This is a specific violation regarding property that belongs to all of us--the Old Post Office Building. The GSA's contract specifically does not allow an elected official to benefit from the lease. This property has tremendous symbolic importance, located between the White House and the Capitol Building. It is a very important place to begin holding Trump responsible for his business interests colliding with the people's interests. After marching in Los Angeles on January 21, this is my next step. Please help!

The sooner we stop Donald Trump the less we will need to have to repair for the decades that follow.

My hometown mayor in Miami, Carlos Gimenez, just announced on Thursday, January 26 that he plans to revoke Miami's status as a sanctuary city in the shadow of Trump's threats. This is gut-wrenching news for undocumented families living here. It's not too late for Mayor Carlos to stand up to Trump and do what's right. Trump and his administration are testing us. They want to see if we’ll give up our fight. We can't choose to simply bend to his threats; we must resist. Miami is an important fight for us to win and establish that immigrant families deserve dignity and respect. If enough of us sign this petition, Mayor Carlos will be empowered to resist Trump's demands.

My son Casey was born 2 months and 2 days early, I had no idea how my life would change forever. Each year, 1 in 10 babies in the United States is born prematurely and some babies have longer stays in the neonatal care depending on their condition. With him being born to soon and having a rare condition, the reality of life in the neonatal care is very different from what a mother would expect after giving birth to her child. The first month that my son had been born, he was in critical condition; he had lines, monitors, life support machines that assisted him to live. Parents with premature babies have to wait days and weeks to hold their newborn child due to the risks of the baby being unstable. Instead of bringing your baby home with you, you leave home with your baby continuing their stay in the hospital and going to visit every day. The cost of medical care for a premature baby for the first year of life is about $49,000.00 . This does not include any of the long term health implications for the mother, risks such as developing postnatal depression and post- traumatic stress disorders. I was forced to go back to work after my unpaid maternity leave because of my household financial stability; as a typical family household requires both parents to work to be financially stable. However, as a mother I need the time to bond with my tiny baby at the hospital, recover from the traumatic journey, and time with my baby once he is discharged and allowed to come home. Extending the standard maternity leave and pay would give mothers the emotional and financial support needed at a time of great stress and trauma. In allowing this it gives the mothers of premature babies the opportunity to spend more time with their premature babies in the hospital to allow them be part of the babies care and allow for Kangaroo Care which helps with boosting the babies mental development, promoting health weight, helps with the mothers milk supply which is critical for a premature baby, helps reduce baby stress and pain, helps for the baby to have a shorter hospital stay, and prevents postpartum depression on the mother. This overall it will lead to a more positive return to work for the mother and better outcomes for the babies development. We call on President Donald Trump, Government colleagues, Governor Jerry Brown to recognize the significant and unique needs of families with children born prematurely and to extend statutory leave accordingly.

In 1998, the Republican Congress renamed Washington National Airport for President Ronald Reagan. Now every tourist and child who visits the nation's capital is reminded of Reagan's conservative policies and vision. Progressive Americans need to be just as patriotic and aggressive about defending our own accomplishments and values, cementing their role in the daily life and social landscape of the nation. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel should rename one of Chicago's airports for Barack Obama! The nation's first Black president deserves to have many transit hubs, schools, and streets named for him. Chicago is a natural place to begin this effort: It's one of the country's largest cities, Obama started his career there, and Mayor Emmanuel was his first chief of staff so might be open to the idea. Either of the city's airports would be appropriate: O'Hare is the busiest airport in the country, and Midway is a major hub for Southwest Airlines that is not currently named for a person. Now more than ever, during the era of President Trump, progressives need to promote our vision of equality, justice, and opportunity for all Americans. Honoring and remembering the eight years Barack Obama was America's president is one way to do this, and Chicago is a great place to start. Please sign and share this petition to Mayor Emmanuel today!

Donald Trump plans to build a wall that estimates project will cost anywhere from $15 billion to $25 billion and higher. Tell Trump and Congress that you want your tax dollars spent on re-building our country's infrastructure: our roads, bridges, and highways. Rebuilding our country's infrastructure should be their main focus. That's where our tax dollars should go: to improving our country and our every day lives.

Congress needs to start paying back the 3 trillion it "borrowed" from Social Security with interest. Yes, I have been affected by the lack of cost of living increases to Social Security but more importantly I am concerned that younger people who are paying into Social Security will not be able to collect their investment in the program because the very wealthy do not pay in at a fair rate, and Congress is proposing to increase the retirement age to 70.

Vice President Pence must assume the duties of President -- at least pending thorough investigation and complete resolution of Donald J. Trump's finances, financial ties, conflicts of interest, Russian influence on election, and mental state. The mandate is against a Trump presidency. Trump is illegitimate, incompetent, deranged, cannot unite and lead the American people, and cannot discharge the powers and duties of his office. He represents a clear and present danger. This miscarriage of democracy must be aborted post haste.

I don't believe a teacher should be asked to help enforce immigration laws. I have found, through experience, that students learn best when they trust and respect their teacher. That relationship will be damaged if students are fearful that a teacher must "report" possible immigration irregularities. If we allow this bill to pass, what other police functions may the state or federal government require of a teacher? Will primary through high school educators be impacted next? I have spoken with several dedicated teachers who, in good conscience, could not "cooperate" and would need to retire early or find another profession, which will be a devastating loss to the community. Please act quickly and contact your State delegate (or the House Higher Education Committee Chairman noted below) immediately as HB 2001 may come to vote in the House as early as next week (end of next week - Feb 2-3, 2017). The bill will be before the House Higher Education Committee possibly next Wednesday (2/1/17), Chairman Jimmie Massie; email:[email protected] VIEW BILL: https://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2017/hb2001/fulltext/

BREAKING: Thanks to citizen outcry, the South Dakota legislature has delayed by one week its plan to repeal the ethics & anti-corruption reforms voters passed last November. We must speak out before the final vote to stop the legislature’s power grab for good. The Koch Brothers tried to stop the South Dakota Government Accountability & Anti-Corruption Act, which puts the people back in charge of elections and bans lawmakers from receiving unlimited gifts from lobbyists -- but the Koch Brothers lost, and the people won. Now that bill -- and the will of the people -- is under attack by the state legislature, which has declared a fake "state of emergency" so they can attempt to gut the Anti-Corruption Act. Meanwhile, the Koch Brothers' dark money astroturf group, Americans for Prosperity South Dakota, is cheering them on. South Dakotans said with their votes that they want to put a check on lobbyists, promote higher ethical standards, increase overall accountability of public officials, and ensure the voices of everyday people remain the focus of our democracy. The Koch brothers want to roll back these ethics reforms -- but lawmakers need to remember they work for voters -- not wealthy donors. After hundreds of Americans called state Senate Majority Leader Blake Curd, he cracked under the pressure and pushed back the vote a week. And earlier this month, House Republicans gave up on their plan to gut independent ethics oversight after enough people spoke out. So now, we must keep the pressure on so they abandon their plan to repeal the Anti-Corruption Act once and for all. Please sign the petition to stop the South Dakota legislature’s power grab -- then call State Senate Majority Leader Blake Curd at 605-773-3821 and tell him to stand down.

President Trump just proposed a 20% import tax on all items from Mexico. The US receives 69% of our vegetables and 37% of our fruit from Mexico according to the USDA. Imposing any tax on food will make it prohibitively expensive for most Americans. This is an issue of food security - All people are entitled to a secure food supply. Tell the White House no tax on Mexico.

I live in a sanctuary city and want it to remain so.