The Trump Budget slashes and burns crucial programs that help fight eviction and homelessness, and aid the rural and urban poor. The budget proposes a 13 percent cut in funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National Low Income Housing estimates that these cuts will put more than 200,000 seniors, families, and people with disabilities at immediate risk of evictions and homelessness. This cannot stand. Tell Congress to reject the Trump Budget. The Trump budget: * Eliminates a $3 billion program (the Community Development Block Grant) that provides funding for public facilities improvements like parks, health-care and child-care facilities, and disaster relief; helps struggling homeowners stay in their homes; and allows rural communities to repair crumbling housing stock. * Totally eliminates the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which coordinates the federal response to homelessness. One of this council’s goals is to end veteran homelessness. * Eliminates NeighborWorks America, which supports neighborhood organizations that develop and maintain affordable housing. Read more: * 10 Ways President Trump’s Agenda Will Harm His Supporters in Rural and Small-Town America, Center for American Progress, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/poverty/news/2017/03/16/428315/10-ways-president-trumps-agenda-will-harm-supporters-rural-small-town-america/ * Denise Lu, Trump federal budget 2018: Massive cuts to the arts, science and the poor, The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-federal-budget-2018-massive-cuts-to-the-arts-science-and-the-poor/2017/03/15/0a0a0094-09a1-11e7-a15f-a58d4a988474_story.html * Diane Yentel on President Trump’s Budget Request, National Low Income Housing Coalition, http://nlihc.org/press/releases/7613.

I don't believe that President Trump should be allowed the honor of placing a person on the Supreme Court while flauntingly disregarding the norms and established precedent of the previous Office holders. The Senate must demand he adhere to our minimum expectations. He must not be allowed to trample the Presidential norms. What will he trample next.

NY lawmakers agree on pay raise for caregivers March 15, 2017 04:58 AM ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The New York state Senate and Assembly are in agreement on a plan to increase funding for the care of the developmentally disabled. The Republican-led Senate and Democratic-controlled Assembly both included $45 million in additional funding in their chamber's proposed state budgets. The money would support pay raises for the direct support professionals who care for people with developmental disabilities. Low pay has created high turnover and staffing shortages. Harvey Weisenberg, a former lawmaker and father of a disabled son, says some caregivers are so poorly paid they're choosing to work fast-food jobs instead. Now supporters must convince Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who did not include the money in his own state budget proposal. A vote on the budget is expected by April 1.

Fuel standards may be the most important environmental regulation we have, and they make sense on many levels. They save us gas costs, they keep American car companies competitive and they protect our environment. Tell the EPA and car makers, we won't buy yesterday's gas guzzlers. Move forward not back.

Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, environmental law firm dedicated to defending wildlife in the West. On March 7, 2017, WELC served a Notice of Intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to protect wild winter steelhead.

Steve King making outrageous racist remarks is unfortunately nothing new. However, his awful consistency is no excuse for complicity. Most recently, King shared a racist meme regarding Emma Gonzalez, a Parkland survivor and #NeverAgain movement leader, criticizing her for wearing a Cuban flag. He has also tweeted "you can't rebuild civilization with someone else's babies" which won him the praise of former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke who called upon white supremacists to move to Steve King's congressional district, Iowa's 4th, if they wanted to have leadership that reflected their values. The very next day on WHO radio Steve King doubled down on his bigotry when commenting on demographic trends indicating Caucasians will someday be in the minority "Blacks and Hispanics will be fighting each other before that happens." This calls for unequivocal condemnation from all respectable leaders and political parties.

To strengthen the quality of presidential applicants whereby exemplary standards are required and expected. The nature of the position directly impacts thoughts and behaviors of children, adolescents and young adults.

Recently, authorities removed 310 animals from Friends for Life, including the therapy dogs that are owned by the three volunteers that reside there. We, the undersigned, are against the closure of the Friends For Life facility, and support the return of the animals seized.

Thousands of historic Massachusetts law library books are being shredded. In Massachusetts, we have a Constitutional Right to free legal advice, Article 11, of the Massachusetts Constitutional Declaration of Rights, which is guaranteed by the Massachusetts County Law Libraries. These books belong to the Citizens of Massachusetts, and they are being destroyed. They must be protected.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is known for its poor ethical track record and constant abuse of power when it comes to enforcing our nation’s immigration laws. Under the Donald Trump’s Administration, ICE has gone from bad to worse. Now, ICE is actively taking advice from hate groups to shape our nation’s immigration policies. Recently, the Daily Beast reported how two known hate groups, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), are actively conspiring with Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help craft national immigration policy. FAIR and CIS are known for their ties to white supremacist groups and racist statements, and Donald Trump has already begun implementing some of their most racist proposals, including defunding sanctuary cities, reviving a controversial program that would deputize local police as federal immigration agents, and expediting the deportation of immigrants across the nation. If we want to keep Donald Trump from destroying our American values, then we must pressure federal agencies like ICE to stop meeting with hate groups like FAIR and CIS. Please join with me and demand that ICE stops meeting with known hate groups immediately!

Our current president, a billionaire businessman, is intent on enriching himself while gutting the federal government. To achieve both goals, he has spent most weekends since the inauguration traveling to his estate in Florida, at taxpayer expense, while his sons travel internationally to promote his business ventures, also at taxpayer expense, and his current wife and young son remain in New York, at additional expense to taxpayers.

From Huffington Post: U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has made no secret of how he views people who aren’t white, Christian or American-born. His latest public remark is being critically viewed as a paean to white nationalism by Democrats and Independents ― but not by his Republican colleagues in Congress. On Sunday afternoon, King suggested that Muslim children were preventing “our civilization” from being restored. Here's his Tweet: "Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies." The tweet was in response to a cartoon tweeted out by an account that supports far-right European candidates and platforms. The cartoon depicts Geert Wilders, a candidate for Dutch Prime Minister, sticking his finger in a dam labeled “Western Civilization” to stop a flow of green ooze with stars and crescent moons ― a color and symbols widely associated with Islam.