A recent study gives New Jersey the dubious distinction of ranking 11th in the country for income inequality, and a big part of the problem is that the state’s minimum wage is just too low. Right now the state wage is $7.25 an hour, or around $15,000 per year. If the minimum wage had been keeping pace with inflation, it would be well over $9 by now. Even raising the wage to $8.50 would bring in $439 million in wages to working families -- and give the state's lagging economy a much needed jolt. The legislature is considering proposals that would raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation. Tell them that now's the time to give New Jersey a raise!

Dennys Boycott

The San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department is quietly attempting to convert a long-vacant historic building on the Marina Green into a commercial restaurant by executing a ten-year lease with the Woodhouse Fish Company. This violates the Open Space Element of the General Plan. No environmental impacts have been addressed. As part of the use, Woodhouse plans to serve alcohol in a public playground, which is against public policy. A traffic study hasn't been conducted, and ADA regulations have been dismissed. 48 neighborhood organizations oppose the proposal, though Parks and Rec has never made a meaningful attempt to consult the local neighborhood nor Marina Green users.

John Schnatter, CEO of Papa John's, continued his attacks on the Affordable Healthcare Act before students at Edison State College, just the day after President Obama was reelected.

Dear Mr. President: You and Secretary Arne Duncan—endorsed in your efforts by Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan, and a host of reactionary politicians and pundits—now bear a major responsibility for a toxic agenda of “school reform.” The three most trumpeted and simultaneously most destructive aspects of the united “school reform” agenda are these: 1) turning over public assets and spaces to private management; 2) dismantling and opposing any independent, collective voice of teachers; and 3) reducing education to a single narrow metric that claims to recognize an educated person through a test score. While there’s absolutely no substantive proof that this approach improves schooling for children, it chugs along unfazed. Race to the Top is but one example of incentivizing bad behavior and backward ideas about education: It’s one state against another, this school against that one, and my second grade in fierce competition with the second grade across the hall. Arne Duncan attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (as did our three sons); you sent your kids to Lab, and so did your friend Rahm Emanuel. There students found small classes, abundant resources, and opportunities to experiment and explore, ask questions and pursue answers to the far limits, and a minimum of time-out for standardized testing. They found, as well, a respected and unionized teacher corps, people who were committed to a life-long career in teaching and who were encouraged to work cooperatively for their mutual benefit (and who never would settle for being judged, assessed, rewarded, or punished based on student test scores). In a vibrant democracy, whatever the most privileged parents want for their children must serve as a minimum standard for what we as a community want for all of our children. Every child deserves the type of education your children receive. It is time to set American education on that course, and a strong step in that direction would be appointing Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond as Secretary of Education. A teacher and recognized scholar/researcher for decades, Dr. Darling-Hammond will not be swayed by big money or political expediency or the latest fads. She will be independent, professional and principled. We can then return to the precious but fragile ideal that must power education in a democracy: Every human being is of incalculable value, and the fullest development of all is the condition for the full development of each.

Being held HOSTAGE to a 1% majority. The house of Representatives has held us HOSTAGE for the benefit of the rich. And because of this all America has lost out. We have until December 31, to rally behind our President. We see the benefits of his proposals. And we need to mobilize all Americans regardless of party affiliation. We have the benefit of numbers And we must not tolerate this mindset anymore.

I think it's time we ask the President to push Congress for change on allowing Church involvement in politics without their being taxed. The people who sign this petition do so knowing it's not about the church or being religious but about the National separation of Church and state as it is in the Constitution and mentioned in the Bill of Rights, Upheld by the Federal Supreme Court Numerous times.

My little sister is in 2nd grade and she only has physical education class once a week. children should have this class everyday!

Extend middle-class tax cuts; raise taxes on the 5%; re-write the tax code to close tax loopholes and unjustified exemptions and credits that prevent the US Treasury from collecting more tax revenue from the richest Americans and from corporations.

I am disgusted by senators looking to score political points by destroying the Ambassador's reputation.

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. We have no protection if you take this amendment away from us. Hunting, protection, our freedom!

Our space program has foundered for too long. Do you know that we spend more every year on air conditioning for the military than we do on NASA's entire budget. Tell congress that creating the technologies and jobs of tomorrow is important even in times of economic downturn.