It has been tested and proven that Garamond font uses LESS ink per letter. With one simple change, the federal government could save millions per year and help protect the environment by changing their standard font to Garamond. Seems simple to me, what would you do with $136 million?

I'M AM SICK AND TIRED OF BIG BUSINESS GETTING WHAT IT WANTS. TIME TO REALLY START REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE. POVERTY,HUNGER,UNEMPLOYMENT, JUST PLAIN CRAP! I THINK WE SHOULD CLEAN UP OUR OWN "DIRTY BACK YARD" FIRST

Silicosis is an incurable disease that results in scarring and inflammation of the lungs. It’s the sort of illness you might contract if you work in construction and are exposed to crystalline silica dust without proper safeguards. Now, why bring this up? Because according to Lawrence Lessig’s new piece in The Daily Beast, sixteen Republican Senators have come out against transparency for industry-funded scientific research that will influence new regulations on silica. And surprise, surprise: these Senators just happen to be beneficiaries of “a modest but significant series of contributions” from the interests who stand to gain from this lack of disclosure. Here’s the backstory: the agency tasked with updating safety regulations for silica, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), requested that any scientific research submitted for consideration around the new rules disclose its financial backers. Not mandated, requested. This was apparently too much for Senator Lamar Alexander. The Tennessee politician submitted a letter to OSHA—along with fifteen of his Republican colleagues—calling into question this request for transparency. “[T]he chilling effect the financial disclosure could have seems counter to the idea of robust inclusion of a diverse set of ideas and views to inform the rule-making," explained a staffer for Alexander. The notion, of course, is ludicrous. As The Daily Beast piece humorously (but sadly) ponders, “What’s the chill? That the shrinking violets of the cement industry will be too afraid to hire lobbyists to present their views about the (non)dangers in inhaling silica?” But in the end, this isn’t a joke. It’s the status-quo of corruption in Washington. Lessig points to an obvious solution to this particular mess: President Obama needs to issue an executive order to mandate that “every agency accepting submissions presenting scientific analysis require the authors to include a statement of financial conflicts of interest.” We agree. Sign on to our action and urge President Obama to make this happen. Transparency is not a cure-all for our politics. But considering how dirty our system currently is, it’s a breath of fresh air.

The Obama Administration is establishing a new precedent by implementing sanctions against Russian officials for violations of international law in the wake of Russia’s occupation and annexation of Crimea. Civil society organizations in the United States and around the world should invoke this precedent in calling U.S. officials to account for the U.S.'s own violations of international law. John Brennan, head of the Central Intelligence Agency, is playing a central role in shielding the agency from accountability to international law on three key issues: the CIA's use of torture during the Bush Administration; the CIA’s use of drone strikes; and the CIA’s arming of Syria rebels, which the Obama Administration has acknowledged is a violation of Syria’s sovereignty under international law, just as Russia’s actions in Crimea violate Ukraine’s sovereignty under international law.

Rick Santorum's political career may be largely behind him, but incredibly, a secret deal between Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey may lead President Obama to hand one of Rick Santorum's former lawyers a lifetime job as a federal judge. If the Western Pennsylvania District Court in Pittsburgh goes to David J. Porter, it's probably as close as conservatives can get to having Rick Santorum himself on the federal bench. One more conservative activist judge who wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. One more extremist in the federal judiciary who loves discriminating against women, immigrants and LGBT people as much as he loves doing the bidding of the National Rifle Association. To complete the conservative extremist packaging, Porter even opposes bilingual education and environmental health protections. [1] David J. Porter's hateful political extremism is an outrageous and unacceptable legacy for the Obama administration to leave behind in the federal judiciary. [1] - "Sens. Casey and Toomey plot secret deal to nominate Tea Party Judge for Western PA District Court," Keystone Progress, March 25, 2014 http://keystoneprogressblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/sens-casey-and-toomey-plot-secret-deal.html

This petition has been started to curtail the unfair advantage churches and religious agencies have in our politics and return much needed money to the communities that these organizations reside in.

The House is moving on a terrible new bill that will effectively say: No new national parks. The vote is Wednesday -- and if you don't raise your voice today, it could actually pass! Here are the facts: This bill, H.R. 1459, would gut the historic Antiquities Act, undermining the president's power to create national monuments -- but nearly half of our national parks started out as monuments. The bill's author is named Rep. Rob Bishop, whose biggest contributor in the last election was the oil and gas industry. Bishop even says national parks are unconstitutional! This is about so much more than oil profits -- this is about our American legacy. Without the Antiquities Act, we might never have had the Grand Canyon or Acadia National Parks. We certainly wouldn't have Muir Woods or President Obama's brand-new Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument!

An acquaintance of mine was involved in an accident with a drunk driver. She topped the million dollar total before her third year of treatment. It took five years before she could walk again. Why should she, or others like her lose everything? What do we gain by having insurance?

Ever since the Supreme Court’s outrageous Citizens United decision, corporate spending on political campaigns has skyrocketed. But much of that spending never gets disclosed anywhere. We have no idea who is attempting to influence our elections. Republicans in Congress may have blocked action, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has the power to do something about it. They can create a rule that requires corporations to disclose to their shareholders (and thus, to the public) whether and how much they are spending to influence voters. But so far, the SEC has opted to do nothing. That’s not OK. Sign our petition and tell the SEC it’s time to stand up and take action. If we’re going to fix our democracy, we have to make sure that voters know who is trying to pick winners and losers in our elections.

“In the name of tort reform, a conspiracy of corporate interests and elected officials has thrown obstacles in the path of victims even getting their day in court, let alone financial judgments: gutted consumer protection laws, capped financial compensation, and drastically limited attorney's fees — to the point that they cannot afford to take cases. The justification for (what they call) reform is that runaway juries swayed by heart-wrenching cases award mega-millions in punitive damages that can hurt their bottom line — the dead, maimed, and injured be damned! In the name of all injured Americans past, present, and future, it’s time to reform tort reform — and call it what it is. “ Stephen L. Goldstein

Washington is awash in Big Money and it’s time we do something about it. From creating jobs to the budget, Big Money warps Congress’ priorities and erodes public trust. Both parties are guilty. We must break the dependence on huge campaign donations so that Congress can focus on the people’s priorities -- not special interests. The Government by the People Act will help give a voice to everyday people. We need you to become a citizen co-sponsor of the Government by the People Act (H.R. 20). The fact is, Capitol Hill is full of well-intentioned people who came to Washington with noble goals and deeply held principles - most chose this path out of a strong desire to better their community and the broader American public. But the need for non-stop fundraising corrupts our system of government. It forces good people to shift their focus away from their constituents and towards finding the next big campaign check. If we are to reclaim our Republic for the people, we need a movement by those people -- it's up to you to start it.

While the VA has increased recognition of mental health issues, the time it takes to process claims and to provide treatment often takes far to long. In many instances it takes 6-9 months for our veterans to get the help they need, and up to two years for claims that have been denied due to non-specific dates and times of their mental health claim. The VA admits to being overwhelmed, and in some areas, they are literally "buried" in paperwork. Our government foolishly sent our soldiers into harms way, without anticipating the overall costs, both financially and physically. We owe our veterans the very best, and Congress needs to allocate as much funding as is necessary to greatly improve these problems. With 22 veteran committing suicide each day in 2010, and with more deaths from suicide than there were in combat in 2012, we are failing in our responsibilities to our veterans. . As a nation, we owe a debt to those that have served this nation, now is the time to demand better from our government.