To: The Honorable Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin. The Democratic Party nomination should be decided by who gets the most votes, and not who has the most support from party insiders. The superdelegates make up about 15 percent of all the Democratic delegates casting votes for a nominee at the party's summer 2016 convention. There are 712 superdelegates, made up of Democratic elected officials and other prominent party leaders, who have the power to tip the scales. This process is undemocratic and fundamentally unfair to Democratic primary voters. Why does this petition single out Illinois Senator Dick Durbin? The Answer; Common Ground. Flashback to the Iraq War: Senator Dick Durbin (IL), voted against the Iraq War and stated on the Senate floor in April 2007 that as a member of the Senate intelligence committee, he had known in 2002 that US intelligence knowledge did not match the Bush Administration's public case for war. Robert Naiman reported in the Huffington Post, Durbin said. "So, if they didn't want to read the reports themselves, information we had in the intelligence committee was not the same information being given to the American people, I couldn't believe it." Senate Democrats had another option. They could have met with Dick Durbin, and asked him: "That's why we have Democrats on the intelligence committee, to enable that conversation.” Since 21 of the 50 Democratic Senators voted against the Iraq War, including both Dick Durbin and Bernie Sanders, it has become obvious who didn’t do their homework, many of them superdelegates for Hillary. The Democrats have approximately 4,768 total delegates, with about 2,385 needed to win, Clinton's 500 (or so) means she's already one-fifth of the way there, but why? Bernie Sanders has enjoyed a special agreement with the Democratic leadership in the US Senate. He votes with the Democrats on all procedural matters in exchange for the committee seats and seniority that would be available to him as a Democrat. Sanders is free to vote as he wishes on policy matters, but he has almost always voted with the Democrats. Bernie is known as the amendment king because the works across the aisle and has a fine legislative reputation. Fast Forward: Senator Durbin (and others), with the current political gridlock in Illinois, the established politicians are becoming increasingly unpopular, but why? Could it be the privatization of schools (Charter), parking meters, red light cameras, and fewer funds for education and other public programs? Back in 2012, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) went on strike to fight for educational justice. CTU members stated, “We do not intend on taking this anymore." But Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel characterized the protest as "a strike of choice" because, he claimed, "The city has already made an offer that is close to the demands of the union." But in reality, nothing could have been further from the truth. Why were the teachers striking? The Chicago Teachers Union was looking for a contract that included: fairness in pay, protection of benefits, fair evaluation procedure, teacher training, and a timetable for air conditioning. On February 9, 2016 in a move the Chicago School district acknowledged was unprecedented for the middle of a school year, Chicago Public Schools cut millions of dollars from school budgets, forcing principals to refigure their plans with the second semester just underway. In fact, community colleges and universities across Illinois have had their budgets slashed (including Map Grants) in direct connection to the budget gridlock between Governor Bruce Rauner and ultra high-ranking democrat Michael Madigan, many teachers have lost their jobs, and the populace is getting restless. Chicago police dash cam video of Laquan McDonald's final moments, where the 17-year-old is shot 16 times walking away from officers, and certainly did not continue “to approach the officers,” as stated initially by law enforcement. Bernie Sanders said in a statement about Rahm Emanuel back in December of 2015, “Any elected official with knowledge that the tape was being suppressed or improperly withheld should resign. No one should be shielded by power or position.” The truth is, the public call for Rahm Emanuel to resign has come from diverse groups, and his approval rating is dismal. Rahm is also a superdelegate for Hillary Clinton. The time has come for the established members of the Democratic Party to distance themselves from those members with negative approval ratings stemming from manifold scandals. We are calling on Illinois Democratic superdelegates to pledge to support the will of the voters at the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia. Commit to honoring the voters, and let Illinois know that you won’t allow your vote to defeat our votes. Announce that in the event of a close race, you’ll align yourself with regular voters, not Democratic Party elites. One thing is increasingly clear about the race for the Democratic nomination for president: This is going to be a long primary season, and why pledge allegiance to the status quo if the populace votes for Bernie Sanders. Sincerely, Eric Sterling: IL 16-CD for Bernie, Dekalb Area For Bernie

Last June, the Senate approved "Fast Track" procedures for consideration of the Trans-Pacific Partnership [TPP] agreement, by a vote of 60 to 38. [1] 47 Republicans and 13 Democrats voted yes. [2] Under the legislation, once President Obama submits the TPP agreement to Congress, Congress must consider it under expedited (“Fast Track”) procedures, by which the bill can come to the floor without action by the leadership, and can receive a guaranteed up-or-down vote. [3] Now, some of the same Republican Senators who voted for Fast Track for Big Pharma's TPP deal that "will make life-saving treatments unaffordable for those who need them most" [4] are saying there's no hurry to consider confirmation of President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court. If it's left up to these Republican Senators, the "timetable" for confirming President Obama's Supreme Court nominee could be "never." Urge the Senate to support "Fast Track" procedures for confirming President Obama's Supreme Court nomination, similar to the "Fast Track" procedures the Senate approved for considering the TPP, by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/business/trade-pact-senate-vote-obama.html 2. http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/114/senate/1/219 3. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43491.pdf 4. http://msfaccess.org/about-us/media-room/press-releases/there%E2%80%99s-still-time-stop-tpp-cutting-critical-lifeline-affordable-

It is time to take action against those that choose greed over prosperity, money over truth, and self-worth over common good. This is just one of the many ways, we can begin to fight back.

MSNBC is providing biased coverage of the 2016 elections to its viewers! Recently, Joe Scarborough -- the host of MSNBC’s morning show "Morning Joe" -- admitted that he personally met with Donald Trump in order to provide him with debate tips. As if that wasn’t enough, Mediaite has reported on how Donald Trump thanked Joe Scarborough for being a "supporter" and a "believer" of his campaign during an on air segment of Morning Joe. These revelation confirms what many viewers already suspected - Joe Scarborough is using his role as anchor of Morning Joe to justify and even support Donald Trump’s extremist rhetoric. With the stakes of the 2016 presidential elections growing by the day, we cannot allow programs like Morning Joe to continue to embolden Trump supporters or promote Donald Trump's extremism. Influential members of the media like, Joe Scarborough, should use their platforms to hold those running for president, or any public office, accountable -- not give people like Donald Trump a friendly platform to spread their hate. It is completely unacceptable for MSNBC to turn a blind eye on Joe Scarborough's inappropriate public support for Donald Trump. We demand that MSNBC to puts an end Joe Scarborough’s biased reporting and expose Donald Trump for the extremist candidate that he truly is.

Senate Republicans have already declared their intention to block the confirmation of ANY Obama Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. This is a truly radical refusal to fulfill the Senate's constitutional obligation to vote on Supreme Court nominations, giving reasonable consideration to the president's nominees. The American people deserve better - they deserve a fully-functioning democracy, and that includes a Supreme Court with 9 Justices on the bench.

I want the Senate to vote on a Supreme Court nominee that President Obama proposes.

To get a new Supreme Court justice confirmed during President Obama's time in office.

I live in Boise, which has been kept from enacting several ordinances favored by residences but opposed by the Idaho legislature. If you would like your city or other local jurisdiction to have the ability to enact its own community guidelines, instead of having that ability pre-empted by state laws pushed by groups like the American Legislative Exchange Committee (ALEC), please sign this petition that will then be forwarded to your own state legislators.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, recently stated that "It is "standard practice" to not confirm nominations to the Supreme Court in an election year". However, under Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution President Obama is granted powers of appointment, "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint ... Judges of the Supreme Court." With 11 months left in President Obama's term, there is no logical reason the Senate should block President Obama's appointment, and leave a critical position within our democracy vacant. We the people of Iowa need to tell Sen. Grassley to honor Justice Scalia and uphold his constitutional duties or face the power of the people, the ability to not reelect him in the year 2016.

The 2010 Citizens United ruling stands as one of the worst Supreme Court rulings ever, which is why over 75% of Americans agree it should be overturned. The next Supreme Court justice will undoubtedly be a critical vote on everything from climate change to women's rights to workers' rights to health care. All of these issues (and others) have been dominated by wealthy special interests able to spend unlimited money to buy elections and legislators thanks to Citizens United and other corrupt court rulings. This, more than anything else, is what has rigged our system to benefit the wealthiest few Americans at everyone else’s expense. Do NOT nominate a moderate to the court who is unwilling to commit to fixing this. Let overturning Citizens United be your (and our) litmus test for whether a nominee will be ruling in favor of ALL Americans, or just the wealthiest 1%. Let this be a legacy you and your children can be proud of.

Their job is to run the country and follow the will of the people not play political games that do nothing to help this country. They need to be reminded of that. No better way to do that then have them lose their comfy positions and realize that their games need to end.

Demand that President Obama appoint a Supreme Court justice now.