Does religious freedom mean that individuals are free to follow their own consciences, faith or morals in their conduct of their lives? Or does it mean that individuals who sign the paychecks and provide health insurance benefits as part of compensation for work performed get to impose their religious beliefs on their employees as a condition of employment? This seems a very flawed understanding of religious freedom to me. I oppose the efforts of evangelical christians or others who seek to impose their religious beliefs on those who don't share them and call it religious freedom. Such actions are the opposite of religious freedom. So when Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the federal mandate that they provide their employees no-cost access to contraception that conflicts with their religious beliefs, I consider it an attack on the religious freedom of their employees, not a defense of the religious freedom of the company's owners. I decline to patronize such a business. When they drop their lawsuit and learn to mind their own business and stay out of the bedrooms of their employees, they will get my business back.

Having a legal marriage is our constitutional right. All men are created equal. We have the right to pursue happiness. There are many real legal and economic benefits of marriage that gays and lesbians are denied because they are not allowed to marry. What are the legal rights and benefits of marriage? Answer: According to Lambda Legal Defense, more than 1,400 legal rights are conferred upon heterosexual married couples in the United States. By not being allowed to marry, gays and lesbians are denied these rights. Even in the state of Massachusetts, the only US state with legalized gay marriage, most of the benefits of marriage do not apply, because the Defense of Marriage Act states that the federal government only recognizes marriage as "a legal union of one man and one woman as husband and wife". Here are some of the legal rights that married couples have and gays and lesbians are denied: Joint parental rights of children Joint adoption Status as "next-of-kin" for hospital visits and medical decisions Right to make a decision about the disposal of loved ones remains Immigration and residency for partners from other countries Crime victims recovery benefits Domestic violence protection orders Judicial protections and immunity Automatic inheritance in the absence of a will Public safety officers death benefits Spousal veterans benefits Social Security Medicare Joint filing of tax returns Wrongful death benefits for surviving partner and children Bereavement or sick leave to care for partner or children Child support Joint Insurance Plans Tax credits including: Child tax credit, Hope and lifetime learning credits Deferred Compensation for pension and IRAs Estate and gift tax benefits Welfare and public assistance Joint housing for elderly Credit protection Medical care for survivors and dependents of certain veterans These are just a few of the 1400 state and federal benefits that gays and lesbians are denied by not being able to marry. Most of these benefits cannot be privately arranged or contracted for within the legal system.

Stop the State from criminalizing fathers in Child Support Enforcement Cases, do to economic hardships. Therefore Fathers who are in the arrearage to CSE will get a felony five or locked up in jail for a considerable amout of time.

This petition urges President Obama and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to do everything in their power to protect voters’ rights from all manners of voter suppression and election rigging and to ensure that all eligible voters will be allowed to vote and have their votes counted. This petition further calls on the President and the DOJ to ensure that voting machines are not rigged by political hackers, who would try to steal or alter our votes; as in prior election cycles. It further calls for the voting machines to be subject to independent auditors who work on behalf of the public interest, not private for profit groups. Finally this petition calls for accountability and severe consequences towards any incidence of “election fraud” voter suppression or voter machine rigging. No officials should be beyond accountability. With their sweeping victories in the 2010 midterm elections, Republican governors and Republican members of congress have made it their top priority to make our Barak Obama a 1 term president. Contrary to their promise of growing the economy and focusing on jobs; which is why they were elected, they have obstructed every effort by the President to improve the economy and create jobs. Using unprecedented numbers of Partisan filibusters in the Senate and record numbers of partisan obstructions in the House of Representative, they have insured that president Obama get's blamed for Congresses' own created deficits and failures in moving the economy forward. This was all done in a deliberate and blatant effort to make the president fail, so that they could get an election advantage. Instead of supporting the President’s Job proposals or bipartisan Infrastructure bills, Republicans in congress have caused a near Government shutdown and a down grading of the US credit rating due to their unwillingness to compromise on anything, bringing this nation to the edge of a fiscal cliff. Instead of focusing on jobs as they promised, they have launched an all out campaign against women's rights, Unions and what was once a bipartisan, private sector driven, health care reform bill. Moreover, Republicans specifically have launched an all out attack on the People's most fundamental right to vote, by implementing broad sweeping laws drafted behind the closed doors of ALEC (American Legislative Council), across numerous swing states with the direct effect of suppressing the Democratic majority’s vote. These unprecedented new laws will dis-enfranchise and restrict voting access to millions of people who will not have the required 'new" credentials & ID's to vote. This will disproportionately affect minority voters, students and the elderly and greatly compromise the integrity of our Democracy and election systems. And all this is happening so blatantly and so close to a national election. Republican election officials are changing the rules every way they can, including thru redistricting, political gerrymandering, shortened voting windows, long voting delays due to huge ballots and all manner of voter suppression tactics. This is occurring in blatant view, all under the name of “protecting” from virtually non-existent voter fraud.

This petition urges President Obama and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to do everything in their power to protect voters’ rights from all manners of voter suppression and election rigging and to ensure that all eligible voters will be allowed to vote and have their votes counted. This petition further calls on the President and the DOJ to ensure that voting machines are not rigged by political hackers, who would try to steal or alter our votes.

This petition urges President Obama and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to do everything in their power to protect voters’ rights from all manners of voter suppression and election rigging and to ensure that all eligible voters will be allowed to vote and have their votes counted. This petition further calls on the President and the DOJ to ensure that voting machines are not rigged by political hackers, who would try to steal or alter our votes.

Jamie Kuntz, an NDSCS football player was kicked off the football team because he was seen kissing his boyfriend in the media booth. The coach, Chuck Parsons, told him that his conduct was detrimental to the team and that he was being removed as a player.

Immediate action should be taken to correct problems at The Topeka Correctional Facility! Noone should be subjected to any sexual misconduct or abuse.

I am not personally affected with my right to vote being stripped from me after committing a crime. As a nation this issue effects all of us. It is similiar with ecomonic slavery and keeping an unfair balance in the voice of our nation. I believe a person who has owned up to their mistakes and paid their debt to society should not lose the right to vote. Being a voice in our democracy and moving forward with our nation is something that should never be taken away from a citizen of the United States.

Rep Steve King compared immigrants to dogs and said that they should have taken that as a compliment. I am not okay with this. People are people no matter skin color or anything else. He should apologize!! NO EXCUSE

The new voter registration legislation designed to "eliminate voter fraud" is a sham. Low income and elderly citizens who typically vote democrat are being excluded from the polls thanks to this discriminatory legislation. We must not let this happen.

Long lines have required voters to wait hours to vote in past presidential elections. New restrictions on early voting will mean a return to long lines. Voters in every precinct who are willing to wait hours in line should receive free coffee, tea, or water to make their wait easier, and recognize that every vote counts.