The interest rate on federal subsidized Stafford student loans is set to increase from 3.4% to 6.8% on July 1st. If Congress doesn't act soon, millions of college students will see their student loan payments jump. Some argue that it's too expensive to keep government loans at low interest rates, but the federal government makes low interest loans all the time – just not to everyone. Big banks can borrow money through the Federal Reserve discount window at a rate of about 0.75%. The biggest banks in the country – the ones that wrecked our economy and cost millions of Americans their jobs – pay next to nothing on their debt, while students pay nine times as much. That isn't right. The Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act lets students take advantage of the same low rates offered to banks for one year while Congress finds a fair, long-term solution on student loan interest rates. Unlike the big banks, students don't have armies of lobbyists and lawyers. But they do have us. Let's do what's right and bank on students.

The Monsanto GMO tainting of the Oregon wheat crop due to field testing a decade ago requires the following actions by the State of Oregon: 1. Call an immediate moratorium on field testing of any GMO crop in Oregon; 2. Reaffirm the 110-year-old mission of the Oregon State Land Grant University to conduct practical agricultural research and offer it free to farmers; and 3. Seek legal remedy from Monsanto for economic damages to the Oregon economy due to its proprietary GMO seed.

Ramsey Muniz has been serving a life sentence without parole since 1994 due to a nonviolent drug-related offense. He was a prominent and ardent Chicano attorney who ran for Governor of Texas, in the Seventies. Mr. Muniz, now age 72 and in poor health, is struggling to obtain his freedom in the last years of his life, at the Beaumont Federal Prison. (Visit http://www.freeramsey.com for more information.)

Put a stop to or label GMO foods which have not been proven safe for human consumption. Give the people a choice. If we the people stand together, we can cause change in the corporate giants.

Server wage is only $2.33/hour. Ever since the recession, server income has been reduced by 25-50% because people went from tipping 20% to tipping only 10-15%. The take home income for servers is unlivable and leaves many without health insurance and other basic needs. El salario del mesero es del solo $2.33/la hora. Desde el comienzo de la recesión, el salario del mesero se ha reducido por 25-50% porque los clientes pararon de dejar una propina de 20% y empezaron a dejar propinas de 10-15%. Entonces el salario de los meseros no es sustentable y muchos están sin seguro de salud y otras necesidades básicas.

Put a stop to or label GMO foods which have not been proven safe for human consumption. Give the people a choice. If we the people stand together, we can cause change in the corporate giants.

Every year twice the number of children in Connecticut are killed by motor vehicles than from guns. Isn't it time for us to take action against drivers speeding in Berlin, Connecticut?

Speaker Michael J. Madigan is also Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Historically, Madigan has spent considerable sums of money to defend incumbent Democratic state representatives from primary challenges. On May 31 (the last day of regular session), the House failed to pass marriage equality because a block of Democrats did not want to vote until the fall.

The sequester is just another name for obstruction. The political agendas of our Congressmen should not deter proper and needed legislation to run our Country in the black. The common ground is the welfare of the USA and bickering is no on that agenda.

The Children’s Place produced apparel at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh before the factory collapsed in a horrific industrial homicide, killing over 1,100 garment workers and leaving children bereft of a parent, grandparent, brother, or sister. And yet, the company still refuses to compensate the families of the victims and to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a binding agreement that would prevent tragedies like this and save countless lives. The Children’s Place has blood on its hands, and the Accord is the only credible way for the company to begin to make it right. It’s no surprise that brands like Gap and Walmart are still refusing to fix their deathtrap factories by signing the Accord — after all, they’re the ringleaders of the failed approach to worker safety that led to over 1,100 deaths at Rana Plaza, and they’re deeply committed to keeping their public images clean through massive expenditures on public relations and lobbying instead of investment in meaningful factory safety. The Children’s Place, on the other hand, has no excuse. This little-known brand, a New Jersey-based retailer of children’s apparel, has mostly flown under the radar since it was discovered that in the eight months leading up to the Rana Plaza industrial homicide, a factory in the building produced over 120,000 pounds of clothing for The Children’s Place. It’s long overdue for The Children’s Place to start to make amends to the thousands of children who were orphaned by the Rana Plaza collapse. We’ve tried repeatedly to communicate with the company to give them a chance to do the right thing, but they’ve ignored us. Apparently they’d rather put their heads in the sand and hope we don’t notice that they have the blood of hundreds of garment workers on their hands. But we will never forget, and we will never go away until they do the right thing.

Our groundwater, farms, and native habitats are negatively impacted by the Closed Basin Project. It must cease operation to ensure the health of these lands

Jon is a great dad to baby Bree, and he deserves a day of appreciation on his first Father's Day.