Congress does nothing for the American people. Not only are the obsolete, they are corrupt and are the voices of the sociopathic wealthy. Let's send them home to get real jobs with no medical and no retirement. We can fire them now. We can represent ourselves from our computers. We the People need to take control of this bu!!@#%! now!

Americans have fought hard for our democracy in countless ways over the decades. Soldiers have fought and died to preserve it, and activists have struggled throughout our history to expand and protect the right to vote for all our citizens. We all deserve a day to honor and practice democracy on Election Day in November. By switching out Columbus Day as a federal holiday and exchanging it for Election Day, we make sure we are celebrating and advancing real American values, not glorifying a legacy of colonialism and genocide.

UPDATE: Robert Mueller has just submitted his report on Donald Trump's potential collusion and obstruction of justice. His official findings have been sent to Trump's Attorney General William Barr. This is our moment. Graham must support legislation to force Barr to make Mueller's report and underlying findings public. If he continues to block and conceal the report, we must take to the streets. The House voted 420 to 0 to release the Mueller report. But Lindsey Graham is blocking it in the Senate, saying "I'm just making a political point." We need to make sure he gets the point, and call on him to take action NOW. It is imperative that Congress protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller to ensure that he is able to complete his investigation and release the full report on his findings to the public. So far, Mueller's investigation has turned up eight guilty pleas and twenty-nine indictments, the most recent being Trump's longtime adviser, Roger Stone. Stone's arrest proves that Mueller's investigation continues to be effective and that there is still more to come. Mueller must be allowed to keep working until the investigation is complete, at which point his findings should be released to the public. We have a right to know the whole truth about what this investigation uncovers. If our President committed a crime, we deserve to know what it was and all the details surrounding it. It is time to demand that our Congress protect Mueller as he finishes his investigation and guarantees that the report is released to all of us.

The Federal response to the devastation caused by hurricanes Florence and Maria was a travesty, easily as poor as Hurricane Katrina. With representation, they would at least have a few votes in how they are treated and as a state, Puerto Rico could blossom. Side-note: Puerto Rico has voted twice to become a state. These are U.S citizens so let's give them what they want.

I'm a stage 4 cancer survivor, and the Affordable Care Act saved my life. 130 million Americans have pre-existing conditions, and we need to make sure that no more out-of-touch billionaires are elected President that will threaten our health care. Howard Schultz is another unqualified billionaire businessman. He's mad that strong progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren want the rich to pay their fair share, and so he's decided to run for President to stop this. 1 Schultz can't win as an Independent. But he can peel off just enough voters to act as a spoiler and re-elect Donald Trump.2 He's already hearing from the public that this is a terrible idea.3 He has been critical of popular bipartisan plans which will provide health insurance to all Americans at no cost to us. He's trying to water down one of the boldest progressive stances–healthcare for all–just to fuel his ego as yet another billionaire white man with no public service experience who thinks he has the right answers. No! We need to step it up and make sure Howard Schultz gets the message. We all cannot afford four more years of Trump and the GOP attacks on healthcare for cancer patients and those facing serious medical issues every day. 1 https://www.thedailybeast.com/howard-schultz-blames-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-for-his-decision-to-run-as-independent 2 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/howard-schultz-own-polling-reelect-trump.html 3 https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/howard-schultz-freaked-out-by-democratic-backlash-to-independent-presidential-run-rethinks-effort 4 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/howard-schultz-health-care_us_5c4e5677e4b06ba6d3be4904

Right now, Texas Secretary of State David Whitley -- who has yet to be confirmed by the state Senate -- is putting the rights of tens of thousands of voters in jeopardy. Whitley recently announced that his office had identified 95,000 voters registered in Texas as non-citizens. We were immediately skeptical of these claims, and it turns out -- we were right to be. Of all of the individuals marked for removal from the voter rolls, nearly half have since been unmarked -- as they had previously proven their citizenship to the Texas Department of Public Safety. But a great deal of damage has already been done. At least five major counties have sent out letters challenging people to prove their citizenship -- or be removed from the rolls. Any Secretary of State nominee must be fair, independent, and committed to protecting the rights of all Americans. Whether by gross incompetence or a deliberate attempt to suppress votes, Whitley’s actions put tens of thousands of eligible voters at risk of losing their voice in our democracy. Whitley does not meet any conceivable standard of professional responsibility or accountability. Add your name now to tell the Texas Senate to vote against his confirmation.

Did you hear what Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor? The Senate Majority Leader blasted a proposal to make Election Day a federal holiday, claiming it was a “political power grab.” In our democracy, our vote is our voice. Any leader who fears letting more Americans have a say shouldn’t be in charge of anything -- and any politician who tries to shut our friends and neighbors out of our democracy deserves a resounding rebuke. No eligible American should have to choose between their job and their fundamental right to vote. But as most elections are held on a Tuesday, many voters are forced to make that very decision every year -- especially those in states without early voting or a vote-by-mail option. Among nonvoters surveyed by the US Census Bureau, the most commonly cited reason for not voting was “being too busy or having conflicting work schedules.” [1] And especially when voters can expect to wait hours in line, the time commitment can be an insurmountable burden. Making Election Day a federal holiday would enable millions of Americans to take an active role in their government and speak out for the people and policies that affect their family and friends. It’s time for Congress to act -- and make our democracy more accessible to us all. Add your name to demand that Election Day is made a federal holiday. 1) https://www.businessinsider.com/is-election-day-a-national-holiday-2016-11

President Trump said that will not rule out of another government shutdown. He cannot hold 800,000 federal workers and their families hostage again. Sign this petition to tell Congress to stop Trump from starting another government shutdown.

The cancerous growth of the national debt will soon destroy any future for this Republic and doom all citizens to stagnant growth and missed opportunities to reach their full potential. The Progressive Agenda will be the first destroyed in this environment.

Howard Schultz came from nothing and built an empire. He tried to align the practices of Starbucks with more civic mindedness than most. He's made it the firm’s mission to hire veterans and refugees. He offered sick leave and college assistance and health plans when so many other American giants exploited economic dislocation and cultural decay to grind their people into the ground. If he wants to run for president, he has every right, and he has a case to make. But there is only one place to make that case, and it’s in the Democratic primaries. The alternative would destroy his legacy as an accomplished executive, divide the country, tilt the presidential election toward Trump, and turn his name into a permanent joke, or worse. Let’s dive in. A year before the first votes are cast in Iowa, Howard Schultz is assuming that the outcome of that process will be unacceptable. He must believe that a) there are tens of millions of people in America who are clamoring for his politics but b) he couldn’t persuade them to vote for you in a Democratic primary. It’s a real pickle. So what are his politics? In a 60 Minutes interview, Scott Pelley peppered Schultz with policy questions, and on one after another he described a mainstream Democratic position. On immigration, on climate change, on tax policy, he stake out completely ordinary liberal critiques of Trump. Nothing special, nothing new. So what is this great divergence that suggests that Schultz, a lifelong Democrat, has no choice but to run as an independent? It’s that even though everyone deserves health care, Democratic proposals are too expensive—Medicare for All is a partisan fantasy, our version of Trump’s wall. It fits with what he's said previously—that neither party cares enough about fiscal responsibility. Earlier this year he told CNBC that “the greatest threat domestically to the country is this $21 trillion debt hanging over… future generations.” This is the substance of his centrism, the appeal he believes will draw the independents he views as his natural constituency—the socially liberal, fiscally conservative political homeless American voter. But I have bad news: while there are many voters like this who nod their heads in Aspen and Davos, and who form the base of the Democratic donor class and the consultants who share their politics—cosmopolitan, tolerant, capitalist, constitutionally moderate and rarely touched by poverty and grinding inequality—those nodding heads do not represent a coalition. In fact, it’s the opposite. What we have learned in recent years—and why you see a move toward more left policies in Democratic circles —is that the politically homeless voter is opposite to what Schultz describes: fiscally liberal and socially moderate. There's more to say, including about the shallowness of the identifier “independent” and the 40 percent of voters who use it, the actual source of partisan rancor in Washington, the fact that even on the substance of fiscal responsibility, it’s Democrats who have actually carried that mantle for a generation. And, by the way, on health care, we’re about to have a huge debate about universal coverage and how to pay for it. The debate will take place in the primary Schultz is planning to skip. Look, I know I’m a partisan Democrat, the kind of person whose views Schultz is training himself to ignore. But in my experience, there’s no one a billionaire trusts more than a fellow billionaire. Listen to Mike Bloomberg who said, “In 2020, the great likelihood is that an independent would just split the anti-Trump vote and end up re-electing the President.” He faced the same choice as Schultz. The only difference is he had people around him who cared more about telling him the truth than taking his money. The effort to remove Donald Trump from office—by impeachment, resignation, or electoral defeat—is among the most important political fights in American history. The stakes are total. If he is on the ballot in 2020 he will be defeated by Democratic voters, with the help of independents, first-time voters, and some Republicans—or he will be re-elected. A huge percentage of those voters are about to engage in a great contest, state by state, to choose the person we want to face off against Trump. Millions of our fellow citizens will take it seriously, they will knock on doors and persuade their friends, they will argue and think and worry about who they should support. For Howard Schultz to evade that process, for him to introduce so profound an uncertainty into this election, for him to leapfrog the primaries, avoid any debate, insert himself into that decision, simply because he has the money to do it and the foolishness to believe the consultants he's paid to get to yes, is reprehensible. I believe Schultz loves this country. I believe he believes in a noble conception of his motivations. So my hope is that the criticisms reach him, that he talks to smart people he does not pay, that he does not show the same kind of hubris and selfishness and ego that led Trump to believe he alone could fix it. Howard Schultz, if you want to help your country help us defeat the propaganda machine that enables Trump and the worst elements of the Republican Party. Help us push back against corporate interests arrayed against action on climate change. Fund local journalism. Fund scholarships. Fund voter registration and protection. And, if you believe in the case you’d make as an independent candidate, join the Democratic primary and make that case before the voters you’d need to win.

Trump is responsible for the longest government shutdown in our nation's history, and while federal workers saw some reprieve getting back-pay, millions of lower-wage hourly federal contract workers who were furloughed have no guarantee of back-pay for the time they were unable to work. The contractors were expected to go into debt in their paid time off or were simply without work and pay for weeks on end. As a former hourly hotel worker, I understand all too well the reality of living paycheck to paycheck and the struggle to make ends meet. This shutdown has further exacerbated these challenges for the millions of lower-wage service workers and their families across the country who have had to take on second and third jobs just to keep the bills paid and food on the table. This is unacceptable, because this primarily affects women, people of color, immigrants, and low-income folks. Furloughed federal government contract service workers should not have to pay, feel financial strain, and worry about their very livelihood because of the government was held hostage to promote ineffective, racist policies. I introduced The Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act of 2019 in the House of Representatives (H.R. 678) in partnership with Representative Holmes-Norton (D-DC) along with fellow co-sponsors Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-IL), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Steven Horsford (D-NV), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Joe Kennedy III (D-MA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Don Norcross (D-NJ), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Terri Sewell (D-AL), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Lori Trahan (D-MA), David Trone (D-MD), Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ), Nydia Velasquez (D-NY), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ). This is the companion bill to S. 162, introduced by Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), which was introduced in the Senate and has 36 sponsors currently.

Many suburbs surrounding DeKalb allow residents to raise a small number of chickens for a healthy source of eggs (including Naperville, St. Charles, and Batavia). Everyone should have the right to know that their eggs come from healthy and cared for chickens that are free from hormones and antibiotics if they choose.