"Newly revealed documents show that Exxon’s own scientists were aware of and studying the dangerous impacts of greenhouse gases in the 1970s and 1980s -- until Exxon’s leadership decided to shut down the research and promote climate denial instead, in order to protect the company’s unfathomably large profits. Now Bay Staters -- like all other American citizens -- are suffering from the damages of Exxon's unlimited greenhouse pollution. Extreme and unprecedented winter storms, fueled by global warming, have cost the state billions of dollars. State fisheries are under threat from warming oceans. Sea level rise is already harming Massachusetts's coastal communities. And the risks of continued global warming pollution to the state are many times greater. The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office should use all of the tools at its disposal to prosecute Exxon’s deliberate deception -- such as state RICO laws, Massachusetts's Regulation of Business Practice and Consumer Protection Act (Ch. 93A, Sec. 1-11), consumer fraud statutes, or any other laws that are intended to protect Bay Stater citizens from deliberate corporate misconduct. The attorneys general of 46 states successfully sued tobacco companies to pay for decades of deadly deceit -- now it’s time for Exxon and the fossil-fuel industry to pay for their climate crimes."

Representative Richard Hanna (Republican) of Central New York's District 22, we who have signed, many of whom are your constituents, and all being your fellow citizens, call upon you to Vote NO to the implementing legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Below is the email I received from Representative Hanna today explaining why he is considering voting yes to sell out the American middle class to Asia. We MUST respond LOUDLY and with SOLIDARITY... By signing NO, you DO NOT Represent your constituents with a vote of yes for the TPP. He says we will get lots of jobs, however he isn't saying what kind they will be. Will we get lots of jobs, ya, sure, in sweat shops maybe, if we lower our sights enough to compete for those. Rep Hanna we also want to know, how much did they pay you? Did you get any nice "speaking" gigs lately? By the way, what will your job be when you leave congress after this term? How much will you be making, and who do you plan to work for? We are sure we will have tons of jobs in those nice new sweat shops they bring over from Vietnam! Your grandchildren sure are going to look cute in them too! Do you know that the Tran-Pacific Partnership will allow foreign transnational corporations who pay no U.S. taxes and have no allegiance to our democracy or the well being of our citizens, to set up shops here in OUR country and fill them with laborers from places like Vietnam? Oh and here is the real kicker, THEY DON'T have to pay them according to our laws. Oh no, no, that would hurt their profits! Have you lost your mind?! No WE DON'T WANT NAFTA 2.0!! Representative Hanna We The People call upon you to Learn More about TPP and to not sell out our democracy and our middle class to Asia! NO is the ONLY vote we will accept from anyone who claims to represent us on the TPP! http://www.citizen.org/documents/analysis-tpp-text-november-2015.pdf February 16, 2016 Thank you for contacting me regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I appreciate hearing from you. As you know, the final agreement of the TPP was announced on October 5, 2015 by representatives from the twelve nations who are participating in the negotiations. This concludes more than seven years of negotiations between the United States and several other countries. The TPP has now been fully unveiled to the public pursuant to the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation approved by Congress earlier this year. President Obama sent his notification to Congress of his intent to sign the agreement on November 5, 2015, which formally begins the process for consideration by the Legislative Branch. The President must wait 90 days after that date until he may sign the TPP. However, even after the review period, and even after the President signs the agreement, Congress will still vote on accepting the terms of the agreement and the implementing legislation, which likely won't come well into next year. You may view the TPP in its entirety here: https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/trans-pacific-partnership/tpp-full-text. If structured properly, TPP and other pending trade agreements have the potential to be very beneficial for New York. TPP and a new trade agreement with European countries are expected to yield 7,910 new manufacturing jobs in New York. International cheese trade alone is projected to increase by $250 million a year, benefiting Upstate dairy farmers. I look forward to reviewing and debating the exact terms of the agreement here in the House. As I consult my constituents, policy experts, and stakeholders here in the New York 22nd District, I will continue to carefully consider and evaluate the effects of the TPP. I welcome your continued input as the House further considers the TPP, and thank you again for sharing your concerns. While I am sure you may not agree with every vote I cast representing you, you will always know my rationale for the decisions I make on the House floor. I am committed to open government and transparency, which is why I post updates from Washington and explanations for final passage votes on each House bill on Facebook at www.facebook.com/reprichardhanna. Please do not hesitate to contact any of my offices in the future if I or my staff can be of assistance. We work for you. Sincerely, (signed) RICHARD HANNA U.S. Representative

As a resident of Ohio and a mother of two, I am concerned about the future of our democracy and our environment. Too many voices are being drowned out by big money and the corporate stranglehold on our democracy. Environmental destruction and disenfranchisement must not be allowed to continue in the face of politics and greed.

As part of the effort to have this Democratic primary reflect the actual will of the voters, it's important not only that "Superdelegates" themselves pledge to respect the will of the voters in their state's primary, but also that prominent information sources (such as media outlets and internet search engines) report delegates that have been fairly won through the democratic process first and foremost. "Superdelegates," who might change their mind, and often do change their mind to respect the will of the voters of their state, should be reported as such, with words like "provisionally won" or "pledge indicated."

Our current state of democracy is under siege as a result of big money in politics, belittling our voices to an immense degree. As a resident of California and concerned citizen of the United States for that matter, I see an opportunity to voice our opinion in opposition to these corporate powers. Let us begin by telling the fossil fuel industry that, we as a people, want our voices to be heard. Here is the pledge: "I pledge allegiance to a democracy of, by, and for the people. If elected, I pledge to fight for a people-powered democracy where every voice is heard by defending the right to vote for all, and support common-sense measures like public funding for campaigns and overturning Citizens United to ensure a government by and for the people, not the biggest donors. And I will prove that I work for the people by refusing money from fossil fuel interests and by championing these solutions for a people-powered democracy on the campaign trail."

Why are companies like Uber and Lyft so scared of commonsense safety regulations in Austin? Uber and Lyft, whose drivers are operating in our city, haven’t followed the same regulations as the rest of our taxi industry, and that increases the risk for us all. They are putting profit above safety because they think they’re unstoppable. And now they’re trying to bully our elected leaders in Austin, who approved an ordinance that phases in fingerprinting for drivers and stronger rules for identifying ride-share vehicles, to back down. Now Uber is trying to force the city to hold an expensive election to overturn this ordinance and are threatening to leave town. This bullying has got to stop. Similar regulations have been put in place in Houston and other cities, and Uber continues to operate in those cities without any problems. Tell Austin City Council members and our mayor Steve Adler to not give into Uber’s bullying and to continue to support commonsense regulations to keep riders safe and ensure drivers are treated fairly.

Facebook, you support our gender identities. You advocate for same-sex love. You help us tell our stories, make connections, build communities, and embrace each other worldwide. But actions speak louder than words. Katie Harbath, your Global Politics and Government Outreach Director, is participating in a conference sponsored by openly homophobic and transphobic communications network National Religious Broadcasters -- for the fourth year in a row. This same convention regularly features anti-LGBTQ hate groups and advocates of "ex-gay" reparative therapy, leading anti-immigrant organizations, and extreme Islamophobic rhetoric. If you truly value and support LGBTQI people around the world, there’s no excuse for Katie Harbath to openly represent Facebook at a right-wing conference. If you're serious about being pro-LGBTQI, Katie needs to cancel.

To peacefully protest the unlawful occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by the Bundy gang, lead by Cliven Bundy.

Systematic fraud on Wall Street helped spark a financial crisis in 2008 that cost millions of Americans their jobs and their homes. But federal prosecutors didn’t put a single Wall Street executive in jail. Not one. Instead, spineless regulators told them to pay a fine and asked them nicely not to do it again. It turned into a “get out of jail free” card for the big banks that break the law. You’d think the big banks would be happy with an enforcement system that is so tepid that they could bake fines into the cost of doing business instead of going to jail. But nope, the banks are demanding even less oversight. This week, Wall Street’s buddies in Congress are lining up behind a bill to make it harder to prosecute bank fraud. You heard that right: The House of Representatives will vote this week on the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act, a bill that would make it even tougher to investigate and prosecute bank fraud. Wall Street and their Washington friends don’t think you’re paying attention to what’s going on in Congress this week. They don’t think you’ll care about a complicated, jargon-filled bill that will weaken the rules for corporate criminals. Let’s show Wall Street that the American people are watching – and we want tougher enforcement on banks that break the law, not weaker. Tell Congress to vote NO on Financial Institution Customer Protection Act this week.

Bernie Sanders is the most progressive candidate this country has seen since George McGovern. Though running as a Democrat, he is taking on the establishment of both parties as being complicit in the takeover of the US economy and government by billionaires and corporations. He is even taking on the mainstream media and their corporate owners for their role in aiding and abetting this. If the president of MSNBC wants his network to have any credibility as a practitioner of unbiased, objective journalism, he should be very concerned about a show host who has essentially become a mouthpiece for one of the candidates. Chris Matthews has clearly jumped the shark in his blind adoration for, loyalty to and incessant promotion of one of the candidates for the Democratic nomination. Here is just the latest example of his shilling for Hillary Clinton. In this interview, he enables her fantasy narrative that her 2/10ths of one percent lead over Bernie Sanders in Iowa, a statistical tie, constitutes a win. And he can barely hide his contempt for Bernie Sanders when he spits out invective that he is not a Democrat, even though he is clearly running as a Democrat, in order to discredit Senator Sanders with the viewers. http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/watch/clinton-on-her-chances-in-new-hampshire-614386755972 Here is a magazine columnist's take on it. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a41754/chris-matthews-hillary-clinton-interview/ Chris’ wife may be egging on his disgraceful behavior towards Bernie Sanders. His wife, Kathleen, is running for Congress just outside Washington, D.C. She has very publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton, has worked closely with the Clinton Foundation, is using footage in her campaign of her interviewing Hillary when she was a news reporter, is getting big bucks from Hillary donors, and her campaign is paying money to firms associated with Hillary. There is a clear conflict of interest between Kathleen’s new political career and Chris Matthews’ journalistic obligations to the public. Several women, including Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Pulitzer Prize-winning wife Connie Schultz and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous wife Maria Shriver, have taken leaves from their journalism jobs while their spouses ran for office. There is no reason a man should not have to do likewise. Please sign this petition to suspend Chris Matthews for the duration of the 2016 Presidential campaign. Either that, or he needs to give Bernie Sanders equal time on his show or charge Hillary Clinton for political advertising.

In 2012, the workers at Bröd Kitchen (formerly Hot & Crusty) on Manhattan's Upper East Side fought and won a historic campaign for fair and decent working conditions. In January 2016, on the eve of contract renegotiation, Bröd owners suddenly announced that they planned to close the location and fire all 19 union employees. These workers fought hard to keep the restaurant open in 2012 and 2014; their labor has grown the business and enabled Bröd to expand to West 4th St; and they deserve to keep their jobs and their contract! Defend The Hot and Crusty Workers Association! In an act of retaliation, and less than 24 hours after 200+ supporters rallied in support of workers at Bröd Kitchen (formerly Hot and Crusty), owner Hugo Uys fired the Hot and Crusty Workers Association President Mahoma Lopez, and worker leader Marcelino Cano. This is the latest in a series of attacks by Bröd Kitchen on the rights of working people. For months, after opening a new location, Bröd Kitchen has threatened employees to avoid bargaining with the Union. We demand the immediate reinstatement of Mahoma and Marcellino, and an end to all retaliation and intimidation of Bröd workers! We demand the company respect the union contract, and return to the negotiating table in good faith! The courageous struggle of the Bröd Kitchen/ Hot & Crusty workers was organized by Laundry Workers Center and documented in the award-winning documentary The Hand That Feeds. To see short videos of the people affected by this petition and learn more, please visit http://lwcu.org/campaigns/hot-crusty-workers-association/ and http://thehandthatfeedsfilm.com/.

The United States is just one of a few countries that allows drug companies to advertise directly to patients. The public is barraged on a daily basis with costly advertisements that offer misleading information, promote a pill as the panacea for everything, and drive up the cost of prescription meds. If we want to get health care costs, and addiction issues, under control and make genuine health and wellness a priority in the U.S., now is the time to act by demanding that Congress enact legislation to ban all Big Pharma advertising on television, radio and in print.