The Fair Pay Amendment will not just improve wages but guarantee a successful economy for the future. Today's economy has been hit hardest by the greed of the rich. They just can't seem to get enough at any cost necessary and it's time to put a stop to their unchecked, unethical behavior. Germany already has a fair pay act in law which requires that the highest paid person in a company can only make so many times the lowest paid person in that company. This has lead Germany to be the Foundation Bedrock economy of the EURO because the true job creators "the middle class," is what drives the economy. Because when more people do better, more people buy things instead of just a few hoarding money to see who can have the most. This has lead Germany to actually have far more millionaires and far fewer billionaires. In essence this Amendment is just asking for a fair pay for a fair days labor. This Amendment needs to be in the constitution instead of a bill to ensure this basic right is never again abused as it has been today and as it was before back in the days of the great Depression. It will help ensure people don't have to have their families suffer because they have to work 60 hours a week between 2 or 3 jobs just to barely get by. This will help ensure even the average American has the right to pursue happiness and not just the rich. It's just not right that 400 people in this country control HALF of all the wealth in this country. When the top 25 stock brokers in this country make more than $400,000 per hour and the average CEO of the top 200 companies makes $17,000 an hour(factoring benefits and stock options,) and then the company they run, is run into the ground and they get a golden parachute, something needs to be done to bring fairness and responsibility to one's employees back to this country. Please help support the Fair Pay Amendment!

We , the undersigned, demand that real parole be reinstated whether by new parole rules or by the order of the Parole commissioner. We are talking about the over 2500 Old Law Prisoners who have long been eligible for parole but are being held in prison by the Parole Commission’s use of contradictory and ever changing recommendations and its seemingly firm belief that people do not change and punishment is all that matters. These prisoners were sentenced under pre-2000 statutes and they are clear: they were eligible for parole after serving 25 percent of their sentence (13 ½ years for life sentences) and if they show themselves rehabilitated, they are to be released. A petition for rule change was submitted which has good suggestions for sweeping rule changes but mainly what is needed is a change of attitude. Please stop wasting our money and these precious lives and send back our fathers and brother and mothers and daughters- they are needed in their communities. The DOC should then put the saved money into needed programs, mental health treatment units and community alternatives to incarceration. We can save 60 to 100,000 dollars per inmate per year by returning to the pre- prison- boom policies, when the intent of the statutes was honored. As these old law prisoners age, the cost of their health care, which we pay, skyrockets. There is no Medicare or Medicaid for prisoners. Ironically, Truth in Sentencing Prisoners(TIS), sentenced after 2000, are being released into their communities with drug addiction and anger problems untreated because health care for the elderly Old Law prisoners takes so much of the DOC funding. The Doc ‘s revenge only policy makes us less safe and makes no sense . And now too the prisons are overcrowded and conditions for all inside are unsafe. There is no treatment for the mentally ill and programming is cut. Much of this can be alleviated with a wise parole policy. Let us join the rest of the world and much of the nation as the revenge only model is widely dropped. Please let rehabilitated old law prisoners go home. It is in your hands.

This is a petition to eradicate payday loan/advance. In the state of SC, you can write a check for $345 and get $300 back. In two weeks, the full amount of $345 is due. Can you pay it off or do you have to renew? In most cases, you cannot pay it off. The rent, car, electric bills etc is due. So the average consumer has to renew again just to pay for their current bills. If you “roll-over” your loan 26 times a year, you will pay $1170 in interest for the same $300 loan. Usury lending practices and rates are there way to keep you as a regular customer. "Effective" rate (such as an EAR — (1.15^{26} - 1) \times 100% = 3,685%. Some of these payday loan advance companies market themselves as “if you need emergency cash for that unexpected bill”. There intent is not only to get you to take a loan, but to keep you as a regular customer. Let say they have 500 customers a week that loaned $300 per customer on a bi-weekly basis for one year, that is $448,500 annual income to the payday advance business. Wikipedia says it best when it comes to Exploiting financial hardship for profit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payday_loan “Exploiting financial hardship for profit Critics such as the Consumers Union blame payday lenders for exploiting people's financial hardship for profit. They say lenders target the young and the poor, particularly those near military bases and in low-income communities. They also say that borrowers may not understand that the high interest rates are likely to trap them in a "debt-cycle," in which they have to repeatedly renew the loan and pay associated fees every two weeks until they can finally save enough to pay off the principal and get out of debt. Critics also say that payday lending unfairly disadvantages the poor, compared to members of the middle class, who pay at most a rate of about 25% on their credit card purchases.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payday_loan

I'm extremely disappointed by the health insurance "reform" bill, which is reform in name only and was crafted by and for the greedy, for-profit, private health insurance companies and the politicians they have bought—giving them yet more millions of customers to screw and mandating we all buy from them—while still keeping the link between health insurance and employment in tact. Single Payer was taken off the table at the very beginning. There's no public option (and the votes were there for that under reconciliation), no Medicare buy-in for people under age 65 (because of people like Sen. Joe Lieberman—known as "the Aetna Senator" for a reason), no real enforceable premium caps, etc. Ted Kennedy, who gave President Obama his endorsement at a critical time in the 2008 presidential campaign, must be rolling in his grave! If you truly want to make Medicare solvent for generations to come while ensuring every American, regardless of preexisting condition, has high-quality, affordable, accessible healthcare, then the solution is simple—Medicare for All. It's about time the U.S. caught up to the rest of the advanced industrialized world and implemented such a plan. Vermont is already doing it; a similar measure just (barely) failed in California because a few previous "Yes" vote Democrats reneged and voted no. As if all of that wasn't enough, you have to be uninsured for 6 months to join the High-Risk Pool which is an absolutely insane requirement. I have a preexisting condition—I've had Type 1 insulin-dependent diabetes for 25 years—and I had to drop my health insurance on 1/31/2012 because I could no longer afford the $650 per month insurance premiums. The least President Obama could do is to immediately waive that requirement so that millions of people with preexisting conditions, who can least afford to be uninsured, can be insured—Now!

It is UNconstitutional to bar a minor's right to sue when they become the age of majority, 18 plus 2 years. The age of 14 is not the age of majority and is UNconstitutional as a statue of limitations in a medical malpractice case!

 Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year but only recycle about 3% of them.  We use millions of gallons of petroleum to make them when we could use this finite resource for more important things.  They are a hazard to wildlife on land and at sea, and as they break down they are a hazard to our health. Therefore, I support the reduction of single-use carryout plastic bags in the city of Keene, NH, through a ban imposed by the City.

American Association of Pediatrics states: "Recess is a crucial and necessary component of a child's development and, as such, should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons. After recess, for children or after a corresponding break time for adolescents, students are more attentive and better able to perform cognitively. In addition, recess helps young children to develop social skills that are otherwise not acquired in the more structured classroom environment."

Richard Wahmann Jr a 9/11 Responder and Retired Police Officer has been extorted and victim to Queens Family Court, a specialized court which deprives people of trial by jury of peers guaranteed in NYS and US Const Bill of Rights AND without jurisdiction to interfere or alter a Stipulation Agreement procured during NYS Divorce Proceeding. Stipulation Agreements are contracts which cannot be altered in specialized courts without law and equity jurisdiction. NYS Constitution Article 6 Section 13(b)(4) "The family court shall have jurisdiction over the following classes of actions and proceedings which shall be originated in such family court in the manner provided by law: (4) the support of dependents except for support incidental to actions and proceedings in this state for marital separation, divorce, annulment of marriage or dissolution of marriage; Queens Family Court has bullied me and created court orders unsigned by a judge and refuse to vacate order because they have been proven to commit numerous crimes of fraud and forgery as well as Grand Larceny. My children are 23 and 21, over the age of emancipation, but NYS will not stop stealing money from my pension for children clearly over the age of 21, which is when support must cease. But, Queens Family Court does not enforce laws, they break laws on a daily basis, they do not allow witnesses in courts and will not allow cameras or cell phones for fear of being recorded.

President Obama should guarantee protection and due process for women and children fleeing violence in Central America.

Early Saturday morning, Chicago police were called to respond to a domestic disturbance at an apartment complex. Police shot through an unopened door and killed Ms. Bettie Jones -- who died from a gunshot wound to the neck [1]. Officers then turned their weapons onto Quintonio Legrier, a 19 year old holding a baseball bat and experiencing a mental health crisis. The officer’s identity has not been released and he has been placed on administrative duties for 30 days. We demand: - The immediate release of the officer’s name; - Fire the officer who murdered Bettie Jones and Quintonio Legrier - The resignation of Rahm Emanuel