There is considerable news in the press about setting the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour. Recently, Connecticut became the first state to pass this as the minimum wage. Is this the answer? Or is the answer a program that seeks to eliminate unemployment?

March 2014 unemployment data will be revealed on Friday, April 4. While the recession may have ended, the battle to create jobs has not ceased. As of February 2014, the unemployment rate remains at 6.7 percent, about 2 percentage points higher than the normal rate for an expanding economy.

In the meantime, propositions regarding the best method to solve unemployment remain stagnated: simply put, the same arguments are continually repeated without innovative approaches to tackle one of the most pressing matters of the decade.

I am not surprised, or even particularly disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision today to abolish some of the limitations on political donations. I can’t imagine it mattering much, given the existing regulations which allow unlimited donations to political action committees that are independent of candidates only by way of legal fiction. And I would rather that people give money directly to candidates, who are required to report donors, than to 501(c)(4) organizations which have no meaningful disclosure requirements.

During my business career, I have worked as a college recruiter and an interviewer/hiring contact for both the sales and claims departments, at a global insurance company.

I have met, interviewed and hired literally thousands of unemployed people during my 30+ year career. They were “young and old.” They were “diverse” and “special needs." They were labeled as members of the “X-Y-Z & ME generations.” They came from high school, college, and trade centers. After 9/11 they lined up by the thousands at Madison Square Garden for a job fair.

In the GOP’s attempt to retake the Senate in 2014 the way they reclaimed the House 4 years earlier there are already several authentic battleground states from Alaska to Louisiana. New Hampshire is not exactly grouped with those tough races, but Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen may have a difficult time nonetheless.

In record numbers, 42 percent of the electorate are disenfranchised by the two major political parties and results of this year’s primaries in most states may very well be determined by a

Multiple reports over the last month have painted a stark picture of the situation that veterans face when seeking care through the Veterans Administration's (VA) health care system -- a benefit they earned with their service. Some of the incidents have resulted in the deaths of veterans, which just further proves how broken the VA really is. Unfortunately, for victims of substandard care at the VA, there is almost no accountability for these errors.

“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”  ~Abraham Lincoln

The political scientist Juan Enriquez has observed that when empires fall, it is because people give up on their government, and stop believing that their leaders represent their interests. What was once a vibrant, engaged society becomes a population of individuals focused on narrow self-interest. Quickly, what was once a purposeful nation of shared beliefs becomes just another place on a map.

There have been numerous articles alleging rampant welfare fraud. While most articles focus on blaming poor people who directly receive government benefits, there are no credible statistics demonstrating that the poor are responsible for the majority of the fraud. There exist anecdotal accounts of fraud that get lots of media attention, but those are exceptions, not the rule.

Google defines anecdotal evidence as:

California citizens should be cautious when they register to vote. According to the grassroots campaign, Don't Be AIPrl_Fooled, hundreds of thousands of Californians have registered as members of the American Independent Party (AIP) believing that by doing so they are registering "independent" of any party or any single ideology. The truth is, AIP is a party with strong ideological roots dating back to 1967.