All lobbying needs to be out in the open - no more hidden conversations, quid pro quo deals. The withdrawing of the E.P.A. recommendations on Clean Air is just another in a horrendously long line of examples where our elected officials have been bought off by big corporations. It is the last straw.

On behalf of girls everywhere, enough is enough. This week, a young woman in New York named Lauren Todd started a petition on Change.org urging JC Penney to stop selling a girl’s shirt with the statement: "I'm too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me." This is just one shirt in a series that display slogans that characterize a girl's worth by her looks and makes being smart somehow not "pretty". Seemingly harmless? Just a joke? Not funny. Girls get messages from all aspects of media that show a woman's value in relation to her looks – well, we say enough – time to tell retailers, "we're not buying it!" The shirt, which was marketed to girls ages 7-16, imparts the message that boys are smart while girls are only meant to be pretty. Valuing looks over knowledge and hard work, and stereotyping female images is a dangerous message to send to young girls, one that females are already bombarded with in today’s media. We at Girls For A Change believe that girl empowerment is essential in helping girls to realize their full potential and helps them speak up and out about issues they care about – that they are more than looks, lyrics, and objects. Girls need to know that they are valued for who they are, and not the style of their hair or the way they look. Clothing that blatantly diminishes the value of girls is harmful to a girl's perception of her worth. We know everyone wants girls to reach beyond their potential and let them know they're valued for who they are. Let's start by removing messages that put any girl (or boy!) down. JC Penney rightfully discontinued the sale of the shirt in response to the massive support of Lauren’s petition, but the presence of sexist messages on children’s clothing is an ongoing problem that must be addressed. Tell major clothing retailers to stop designing clothes with sexist and damaging slogans that perpetuate gender stereotypes and devalue the role of young girls in society. Let them know your money will not support their company unless they take a stand against sexist, destructive slogans and imagery. Tell them, "you're not buying it!"

creating jobs for the middle class and bring back the American Dream

Many problems in campaign financing stem from corporations financing political campaigns. Their right to do so stems from them being considered "people" under the law. Laws can be changed.

Bring parking fines down to a reasonable amount per infraction. 20$ is plenty to detour people from forgetting to pay their meters. Save large fines if need be for fire hydrants and handicap spaces. Everything else is just a way to tax the people without having it approved by the people.

I had to put up with "we don't hire women" after graduation from college, and then put up with rape in the workplace after I became a pioneering Art Director in an ad agency. My skills are of great value; please don't force me into homelessness by deliberately depriving me of my Civil Rights!

Social Security taxes only apply to the first $106,000.00 of income. Lifting this cap would: 1) increase fairness, 2) make social security solvent, 3) help the elderly and disabled, by not cutting their benefits, and 4) stimulate the economy, when recipients are able to pay their bills.

Ethanol, at low percentages such as E-5 (5% Ethanol) up to E-15 (15% Ethanol) causes MPG in most cars to drop about 12% to 20%. Thata costs the USA up to $200 B each year! Why? Because E-10 has about .5% water, its Ethanol clumps and burns first, destroying the car's use of real gas. We DEMAND that the EPA test our real "at-the-pump" gas that we are forced to use.

Members of Congress have made a very nice deal for themselves and representing their own interests and the interests of the very wealthy and well to do. Other than line their own pockets, the U.S. Congress seems to accomplish less and less while spending more and more. The United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are BROKEN. This is how you fix them.

Replace corporate banking with state banks

Currently, our POD president will be in the United States of America for a paltry three-day tour in New York. She does not plan to visit her charges to offer much needed in-person guidance.

The Supreme Court in its rulings held that money is speech and bestowed personhood upon nonhuman entities such as corporations. These decisions have effectively ceded the control of the governmental processes to a minority economic class and administered a coup de grâce to majority rule. The concentration of the national wealth, due in major part to these decisions, has resulted in a dangerous concentration of political power.