Petition for the release of Hector Cubero We the undersigned, ask you to do all you can to ensure the release of Hector Cubero, a man who served 27 ½ years, was parole and then revoked. He was on parole successfully for 4 years when he tattooed a minor who lied about this age. He has served another 3 years now and we believe that is enough time. He tells his story most clearly: “In 1981, I was convicted of being a party to 1st Degree Murder and Armed Robbery. Records show that I was clearly not the shooter as I was approximately a half a block away when the murder actually took place. However, in June 2008 I was paroled after serving almost 28 years. While on parole supervision I did all that was asked of me and I was never a conduct problem. In August 2012, I was asked to do a tattoo on someone whom had mislead me into believing that he was 18 years of age. He was a minor and his parents contacted the police. I was then charged with a series of parole rule violations which included tattooing other minors, smoking synthetic marijuana and lying to my P0. At my revocation hearing I owned up to tattooing the minor that had lied to me about his age and I introduced a sign/sworn affidavits from the other alleged minors stating that I did not tattoo them, however, I was found guilty of tattooing one of them. I was also found guilty of smoking synthetic marijuana even though I denied ever smoking it and was never tested for it. I am in no way trying to diminish the situation that got me revoked. I'm simply asking for a fair review of my case” Hector Cubero was on parole successfully for 4 years which certainly shows he is no danger to society, and an asset. We think the revocation should end now and he should go back to his fiancé and family. We as taxpayers want the prison system to put its resources into rehabilitation and treatment instead of holding so many people like Hector who do not need to be there. There is also a tremendous overcrowding problem that inhibits everything from working properly. An obvious solution is to release rehabilitated prisoners like Hector Cubero. He has work waiting for him as well as a loving family and fiancé. We need him out here.

Recently, California modified Proposition 36 or the Three Strikes law. Originally, the law stated that after committing three felonies a person could automatically be sentenced to a term of 25 years to life. Though a good law, it was flawed, in that it could treat small time felons as big time criminals. In order to make the Three Strikes law fair, legislators changed it so that a convicted felon could only get life in prison after committing three “serious or violent crimes.” The problem is that domestic violence is not on the list of serious or violent crimes. So, it is not okay to beat a stranger, but it is okay to beat your family.

Jersey City Council Members: Make Jersey City a fairer, healthier place to live by guaranteeing a worker's right to earned sick days.

Stop one Government mandate stop them all.

Police Officer Retirement System (PORS) FACTS! As of June 30, 2011, The Police Officer Retirement System (PORS) was 74.5% funded, which is the Highest funded plan out of ALL South Carolina’s retirement systems. ** The desired Level of funding for government pension plans is 80%, as stated by the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The South Carolina Retirement System manages 5 different retirement systems with 5 different benefit structures. Each of the 5 retirement systems were created to incentivize and reward 5 distinct and different types of professions. Yes, all employees are government employees, but everyone does not perform the same tasks and should therefore be rewarded according to the level of sacrifice and service given. PORS members have an annuity factor of %2.14. In other words, when an officer becomes eligible to retire after 25 years of service, he or she is ONLY eligible to draw 53.3% of their salary. In many states, public safety employees draw upwards of 70-80% of their salary and may or may not contribute personally to retirement fund. For example, in Florida Police Officers retires 75% of their salary and never contributed to retirement system personally. In 2011, the average PORS retiree with 25 years of service makes only $38,012. In 2011, the average PORS retiree drew a retirement benefit of only $18,652. PORS members have paid 6.5% in employee contribution since July 1, 1988. Members of the SC Retirement System only started paying 6.5% in employee contribution in 2006. Legislators have proposed a 5% increase for some state law enforcement agencies to offset the cost of increased employee contributions to the retirement and increase premiums for health insurance. Unfortunately, approximately 66% of PORS members will not benefit from that salary increase as they work for municipal and county governments and will be forced to take on these additional costs with what is already a minimal salary. PORS members are willing to take the necessary steps to restore the system’s financial well being. However, we ask the legislature to allow these changes to be implement gradually or only on NEW HIRES in order to lessen the burden on current public safety officers. After all, any increases, no matter how small, is a major increase to PORS members. Standard State Retirement System Many Fire Departments are also under the State Retirement System. 37 fire departments in South Carolina are under the standard plan. The below listed concerns with H. 4898 hold true for protecting those firefighters: • The average Fire Chief starting salary in this state is $54,849. • The average Firefighter starting salary in this state is $26,258.

We are requesting that the California department responsible for the cleanup of the contaminated Santa Susana Field Laboratory reinstate the SSFL Inter-Agency Work Group which had been meeting quarterly since 1990. For almost a year, the new leadership at the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has cancelled the quarterly Work Group meetings. During the same period, critical developments regarding the cleanup, including important findings of contamination by US EPA and matters affecting the cleanup agreements, have occurred but there has been no Work Group meeting for the public to learn about them. For twenty-two years, the SSFL Inter-Agency Work Group has been the primary source for the public, elected officials and their staffs, and the media, to be updated in a format that provides useful information to community members, many of whom are new to the situation. It also provides a needed mechanism for coordination between the various agencies involved in the cleanup in a public setting. We recognize that there are a couple of meetings a week on narrow technical issues in which only a handful of the same community members attend. We also recognize that DTSC had established a Public Participation Group, which is primarily a discussion session for often the same handful of community members. Neither type of meeting is remotely appropriate for community members new to the situation seeking to be educated about the contamination and its cleanup, nor for people such as electeds’ staffs and the news media trying to be kept updated on a periodic basis—which is precisely the function that the Work Group has performed so well for more than two decades and upon which people depended. Since 1990 the Department of Toxics Substances Control has strongly supported the Work Group. Two years ago, a petition to create a Community Advisory Group (CAG) as an alternative to the Work Group was strongly opposed by a significant number of people in the community and DTSC rejected it. A CAG is a discussion session to review and comment on DTSC response plans and is not an appropriate format for informing the general public in a clear and useful fashion about important developments involving the various agencies. That is the service that the SSFL Inter-Agency Work Group has so long provided. We urge DTSC to not reverse its longstanding positions supporting the Work Group and opposing a CAG as a substitute. Reinstate the Work Group.

Mandatory for all those considering running for public office to work a full time minimum wage job and support themselves off it, for ONE year of their life.

Our elections for sale . it's time to stop the sale of our elections.

Boycott buying gas guzzlers, Buy electric/solar-powered/hybrid vehicles, help save the Earth.

The Eliot Spitzer for Treasury Secretary Petition is an attempt to convince President Obama and Congress to replace Timothy Geitner with Eliot Spitzer. Timothy Geitner is too close to Wall Street to effectively deal with their alleged illegal activities. Eliot Spitzer has prosecuted Wall Street misdeeds, he should do it again!