Raising the minimum wage means raising the living wage – and that’s good news for Ohio.

The current minimum wage simply is not supporting Ohio’s working families.

We were told this war would be over in a matter of weeks, and that the Iraqis would be able to finance it with oil sales. We were promised it was not a mission of nation building.

The president overstepped his authority when he asked the NSA to eavesdrop on Americans’ international phone calls without obtaining a warrant.

Anyone who’s tried to pay a heating bill, fill a prescription, or simply buy groceries knows all too well that the current minimum wage does not cut the mustard.

This drug coverage program was clearly designed by Republicans in Congress to serve the interests of the drug and insurance industries. America’s seniors were an afterthought.

I’m disappointed that Senator DeWine once again chose to go along with his party leaders and their big corporate lobbyist supporters. Ohio deserves a Senator who will be more than a rubber stamp.

Young people have been at the forefront of every great social movement in our country’s history.

This year, we are going to take our government out of the hands of corporate special interests and put it back into the hands of Ohio families – where it belongs.

The administration needs to speak honestly with the American people. Exaggerating our progress in defeating the insurgency or in creating an Iraqi army paints a dangerous picture.

Big government conservatives are spending trillions and wasting billions. Republicans are no longer the party of fiscal conservancy, but the party of runaway spending and corruption.

The Republicans are running wild with our tax dollars and it’s been a mistake to let this administration continue a policy of incompetence when it comes to Iraq.

It is past time for Republican leadership to answer for record deficits and reckless spending, both in Iraq and in the U.S. It’s time for a plan to bring our troops home.

We should not mislead the Iraqis into thinking they have unlimited time to reach a settlement. The longer they think that, the less likely they will be to act.

Thousands of Ohio families are going deeper and deeper in debt just trying to pay their heating bills, fill prescriptions, and buy groceries. The current minimum wage is simply not enough.

We must have a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces – or at the very least a plan for it – something the administration has incredulously failed to do for over two years.

Republican leadership in Congress let the energy companies write the energy bill that sent prices soaring, and has turned a blind eye to the struggles of working families trying to make ends meet.

We must support initiatives that provide clear, concrete measures and milestones that our troops need for defeating the insurgency, building up Iraqi security forces, and handing over Iraq to the Iraqi people.

Year after year, President Bush has broken his campaign promises on college aid. And year after year, the Republican leadership in Congress has let him do it.

It is unacceptable that someone can work full time – and work hard – and not be able to lift themselves out of poverty.

The reality in Iraq is that we are creating new terrorists and severely damaging the public impression of the United States in the Muslim world.

Workers organized and fought for worker rights and food safety, Social Security and Medicare – they fought to change government. And they won.

Raising the minimum wage means raising the living wage – and that’s good news for Ohio.

Ohio is one of only two states that have a minimum wage below the federal level of $5.15 an hour.