I've been around low-income people all of my life. I mean, growing up, low income, the community where I've chosen to live, low-income.

Middle school students are at a critical time in their lives when making good choices matters - the decisions they make in these formative years have an impact on their future success.

Nothing has more impact on my district than unemployment.

Universal coverage is a critical goal, but even if every man and woman, every parent and every child in America woke up with an insurance card in their hands, they would still need a place to go for health care.

I was ready to give up football, but I lifted my head, and I went to Belo Horizonte with just the money for an outward ticket for the last trial I had, with America MG. If I didn't make it, I had no money to get home to Espiritu Santo, 600 kilometres away. I gave my all that morning, and I passed.

When 'Mortal Kombat' came out, I was living in an apartment in the Venice Canals in L.A. I didn't get paid a huge amount of money, so I had a nice apartment, but I couldn't afford to have it furnished. It was kind of like Robert De Niro's apartment in 'Heat': It looked like I was ready to walk away from it in ten seconds, because there was nothing.

It would be great if firefighters across the country had the guarantee that they would be making enough money to support their family right from the get-go, but that's not the case.

Your bat is your life. It's your weapon. You don't want to go into battle with anything that feels less than perfect.