Gov. Susana Martinez used a State Police helicopter to fly to Albuquerque so she could catch a commercial flight to Houston for political fundraisers. Even though she promised not to use state aircraft for personal purposes, she took a State Police helicopter away from law enforcement duties to be her personal air taxi. It took about an hour to fly Martinez to Albuquerque, then return to Santa Fe. The hourly operating cost of the helicopter is about $800.

TEXAS legislators pander to the Tea Party no matter how it affects ALL Texans. NO to healthcare, women issues, jobs, affirmative action, taxing the wealthy, raising minimum wage, term limits, etc. NO! NO! NO! Say NO to them and FIRE them in 2014 and 2016.

I am starting this petition because I do not want to see America destroyed by the Racism, Hatred, Lies, Treachery and Deceit of a few that can potentially destroy the many.

We are holding a protest to: 1) End the shutdown! Congress must immediately pass a clean continuing resolution and end the shutdown. 2) Pass a budget! Congress hasn't pass a budget since 2009. Their failure to do this is unacceptable. No more stop-gap measures. 3) Govern for all! We want a Congress that works for the good of the country as a whole. That means more leading and less pandering. Visit our Facebook site for more information: https://www.facebook.com/wtfcongressprotest

The American and global economies cannot afford the continued shutdown of the federal government or for the U.S. Treasury to stop paying its bills and go into default. For too long, we have relied upon the threat of ‘fiscal cliffs’ to bring about bipartisan budget solutions. This has led to economic uncertainty, hurt families and communities that rely on government programs, and decreased America’s credit rating. Rep. Wolf (VA-10), Rep. Rigell (VA-2), Rep. Forbes (VA-4) and Rep. Wittman (VA-1) have publicly supported the Senate's clean continuing resolution, and we thank them, but statements simply aren't enough when families are going hungry. We need VA to be a leader on this issue and end this shutdown!

The 113th Congress of The United States is the most mishandled, dysfunctional Congress we have had to suffer under. Unlike previous Congresses where Party Politics have caused aggravation or mistrust, this Congress takes us past the line towards real and tangible harm towards the Credibility, and most importantly, the Credit Worthiness of the United States. We are in real danger, for the first time in History, to default on our debt which will cause economic downturns not only at home but abroad sending us back into a Great Depression.

We are currently suffering from a looming economic crisis.We are wracked with national debt. The majority of Americans are concerned with not being able to raise the debt ceiling.Lets start eliminating waste. Our elected officials should get paid for doing their job while in office, not after they are voted out.

John Boehner has it in his immediate power to halt the destructive course he and his Tea Party friends have set. That he has chosen not to allow a clean resolution to come to the House floor, thus allowing serious damage to continue to our citizens and the nation, is reprehensible and indicates his loyalties are not to the people of the United States. He has violated his Constitutional oath and is unfit to serve. He should be removed.

The spiraling adversarial bipartisanship for personal and political party gains has made Congress increasingly dysfunctional at great cost to our country's economy and social growth. The welfare of the country and its citizens has been thrust into tertiary priority by the self-interests of politicians, large corporations and wealthy special interest groups. Currently, there are insufficient disincentives or penalties for the politicians, who paradoxically have personal incentives to shut down the government, with the cost being born by the citizens. To decrease this largely unchecked corrupted system, this petition seeks to make members of Congress much more accountable to their constituents in a concrete, specific and direct way. A mandatory recall election would create a proportionate and powerful disincentive for each and every member of a Congress that fails to pass a budget leading to a government shut down or default.

I am beginning this petition due to the simple fact that most of Congress has been in office for far too long, leading to the same ideas for the same problems with the same result for most of the time that they are in there, leading to major problems. This petition is to also provide fresher, newer ideas to flow through Congress and provide better, easier, or downright 'common sense' solutions to problems, if it goes into effect. Signing for this petition to put it into effect can show that the power can still come from the people!

Too much misinformation. Too much partisan sniping about the partisan sniping in our country. It's a vicious cycle that is damning our society.

This is a people’s issue, not a Democratic or Republican issue. We the people don’t have to understand all the rules of the House of Representatives to make our wishes known: GET THE GOVERNMENT GOING. There is a mechanism to do this--it’s called a Discharge Petition. If you’re interested in learning about it, look it up in Wikipedia. All it takes is 218 members of the House of Representatives to sign it. This would bypass the abuse of power John Boehner has been using to prevent a vote, and simply let the government pay its bills according to the laws Congress has already passed. This would bypass the Tea Party Tantrum Ted Cruz and his confederates in the House of Representatives have been using to hold the country hostage because they lost the battle in Congress about the Affordable Care Act – several years ago. The Affordable Care Act (sometimes called ACA or Obamacare) is the law of the land–it was passed by both houses of Congress, signed by the President, and upheld by the Supreme Court. And when the people of the United States are asked about most of the individual provisions of the ACA, overwhelming majorities of Americans say, “Yes, I support that.” Support getting the government going again–sign this petition!