Allowing corporate allies into jobs that oversee those same corporations creates a monopoly, eliminating competition in the areas of research and development, before ideas can reach the public. It also leaves the American consumer unprotected in the face of loopholes the size of a big red barn. Eliminating conflicts of interest in appointment of regulators is an absolute requirement for the US economy to remain competitive, while protecting consumers.

The shops @Wailea want to charge all who come to Wailea to enjoy the shopping and our great beaches. There is no parking in Wailea, no off street parking and very little beach parking. Are you ready to pay $3.00 per 1/2 hour? Or a day pass will cost you $40.00. Employees are being charged as well. Tenants of the mall have to purchase validation tickets. Each store set its own minimum price for validation. Since construction has already started, I want to change their policies. Free parking for all who work in the shops and free for Locals. Please, ask yourself if you want to or can afford to pay these prices? Enough already! Where's the Aloha? Keep south Maui No Ka Oi.

Voter participation is dropping and the change introduced by this bill could help reverse that trend. Fuller participation will assure that our legislators will continue working for the needs of the people instead of being persuaded to work more for the special interests of the lobbyists.

Today, Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia is expected to sign into law a bill that was passed at the 11th hour in the current session to help transportation. To raise the funds, our state elected official passed a bill to add a $5.00 tax to all guests who stay in a hotel/motel in Georgia. This tax is in addition to the state tax that is already being charged. Furthermore, this tax is for every night a person stays. This is completely unexpected and wrong. Georgia will lose millions in revenue because of it. Please call the Governor's Office at 404-656-1776 and ask to speak with Governor Deal. If they say no, then tell the person that you are opposed to House Bill 170 and that you want the Governor to VETO the bill. This bill is not in Georgia's best interest. Please pass this along to everyone.

I believe gerrymandering is a primary cause of the sorry condition of our Congress.

It is about convincing Senator Sanders to run for president.

Maryland’s Fair Campaign Financing Fund, our only state-wide program for public funding of elections, proved its worth in the last election – giving a voice to both Delegate Mizeur and Governor Hogan. But the tax check-off, which funded this program through the decades, has been eradicated. The fund now has just over $1 million available, which would not be sufficient to provide a qualifying candidate full grant funds in the 2018 elections.

There are now 32 state legislators who have been indicted or have left office due to criminal or ethical issues since 2000. Incremental change in the budget, negotiated in secrecy, is no substitute for real comprehensive ethics and campaign finance reform. Call on our leaders to tackle this crisis with real reform now.

The right to vote is the most fundamental freedom that we have as North Carolinians and it must be protected. Our elections should be free, fair and accessible for all citizens.

Electronic voting machines can be hacked. There have been so many problems, irregularities and malfunctions that voters have no confidence in them. Because there have been problems with paper ballots being lost, destroyed or mysteriously disappeared we demand that the ballots have a clear and accurate monitoring system, where ballots are hand counted and that hand counting be recorded and verified and the chain of ballot handling unbroken.

Companies like AirBnB are exacerbating California’s affordable housing crisis, but lawmakers in Sacramento want to give the company a free ride. Assemblymember Matt Harper -- an Orange County Republican -- has introduced AB1220, a bill that prohibits cities from collecting taxes on short term residential rentals, like those rented through AirBnB. Sign on to tell your Assemblymember to support affordable housing, not handouts to Airbnb: reject AB1220. The explosion in short term rentals through AirBnB is decreasing long term rental stock in California, and driving up prices. And in many California cities, there are laws against converting scarce housing resources to tourist use. Using political influence, Airbnb has engaged in a systematic campaign to dismantle those laws and avoid paying any taxes to offset their impact. Now, Airbnb is taking their lobbying efforts to the state level, and this bill could exempt the company from local taxes. It’s bad enough cities are losing valuable rental housing stock. The least AirBnB and the property owners that use it can do is pay their fair share. We can kill this bill if we let Democrats in Sacramento know we are watching. Democrats control the legislature, but history shows they will quietly pander to special interests like Airbnb unless we expose this. This bill could be heard any day in the Assembly Committee on Local Government. If enough of us speak out right now, we can make sure this bill never makes it out of Committee. But we have to act now or you can be guaranteed that Assemblymembers will push it forward. Sign on right now to tell your Assemblymember to reject AB1220.

President Obama is currently contemplating issuing an Executive Order requiring disclosure of campaign contributions for federal contractors. This would be a very exciting victory for our movement to shine the light on corporations that are attempting to buy our elections. It is very likely that significant grassroots pressure will make the difference. Join us as we encourage President Obama to shine the light on corporate corruption of our democracy as part of nationwide rallies on April 2 – the year anniversary of the McCutcheon U.S. Supreme Court ruling that further put our democracy up for sale.