations governing cannabis' personal use by adults and licensing its production. A pragmatic regulatory framework that allows for limited, licensed production, sale, and taxation of cannabis to adults -- but restricts use among young people -- best reduces the risks associated with its use or abuse. I encourage you to support legislation to regulate marijuana, not criminalize it. Therefore, I urge you to support this issue.

This representative does not promote the "General Welfare" of his constituents but rather spends taxpayer dollars traveling the nation to promote Fox news misinformation agenda.

Congress continually searches for ways to cut the budget but refuses to look at cutting their compensations as part of the solution. Instead they are looking at cutting military pensions for those who have served 20+ years of service to this country. Congress, who receives lifetime compensation (after the age of 62) for just 5 years in office, has not earned the right to lifetime benefits; they should be held to the same standards as the military and all other government employees. By cutting Congressional pensions for those who have not served 20+ years, we can further trim the budget to a more acceptable level.

The Geist Landing Neighborhood Association and surrounding associations are concerned about encroaching commercial property affecting homeowners property value. We believe that if commercial property is allowed to expand on 96th street, additional nearby properties may request rezoning. Homes adjacent to these properties will be looking into the backdoor of potential businesses. While many of the homes on 96th St. are currently acting as a business in some form, allowing them to be rezoned as commercial property is likely to change the landscape of the neighborhood significantly and could drive the home values down. The hearing is 1-21 at 1PM in the public assembly room, City County Building, second floor. The variance request number is 2013 UV3 026. A map of the property can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/nxzrj2r

These three scandals Extortion 17, Benghazi, and the ATF "Fast and Furious" have been the cost of U.S military lives being lost. I would ask everyone to sign this to bring all involved to be brought to justice to have real investigations done not just a show for cameras.

Every single person in the U.S. (the world for that matter) is affected by all the lies our elected officials keep telling us. It's time to clean house and allow only the honest members to remain. Bye, bye now...

Donald Trump is a true Fascist thug !

This petition is to make aware of the New Jersey Division of Taxation practice an behavior in respect to small business owners. I'm the owner of a small pizzeria in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and because I wasn't paying the taxes that the Division of taxation had assessed for my business I was shut down. Today I have my business back, but I'm afraid for my future. I'm afraid of the future of all small businesses. We have to try to change the behavior of the division of taxation for the betterment of the state of New Jersey. Please sign an support me to help bring change to this urgent matter. You could very well save a business.