In 1946, U.S. coal miners faced the prospect of a long strike that could have hampered our nation’s post-war economic recovery. The government took action, signing the historic Krug-Lewis agreement, which created a welfare and retirement fund in cases of sickness, permanent disability, death or retirement. Knowing the dangers of the industry, Krug-Lewis also created a separate medical and hospital fund. Over the past century, nearly 105,000 miners were killed on the job and another 100,000-plus have died from black lung disease. These workers accepted less in wage increases and pensions so that more money could be dedicated to their health care in retirement. But as America’s coalfields face depression, companies are filing for bankruptcy and receiving approval to shed their retiree obligations. The United Mine Workers of America Pension Fund lost a significant portion of its value in the Great Recession. With approximately 13 retirees for every active union worker in the coal industry, the fund can’t rely on employee contributions to close its shortfall. To address the financial pain of the situation, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) have introduced legislation—S1714, the Miners Protection Act of 2015—that would amend the Coal Act once again to allow retirees from recently bankrupt companies to get health care from the UMWA Health and Retirement Funds. The bill also would repurpose the balance of an existing appropriation to provide funding to shore up the pension plan. Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) has introduced companion legislation in the House.

The mosquito-borne Zika virus has affected between 440,000 and 1.3 million people in Brazil. Although transmission has not been documented in the United States, the virus has struck returning travelers. Local cases also have emerged in Puerto Rico and 36 other countries or U.S. territories. In light of recent outbreaks, the number of travelers visiting or returning to the United States with the Zika virus is likely to increase. Short-term strategies for controlling its spread include killing mosquitoes, cleaning up habitats where they breed, encouraging women to consider the advisability of becoming pregnant and restricting travel to countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean. But options are slim for some of those who are most at risk. Women in countries with little to no reproductive rights are being told not to get pregnant for two years. In countries like El Salvador, fewer than 10 percent of the population uses birth control, which is hard to obtain and expensive. Abortion laws are so strict that women can be jailed for having a miscarriage. These same countries are placing a huge burden on women who have very little choice. This is a human rights issue and we must combat it. In the long term, we need an initiative for research, treatment and possible vaccine development. When Ebola broke out in the United States in 2014, it highlighted evidence of inadequate worker protections in a privatized health care system driven by profit. Funding to improve our health care infrastructure remains woefully inadequate, and budget cuts have weakened the ability of our universities and research institutions to develop vaccines and preventive measures. The Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USAID have requested $1.9 billion in additional funding from Congress for education, research, development, and vector control efforts. Nevertheless, preparations for full protective measures and monitoring should begin immediately, including implementation of mechanical disinfection devices that help stop the spread of mosquitoes through aviation without utilizing harmful pesticides.

The 2008 financial crisis demonstrated that when the markets aren’t being watched, working people can become victims. While Dodd-Frank reform was a huge step toward fixing regulatory failures within the financial system, more needs to be done. Hedge funds enjoy special tax breaks. But when something goes wrong, everyday Americans pay for it. Our retirement savings are embedded in these funds, and today’s standards fall well short of protecting working families’ hard-earned money. Dodd-Frank gave federal regulators the authority to monitor institutions outside the banking sector and hedge funds need to be at the top of the list. It is time to end the fiction that wealthy investors alone will protect us from the risks these forces pose. Our legislators need to take action.

Retirement security is a crisis we must face head-on. If nothing changes, more than half of today’s working-age households will not be able to maintain their standard of living into retirement. Too many retirees rely only on Social Security. In the private sector, workers have been losing out as pensions have been frozen or cut in favor of less generous 401(k) plans. Half of workers have no retirement plan at all, and far too many have saved little or nothing on their own. Retirees encounter high hurdles in making their savings last throughout their lives. Saving for retirement is a luxury many working families can’t afford. Wages have been essentially flat for decades, and only the very rich have benefited from our nation’s economic growth. The shortcomings of 401(k) plans are glaring. Too many workers are unable to contribute what they need to survive retirement. Fees and expenses are too high. Workers end up making crucial decisions with bad advice or none at all, and there’s no safety net to protect them. Seniors are facing higher costs, but today’s Social Security program isn’t keeping pace. We must reject any calls for cuts and create new plans that fill the evolving needs of all workers and retirees.

Arizona primaries results just don't add up. Voter suppression, DNC fraud and a seemingly lazy Bernie Sander's Campaign are starting to get on real progressive's nerves.

Donald Trump has received nearly $2 billion in free earned media so far in this election – five times as much as Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz and three times as much as Hillary Clinton. This is happening in part because some of the media have allowed Trump – and only Trump – to call into television shows, rather than appear in person on camera, whenever he wants. This call-in option allows Trump to blanket the airwaves with his message day in and day out. Other candidates have been denied this option, which is unfair and undemocratic. Join us in calling on the major media networks to apply their call-in interview policies equally to all Presidential candidates!

Dear Fellow Massachusetts Residents: I have been working with State Senator Jason Lewis since March of 2013 to get a law passed. If you agree with my proposal, please sign this petition. It will help Representative Michael Day persuade the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to move "An Act to protect the privacy of 911 callers" onto the next stage by May 2. (See below for a link to this bill.) Senator Lewis and Representative Day filed "An Act to protect the privacy of 911 callers" in March 2013, which would protect the privacy of 911 emergency dispatch callers by disallowing public access to recorded 911 calls without the express consent of the original caller. Written transcripts would still be made publicly available upon request, and exemptions for the release of original recordings are provided for law enforcement and court proceedings. In layman’s terms: I believe it to be a violation of someone's privacy for their recorded 911 calls to be aired on the news. Listening to a person in his/her darkest moment seems inappropriate—intrusive and cruel—and airing such a call seems to me to be an example of the media sensationalizing. I believe that to make these folks not only relive those moments but to share them with the general public is unnecessary. A quick Internet search reveals that several states, including Rhode Island, but not including Massachusetts, do, in fact, limit the media’s access to 911 call recordings. Other states have proposed that while 911 calls are public domain, only the transcripts should be accessible to the public, and not the actual emotion-filled recordings. Now I am asking for your help to keep this thing alive. Will you sign today? Thank you! Learn more about the bills: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/189/House/H1255 Sincerely, Karen M. Lynch Winchester, MA

We need to end the disenfranchisement of voters. Please sign and share this petition requesting that Senator Sanders gives our voting rights top priority

TYT NETWORK is the largest online newscast in the world more people watch TYT NETWORK than other Networks including TV! Young voters are online and want to be engage in the political process, so they turn to TYT NETWORK for that engagement!

This petition is about restoring public access to a protected and navigationally critical part of New York Harbor that small boats could use to bypass the busy, tidally active and potentially dangerous main channel. It asks the Coast Guard to weigh very specific safety arguments against never-quite-articulated security concerns that have put this piece of public water off limits for almost 15 years.

I support a proposal for the Snoqualmie Valley School District to adopt an Informed Self-Select Math Policy, so families determine their child's 6th - 12th grade Math Pathway. Students must have passed their prior Math SBA test to be eligible. Please consider signing this petition if you want a voice in your child's choice.

Everyone benefits from fair and equitable elections and all our neighbors deserve clarity. A 21-day extension of online voting will soften the blow of five weeks without candidate information posted on the council's website.