To Mr. Trump & Congress: From everything we have witnessed in the last few weeks and months, Donald Trump only responds kindly to LOYALTY and PROMISES and people who say YES to him. To that end, we the undersigned, would like to say a few words. We are LOYAL. We are LOYAL to the values that we hold close and we do not sell out to empty PROMISES and lies. We PROMISE to fight for those values. YES, we believe that climate change is real. YES, we believe that Scott Pruitt would be a detriment to the environment. We PROMISE to fight against his nomination. If he is confirmed, we will still be LOYAL to our beliefs and, YES, we will continue to fight him every step of the way. YES, we believe that the current education system could use help. YES, we believe that Betsy DeVos is the absolutely worst choice to accomplish that. We PROMISE to fight against her nomination and, if confirmed, we will continue to keep our PROMISES to our children to fight for their future. That is what LOYALTY is about. YES, we believe in healthcare for all. YES, we believe that Tom Price is more concerned with doctors and corporations and profits than he is about patient care. We PROMISE to continue to be patient advocates and to fight for affordable healthcare for all. YES, we believe in equal rights for everybody. YES, we believe that Jeff Sessions’ LOYALTY to you and his racist beliefs are a problem. We PROMISE to LOYALLY hold onto our core values and we PROMISE to ensure that persons of all races, colors, creed, religions, gender, nationality and sexual orientation are treated fairly and equally under the law. And YES that even means for people that we don’t agree with. Because, once again, we are LOYAL and we keep our PROMISES. YES, we believe that a woman’s right to choose is her right and should not be taken away. Staying LOYAL to the Supreme Court ruling that gave us that is a PROMISE we intend to keep. We PROMISE to fight to keep conservative, religious values out of judicial opinions. We PROMISE not to inflict our beliefs on this matter onto others. YES, we PROMISE that if a person does not want to have an abortion, they do not have to have one. But YES, we PROMISE that those who do will be able to do so safely. We PROMISE to fight against the appointment of Neil Gorsuch. Finally, we are putting all Congressmen on notice, regardless of party affiliation, that we are the most LOYAL, passionate and persistent constituents you have ever faced. YES, right here and right now, is our PROMISE to you: Do not fight against Trump’s hateful, divisive, hurtful policies, executive orders and nominees and we PROMISE those of you up for re-election in 2018 will lose. Because we are LOYAL to our cause and our beliefs, we will continue to fight til the end of this presidency and we PROMISE to fight those who continue to go along with him. YES, we will show you what LOYALTY and PROMISES look like. Thank you for your time. Now, please, give us our country back. Sincerely, Aimee (New York)

As Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy has warned, National Security Advisor Michael Flynn promoted dangerous escalation when he suggested that attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saudi forces could lead to war between the United States and Iran. As Sen. Murphy noted, Iran does not command nor control Houthi rebels fighting against U.S.-backed Saudi forces in Yemen. [1] Unfortunately, the New York Times editorial board has supported Flynn's dangerous claim that Houthi rebels in Yemen are Iran's proxies. "Flynn was right," the NYT said, "in highlighting Iran’s troubling behavior, including the recent attack on a Saudi Navy patrol boat by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen." [2] By characterizing the Houthi attack as "Iran's behavior," the NYT promoted the dangerous claim that Iran was responsible for the Houthis' action as if it were settled fact, while providing no evidence for the claim. By this standard of evidence, if the Houthis' intent were to attack a U.S. ship, as Fox News reported - or misreported - that the Pentagon believed [3], then it was Iran's intent to attack a U.S. ship. It's not wildly implausible that the Houthis might intend to attack a U.S. ship - it has happened before [4], and unlike Iran, the U.S. is a direct participant in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen, even though U.S. participation in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen has never been authorized by Congress [5], contrary to the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution. [6] Urge the New York Times to correct the record and urge the Times and Members of Congress to refrain from characterizing Yemen's Houthis as Iran's proxies in the future by signing our petition. References: 1. Sen. Chris Murphy, "A Reckless Slide Toward War With Iran," http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5893ce89e4b02bbb1816b8d3 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/opinion/new-tensions-with-iran.html 3. https://theintercept.com/2017/02/02/press-secretary-sean-spicer-falsely-accuses-iran-of-attacking-u-s-navy-vessel-an-act-of-war/ 4. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-usa-ship-idUSKCN12A082 5. http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/08/16/senator-chris-murphy-on-yemen-saudi-arabia-conflict-the-lead-jake-tapper-interview.cnn; http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/21/politics/senate-arms-sale-saudi-arabia/ 6. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/warpower.asp

Donald Trump ran on a platform promising to help the average working man and woman. Now he's rolling back protections specifically designed to protect these men and women. While his appointments are getting huge coverage, as they should, this will affect all of us, both Red and Blue. We need to get the word out on this.

During Betsy DeVos' confirmation hearing, her answers missed the mark to ensure the safety and equitability of students around the country. Here is what that hearing revealed to us: ~DeVos refused to agree that schools are no place for guns, citing one school that needs a gun to protect against grizzly bears. ~DeVos seems to lack a basic understanding of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), which requires public schools to provide free and appropriate education to students with disabilities. ~She refused to agree that all schools that receive federal funds should be held to the same standards of accountability. This includes traditional public, public charter, and private schools that receive voucher money. Her political donations in Michigan prevented charter schools from being held to the same accountability standards as public schools. She has fought against accountability for charter schools which begs the question, what are these schools hiding? ~DeVos said that she would review gainful employment regulations without agreeing to enforce them. These regulations are in place to protect students and taxpayers by withholding federal student aid to career training programs that leave students buried in debt. ~She could not give her opinion on one of the most basic issues related to education when asked how she preferred to measure student progress- by proficiency or student growth. Her agenda to use taxpayer money to funnel money towards Christian Schools is unconstitutional. In 2001 Betsy DeVos and her husband were interviewed at "The Gathering," an annual summit for wealthy Christians. They were questioned about their work promoting the use of government funds on private and religious schools. She stated: "Our desire is to be in the Shephelah, and confront the culture in which we all live today in ways that will continue to help advance God's Kingdom, but not stay in our own faith territory. "It goes back to what I mentioned, the concept of really being active in the Shephelah of our culture - to impact our culture in ways that are not the traditional funding-the-Christian-organization route, but that really may have greater Kingdom gain in the long run by changing the way we approach things - in this case, the system of education in the country." You can listen to the entire interview here: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/betsy-devos-education-trump-religion-232150 Her family has donated millions of dollars to political campaigns to buy policy outcomes and they have done a lot of damage to students and the public school systems in Michigan. According to the Nation’s Report Card, Michigan ranks near the bottom of fourth and eighth-grade math and fourth grade reading on a nationally ranked representative test. However, the charter schools in Michigan scored worse than the traditional public schools according to federal data. She is highly unqualified for the position of Secretary of Education. Our children deserve better than Betsy DeVos.

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From former business associates to life long friends as well as those working closely with him in the White House have voiced seroius concerns about the mental health of the President of the United States. Having control over the strongest military in the history of the world with a nuclear arsenal capable of destroying life as we know it on earth demands a leader who is of the soundest mind, Donald J Trump is proving daily he is a clear and present danger to the world. Please demand congress perform a full mental evaluation of Donald J Trump

On Feb 3, Trump signed an Executive Order that will lay the groundwork to gut Dodd-Frank, the law passed after the financial meltdown to stop Wall Street from stealing our money, and put in safeguards to prevent another crisis. Dodd-Frank created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). When the banks steal our money, the Consumer Bureau fights to get it back. Under the protection of Director Richard Cordray, they’ve returned over $12 billion dollars to more than 29 million Americans conned by their financial companies. Trump also plans to sign an Executive Order delaying the Conflict of Interest rule. Before this rule, Wall Street was stealing $17 billion a year from Americans saving for retirement through hidden fees. Because so many advisers are not required to put their clients first, millions of Americans end up putting their money into high-commission investment products that benefit the so-called “advisers” at their clients’ expense. The cost of such conflicted advice can add up to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single worker or retiree. Trump is letting the former #2 at Goldman Sachs, Gary Cohn, take an ax to financial reform put in place to protect our country’s financial stability and our pocketbooks. We cannot let Wall Street and predatory lenders write the rules. Tell Congress you will not stand for a rollback of Dodd-Frank and the Conflict-of-Interest rule.

I'm a concerned citizen who has witnessed the devastation of our land, water, and air by the careless actions of others. We need to wake up and act today!

Immigrants who live in Rhode Island, our families and our neighbors, face escalating threats from Trump racist policies. These policies are tearing families apart and trample on civil and human rights. Now, several of our Democratic lawmakers want to make it a crime for our local officials not aggressively enforce their policies. This bill would destroy local efforts to build trust between local officials and the immigrant community. And when our neighbors are afraid to call the cops, we are all less safe. This bill would undermine our values and our safety. It has no place in the Rhode Island State House. Tell Reps. Corvese, Ucci, Phillips, Coughlin, and O’Brien to take their names off it now.

Mr. Bannon is an avowed white supremacist who is clearly exercising undue influence over the POTUS. He is not qualified to serve on the NSC, especially when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has been summarily removed. This action requires the consent of the Senate to be legal. I am concerned that the Constitution is being subverted and our freedoms lost because of ignorance of the law.

Using faulty intel, President Trump ordered a pointless raid against al-Qaeda in Yemen that left one US sailor and more than a dozen civilians dead. Now he and the Defense Department are threatening to involve America’s military in Yemen’s civil war, and even make it easier to put American boots on the ground in Yemen – with NO input from Congress. Yemen is already devastated from two years of civil war and constant bombardment by the Saudi-led coalition, with US support. Further military escalation could commit Americans to an outright war in a country whose civilians face constant violence and widespread malnutrition, and whose displaced can no longer seek refuge inside our borders. By invoking the War Powers Resolution, Congress can intervene and stop the Trump administration from escalating US military operations in Yemen into an all-out war that can't be won. We can't afford to sit by and let a trigger-happy Trump administration send American troops into conflict without so much as a public debate! Sign the petition: Demand Congress take action to stop Trump from going to war in Yemen!

Stephen Bannon is a White Nationalist and has led satellite radio and an extreme bizarre right-wing magazine (Breitbart) by racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia. There is no room in our country's leadership for this type of person. He must immediately resign.