Fast-food jobs pay so little that 52 percent of the families of front-line fast food workers need to rely on public assistance programs, costing taxpayers nearly $7 billion a year. Even at 40 hours a week, more than half of front-line fast-food workers are forced to rely on public assistance to cover basic needs like food, rent and healthcare. Compared to the overall economy, fast-food jobs are twice as likely as other jobs to pay so little that workers are forced to rely on public assistance. We know that workers put their money right back into our economy. Increasing fast food workers’ wages to $15 an hour will not only help struggling families in community make ends meet, it will also spur economic growth. When fast food workers win, this will help lift up all low-wage workers, and improve our entire economy.

The Family Court System and The Child Support Bureaus allow parents to get too far behind on their payments. Six (6) months is a reasonable amount of time to allow for financial emergencies to be rectified. The current system allows too much time to elapse which allows the offending parent to get thousands and thousands of dollars in arrears on both child support AND medical/dental bills. The current system puts an undue financial burden upon the custodial parent to pay $150.00 to file against the offending parent to bring the case back to court. The Family Court System should be the ones to enforce a their own Court Order. The violating parent is in CONTEMPT OF A COURT ORDER. Give 1 week for the arrears to be satisfied at the amount of 1/4 total monies due to the custodial parent or be immediately incarcerated. The Family Court System should then set up a payment program to keep the offending party remain current , as well as additional payments to satisfy the arrears. Make the offending party work not only for their cost of being incarcerated but satisfy their debt to their children. The American taxpayer now must fill these gaps with other government programs and that places an undue burden on the taxpayers to cover food stamps and medical care for these children. We deserve relief from dead beat parents who make children and don't pay their fair share. My daughter is a dead beat parent. She has three "new children" and scoffs at a past court order to pay for her oldest 3 children. I do this for my oldest three grandchildren and all the other children who do without because of a system that doesn't work! Thank you for any and all support you can give. Together, we can change an unjust system and bring back personal responsibility to parenthood in the United States of America.

ALEC’s primary purpose is to influence legislation at the state level, yet for years it has disclaimed on its tax returns spending a penny on lobbying. As the Guardian reported, last summer ALEC informed legislators and corporate lobbyists that it has incorporated a new organization to seek non-profit status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. In so doing, ALEC appears to acknowledge that the allegations of tax fraud in complaints from Common Cause, the Voters Legislative Transparency Project, and Clergy Voice, supplemented by evidence provided by the Center for Media and Democracy, helped spur this incorporation. These latest revelations about ALEC in the Guardian add weight to the argument that ALEC primarily operates like a trade group for its corporate funders, backing the bills sought by corporate lobbyists and buying lawmakers’ trips to meet with those lobbyists about bills.

Some Santa Fe city councilors, including mayoral candidates Patti Bushee and Bill Dimas, have sponsored legislation to require the City of Santa Fe to lobby for mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses - a legislative platform for the for-profit prison industry advanced by ALEC.

Without the approval of this grant the school based health clinic on the Franklin campus will close, leaving many students without access to medical care and mental health counseling services.

The City of Gainesville Public Works Department is to be commended for coming up with a transportation plan for NW 8th Ave. that enhances the level of service for bicycles, pedestrians and other low-speed vehicles such as wheelchairs and electric scooters. This Thursday Dec. 5 the City Commission will be reviewing the results of a trial study in which the lanes were reduced from four lanes to two on the section closest to NW 34th St. The results of the study were unequivocally positive, with no loss in level of service for cars and improved level of service for bikes. However, if the Commission does not act on this data, Public Works plans to return the lane configuration to four until the project commences. See http://www.gainesvillepublicworks.org/wp-content/uploads/December-5-2013-Commission-Presentation.pdf for the Public Works presentation.

Stop the Postmaster General and the US Postal Service from closing any more small town post offices. We believe the financial crisis in the postal service is manufactured, and Americans are suffering because of it. Americans deserve their mail in hours of daylight.

Pepsico Gatorade has no sick time for employees. Employees are written up even if they go to the doctor. They are forced to use FMLA as sick time but only if they make it a year. I am going blind due to having to choose my eye or my job. I am covered by the American with Disabilities act, which they have ignored. It is a right to take care of our health with impugnity!

My aunt was hit at that section of livingston ave. And a few others as well including one death. It is not visible out there at night and people go way past the 25 mile per hour speed limit.

I'm starting this petition because, several years ago a natural gas project began in Prop A territory near Whittier. As a condition of becoming Prop A land in 1992, the City of Whittier promised to keep the preserve in perpetuity. Allowing a natural gas project violates the laws set forth in 1992, and could set a dangerous precedence for all the 21,000 acres of open in LA County. Allowing the project to continue here in Whittier could mean all Prop A land could suffer a similar fate. Please sign this petition to let your elected representatives know you would like to keep open space as open space and not land for development!

I love Pennsylvania and want to live here for the rest of my life. No one should have to choose between the place they love and protecting their health. We need a moratorium on fracking until public health, livelihoods, and the environment are protected in PA.

We, the people of Hawai'i, have followed the events of the State Legislature's Special Session Marriage Equality this fall with deep interest. This petition addresses acts of discrimination and hate perpetrated during the session, notably including the testimony given by Honolulu Police Officer Tenari Ma'afala on Nov. 5, 2013 and other acts of verbal and physical hostility against supporters of Marriage Equality. Officer Ma'afala is a public figure, as the union president of SHOPO (State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers) and a pastor of New Hope Church. Here is his testimony on Youtube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaAkQZ5DnZ0 We, the supporters of Marriage Equality, witnessed Officer Ma'afala's testimony, in which he stated his opposition to LGBTQ rights was so strong that he would become a "lawbreaker" with the passage of SB1 (the Marriage Equality bill, which has since been signed into law and took effect Dec. 2, 2013). We also witnessed incidents by opponents and their children during the hearings that were dangerous and filled with hate, including physical confrontations and verbal assaults. Will those incidents continue and escalate? If so, can the community have confidence that the Honolulu Police Department will adminster justice fairly and compassionately? We, the people, demand that Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the Honolulu Police Commission REQUIRE DIVERSITY TRAINING for all police officers. WHY are we demanding Diversity Training? Members of the LGBTQ community and their allies, following the reprehensible behavior of some opposition members and the provocative testimony of Officer Ma'afala, feel strongly that their personal safety is endangered and could be left unprotected by those whose job it is to protect. As president of SHOPO, officer Ma'afala, through his presence at the Special Session and angry words in support of discrimination, may have signaled that other Honolulu police officers should also be "lawbreakers" and turn a blind eye toward crimes committed against LGBTQ community members and supporters of equality. We would like to believe the lofty Mission Statement of the Honolulu Police Department (http://honolulupd.org/department/) quoted below will be respected and upheld. Diversity Training will help to ensure that it is. MISSION STATEMENT We, the men and women of the Honolulu Police Department, are dedicated to providing excellent service through partnerships that build trust, reduce crime, create a safe environment, and enhance the quality of life in our community. We are committed to these principles: INTEGRITY We have integrity. We adhere to the highest moral and ethical standards. We are honest and sincere in dealing with each other and the community. We have the courage to uphold these principles and are proud that they guide us in all we do. RESPECT We show respect. We recognize the value of our unique cultural diversity and treat all people with kindness, tolerance, and dignity. We cherish and protect the rights, liberties, and freedoms of all as granted by the constitutions and laws of the United States and the State of Hawaii. FAIRNESS We act with fairness. Objective, impartial decisions and policies are the foundation of our interactions. We are consistent in our treatment of all persons. Our actions are tempered with reason and equity. ...in the spirit of aloha.