Chris Christie has held over 120 public town hall events in cities across New Jersey. He has travelled the country stumping for the Republican Governor’s Association and promoting his own presidential aspirations. Unfortunately, he has avoided holding a Town Hall forum in his home town of Newark, the largest city in New Jersey and a city whose residents are struggling with urgent social and economic issues. Consider the following facts: ***Chris Christie re-appointed Cami Anderson as the superintendent of Newark Public Schools despite the broad and deep opposition to her leadership. Both the Newark Board of Education and the Newark City Council have passed votes of no confidence in Cami’s leadership. ***Chris Christie has refused to follow the state mandated funding formula for public schools, denying millions of dollars to educating Newark’s next generation. ***Chris Christie diverted funds meant for Sandy victims who live in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark to his political supporters. To this day, families continue to struggle with the aftermath of the storm. ***Chris Christie diverted $75 million in bank settlement money meant for struggling homeowners to fund a tax break for the wealthiest New Jerseyans, leaving many Newark families in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. All of these important decisions have been made without a meaningful process for local decision-making and participation by Newark’s residents. Yet, Chris Christie’s physical presence in Newark has been non-existent – at least to the general public’s knowledge. Join us and demand that Chris Christie schedules and attends a well-publicized Town Hall event in Newark to discuss the urgent issues that plague our city!

We are in high school, if we are trusted with licenses and some of us are trusted to vote, then why cant we go off campus for lunch?

Two years ago Betty Yee decided to run for Controller. The seat would be open and, for Betty Yee, who is a recognized and well-respected expert in budget, taxation and fiscal policy, the job was a perfect fit. The campaign was going very well. Everyone was happy. (See www.bettyyee.com) Then, almost a year later, John Perez, termed out and looking for a place to land, decided that HE wanted to run for Controller! With Betty’s STRONG GRASSROOTS SUPPORT this proved to be no easy task. For years Betty has not only been a leader in her fields of budget, finance and tax policy – she had also been a leader on important issues including enacting state tax equity for same sex couples, expanding open space preservation with tax relief, updating state tax rules to promote a green economy and offering free resources to small businesses. Because there were two Democrats splitting the vote, the Republican won first place with Betty Yee coming in second ahead of Perez who is in third place. The election was certified. As the WINNING DEMOCRAT, Betty Yee was endorsed by the Democratic Party. BUT then Perez called for a recount of THE PRECINCTS IN WHICH HE THOUGHT HE MIGHT FIND SOME VOTES. A Democrat challenging a fellow Democrat – not good for Democratic Party! First he entered into a race in which a much loved, highly qualified and progressive Democrat was already running AND when he lost he demanded a recount. JOHN PEREZ – STOP THE RECOUNT NOW AND CONCEDE. SUPPORT DEMOCRATIC UNITY.

Republican representative Amo Houghton commented at the time of OTA’s defunding that "we are cutting off one of the most important arms of Congress when we cut off unbiased knowledge about science and technology". While campaigning, Hillary Clinton pledged to work to restore the OTA if elected President

For the love of soccer (football), I understand that teams prepare for 4 years for the World Cup, but fans are so passionate about the World Cup that 4 years is too long to wait. How many times in a persons life will they see a World Cup? Not many if it's every 4 years, we the fans shouldn't have to wait. The true test of character and team will be shown if winners defend their World Cup title sooner than later.

Beluga whales are highly intelligent animals whose home range is many hundreds of square miles. They communicate over these great distances by means of sonar. Confining them to tiny concrete tanks is tantamount to a lifetime of torture: forced to swim in endless repetitive circles, their calls bounce back at them in a horrifying echo chamber. Eventually they exhibit signs of hopelessness and psychosis.

My ongoing dispute with the University of Minnesota has been long and hard. Injecting fairness and justice back into our academic system is the right action to take. I urge President Kaler to restore my rights and benefits without further delay. I look forward to being a worker again.

It effects every American when a body in congress does not do their jobs, and wastes our tax dollars on partisan, hyped up, fake investigations; done for the sole purpose of trying to extract revenge, because they were not able to arbitrarily run rough shod over the wishes of we the people.

Mr. Rosa is one of the most professional teachers I know and I would hate for a great teacher to lose a job based on a mistake that may have been an accident. He's taught me so much and I don't want a teacher who has impacted lives to be turned down because of a mistake. Considering John Muir High School has a bad reputation, he's one of the best teachers who cares about the students and actually shows that he wants to be there.

The United States Congress is putting internet users' privacy at risk. Again. Congress is about to vote on the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) which makes it easier for private companies to share sensitive personal information with federal agencies. That’s troubling enough. But CISA lacks any privacy or human rights protections. CISA allows federal agencies to use data it collects in Espionage Act investigations — a move that could silence whistleblowers who seek to expose the truth about illegal government programs. While President Obama has openly called for a civilian agency to lead U.S. cybersecurity efforts, CISA would allow for the automatic transfer of our sensitive information from private companies straight to U.S. intelligence agencies. And get this: Corporations that participate in these programs would get full immunity from any legal challenges. President Obama should take a stand against this bill, which attacks our basic human rights, and should promise to veto CISA if it crosses his desk.

On June 19, President Obama notified Congress that he was sending U.S. troops to Iraq to serve as advisers to the Iraqi military. Press reports have indicated that these troops could be used for offensive military action, including calling in airstrikes. These are different troops than the troops President Obama sent earlier to protect the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Congress has not authorized the U.S. use of military force in Iraq now. Nearly 200 Members of the House are on record saying that the authorization for the use of force in Iraq passed by Congress in 2002 should not be used to justify the use of force in Iraq today. Under the War Powers Resolution passed by Congress in 1973, Members of Congress have 30 days from the President’s June 19 notification to introduce a “privileged” resolution – a resolution that can’t be buried in committee, but must go to the floor to be voted on – which would require the troops to be withdrawn. Using this provision of the 1973 War Powers Resolution, Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Walter Jones (R-NC), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have introduced H Con Res 105 to force a debate and vote on the buildup of U.S. troops in Iraq. H Con Res 105 would bring home the U.S. military advisers and prevent any direct U.S. military intervention in Iraq. The resolution would allow for the U.S. to continue protecting its embassy and diplomatic personnel. Urge your Representative to co-sponsor and vote for H Con Res 105 by signing our petition.

As a Gainesville Village resident for over 10 years and a parent of an active 3 year old boy, the safety of the village streets and the poor current condition of the village playground are a growing concern for me and local families. The village has had an increase of children and young families in the last couple of years that enjoy outdoor activities including walks to the park, community sports events at the park and use of the playground which is in disrepair. Safety is our number one concern and I would like to see our Village Board share and hear our concerns and support the community's needs by installing a new playground, crosswalks across Main Street and 'children at play' traffic signs for Main Street and East Street.