In a USA Today poll in January, 2014 close to three-quarters of Americans said that they would support an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. But even though a majority of Americans at least want this issue decided by Congress, House Speaker John Boehner will not allow it; precisely because the vote wouldn’t go his way. More than 4.4 million Americans currently earn federal minimum wage or less; more than half are adults and 284,000 of them are college graduates. Two-thirds are women, and almost 60 percent of minimum-wage women over 25 are the sole bread winner in their household. Two-thirds work for businesses that have at least 100 employees; so much for the argument that raising the minimum wage would devastate small businesses. Congress voted to bail out financial institutions; it is time to improve the lives of mainstream Americans. 71% of Americans support raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to at least $10.10 an hour, according to an January 2014 poll. However Representative Renacci has chosen to listen to special interest groups. After nearly half a century of neglect, today the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is decades out of date. In terms of purchasing power, its value is 30 percent lower today than it was in 1968. On the other hand, many corporations are posting record-breaking profits. The Wall Street Journal reported. Join us by signing this petition and hold Congress responsible for helping the middle class. Representative Renacci; it’s time to raise the Minimum Wage.

I've worked at many minimum wage jobs and they're all hard work little pay no benefits and thankless jobs-people deserve to earn a fair wage-Rep Kinzinger may want to switch jobs with one of the poor souls and see-hit the gas pump too and see how that goes as part of the budget-this is some of my thoughts on minimum wage work

SSA has never paid for the month a loved one passes away regardless of the date of the passing. If the person passes on the 2nd of the month then SSA should pay benefits through the 1st of the month. If the person passes on the 31st , then they should pay through the 30th. (etc.). My mother passed away on the 31st of the month this last Aug. and the funeral home director told my Sister that SSA 's check would be good as my Mom lived over 2/3'rds of the month. SSA sent the check through and then took the check back!! This check was to help settle my Mom's bills and other medical expenses. Not only did my sister have to pay all that but then she had to pay back SSA. This is wrong! I tried to contact 3 offices about starting a petition and the Government just gave me the run around. Please help me start this petition so that our old folks and their families are treated correctly!

Stand your ground gives any psycho with a gun to shoot for any reason that would make him feel threatened.

This is a discriminatory law that will not stand in appeals. Many similar laws have already fallen in appeals. The U.S. attorney general has encouraged states not to defend these laws. The governor is wasting taxpayer funds for the purpose of political grandstanding.

I want to encourage a more positive view about the importance of paying taxes. The current narrative seems to be that candidates for public office should always promise to lower taxes or prevent any new taxes. But if people are employed and make money, that's a good thing. Paying taxes is a sign of financial well-being. Let's make the day that taxes are due a day to celebrate the many ways we contribute to one another and keep growing as a nation.

Many young Americans are coming out of college and cannot find adequate paying jobs to pay their loans at the PSL set payment levels. These harsh loans accrue interest daily and have variable interest rates ready to rise higher once our economy fully recovers, leaving our children permanently in debt with no future.

General Aviation in this country is and has been on the decline. there are many reasons, high cost of fuel, insurance and the medical requirements among others, we need to correct this trend, this bill could be the first step. This decline has affected all states that have GA aircraft based with lost jobs and revenue .

Steve Hall, City Manager Olympia City Council It has come to our attention that Columbia Heights LLC plans to construct a 7 story, 138-unit building with approximately 7,600 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and structured parking for 121 vehicles. The first public comment period for this project is scheduled to end at 5 pm on March 7th. Although a public notice and letters mailed to property owners notifying them of the proposed project may have been sent out in accordance with OMC Chapter 18.78, there is reason to suspect that it has not been properly followed. In some precursory research we found that the company "Columbia Heights LLC", the company listed on the legal notification, went bankrupt in 2008. The address which is listed on the legal notification is 123 4th ave E, where, presumably the address is 123 4th Ave W, though there is no way to be sure. Furthermore, a significant number of businesses within 300 feet of the exterior boundaries of the assumed proposed site have not received a notice from the city or been given sufficient information concerning the project. In lieu of these facts, and overt inconsistencies in the application process, and taking into consideration the size, scope, and impact of this project we respectfully request you restart the application process with correct and consistent information, and postpone both the Design Review Board and SPRC meetings until you properly follow your legal obligations to the citizens of Olympia. In doing this, downtown residents, workers, local business and property owners will have enough time to assess the impact and understand the implications of this project. Thank you for taking our request into consideration.

Illinois State Senator Ira Silverstein has introduced a bill - SB 3017 - that threatens freedom of speech and academic freedom in Illinois. The Illinois ACLU opposes the bill. (1) Similar bills in New York and Maryland have been opposed by the American Association of University Professors, (2) the New York ACLU (3), and the ACLU of Maryland. (4) These bills would, by threat of cutting funding, prohibit public universities from reimbursing faculty participation in professional organizations that adopt resolutions that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel for its policies toward the Palestinians. Some legislators disagree with BDS and want to punish academic associations that have declared support for it. Regardless of how one feels about BDS, it’s the First Amendment right of academics to support or oppose such resolutions, and it’s their First Amendment right to participate in professional associations that support such resolutions. (5) Urge Illinois legislators and Governor Patrick Quinn to oppose SB 3017 by signing our petition. [UPDATE, 3/5: There was no hearing of this provision in the Senate's higher education committee on March 4. According to the Illinois ACLU, the next time the bill could come up in the Senate's higher education committee is March 19.] [UPDATE, 3/10: There is now a petition specifically for Illinois academics: NOTE: *please* put your Illinois academic affiliation in the comments, in keeping with the spirit of having an Illinois academics' petition. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/illinois-legislators] [Update 3/21/14: We are delighted to report that State Senate Bill 3017 was not called for debate or a vote during the Judiciary Committee hearing on Wed., March 19th. It now appears, although there is no certainty on this, that the bill will not be moved forward during this legislative session. If the March 28th deadline for moving a bill is not met, it means this unconstitutional assault on academic freedom and free speech will have effectively been defeated. We have come this far because people and organizations throughout Illinois took action. Our hundreds of phone calls and email messages, the petitions, and the direct discussions with members of the State Legislature all had an impact and made a difference! We had a sense we were on strong footing when we saw that 95 organizations and individuals had submitted to the Judiciary Committee "witness slips" through Wednesday indicating that they opposed this legislation, even though they could not appear at the committee hearing in person. Only 3 people submitted witness slips in support of the bill. The issue is not quite settled though. A State Senate resolution introduced by the same Senator Silverstein, SJR 59, is still pending. It has much the same purpose of undermining academic boycotts of Israel, minus the punitive measure of defunding public universities. The Resolution has still not been assigned to a Senate Committee.] References: 1. Letter to members of the Senate Higher Education Committee, Illinois ACLU, March 4, 2014, http://palestinelegalsupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ACLU-IL_LetterToHECreSB-3017.pdf 2. “AAUP Opposes Anti-Boycott Legislation,” http://www.aaup.org/news/aaup-opposes-anti-boycott-legislation 3. "Legislative Memo: In Relation to Withholding State Funds from Public Universities that Support Academic Associations that are Engaging in Boycotts," NYCLU, February 10, 2014, http://www.nyclu.org/content/relation-withholding-state-funds-public-universities-support-academic-associations-are-engag 4. “Who We Are,” Keep Free Speech in the Free State, http://www.freespeechfreestate.org/who_we_are 5. “Maryland bills would stifle academic freedom,” Melani McAlister, Baltimore Sun, February 12, 2014, http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-academic-freedom-20140212,0,7489561.story

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear—a Democrat—didn’t get the memo that it’s 2014 and the march of history is on the side of equality: Just minutes after Attorney General Jack Conway announced that he would not appeal a federal court order to recognize same-sex marriages, Beshear announced that he would hire outside counsel to appeal on the state’s behalf. Jack Conway bravely stood up for the rights of all Kentuckians, declaring that an appeal would be “defending discrimination”—and he’s right. That’s what makes Steve Beshear’s decision to appeal so outrageous. Sign the petition to Gov. Steve Beshear: Don’t defend discrimination.

The Shockoe Bottom is the site of the nation's second-most active slave market. This is a historic and sacred area! This further wounds and re-opens wounds with further disrespect!