Do you have massive life-killing student loan debt? This bill is why. This bill, for the first time in American history, outlawed DISCHARGING (getting RID of) PRIVATE student loan debt through personal bankruptcy. This law is destroying 10's of millions of Americans' lives for no good reason.

For 16 years Darrell Issa has sat in Congress and collected a pay check while doing nothing to advance the lives of his constituents. For far too long he has represented special interests and conservative right wing nut-jobs. Darrell Issa endorsed Donald Trump for President and this goes to show that he is out of touch with the people of his district, California, and the American people! #DumpDarrellTrump #FireIssa To find out more about Col. Doug Applegate, please visit his website www.ApplegateForCongress.com. We must do all we can to remove Darrell and take back OUR congress!

This bill is harmful to public safety and costly to our communities and the entire state of North Carolina

Tucker Lee Wells is my twin brother. His murder, the cover-up, and the level of corruption involved has made it next to impossible to ignore and try to mourn and move past this tragedy. And I need help building a voice to get anyone to listen and help get justice for this young man.

Set to go into law on July 1, HB 1411 places medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion and will strip away access for thousands of women in Florida from being able to access preventative family planning services like birth control, STD tests, and cancer screenings. This bill will have a profoundly negative impact on all Floridians, but especially those who already face systematic barriers to care, such as poor women and women of color who live in areas of the state where there is already limited access to reproductive healthcare. Access to healthcare, resources, and education should not be dependant on where you live or your socioeconomic status. All women -no matter where they live- must have access to the sex education and healthcare needed to stay healthy and decide for themselves how to prevent pregnancy, terminate an unwanted pregnancy, or carry a pregnancy to term.

California's Central Valley produces a large portion of the fruits and vegetables sold across the U.S. But did you know that oil field wastewater is being used to irrigate crops in two water districts in the region? And even though it’s happening in California, it impacts all of us at the grocery store. Mandarin oranges, carrots and grapes are just some of the crops grown in areas that are selling farmers wastewater from oil drilling operations — and it's unclear to what extent this toxic water could be impacting the food we eat. There has been no comprehensive testing to ensure that our food and health is protected from the hundreds of chemicals used in oil operations, some of which have been shown to be carcinogenic and toxic. It's inexcusable that the oil industry is allowed to use American families' dinner plates as a disposal site for toxic oil field wastewater. Tell California Governor Brown to stop allowing oil field wastewater to be dumped on farm fields!

The Lake Washington watershed is being exposed to asbestos and other hazardous toxins. Citizens think that it is impractical to ensure that the fine breakup of materials on barges will occur with zero discharge, including fugitive dust and runoff regardless of the permit stating that there will be no discharge.

On June 16, the House of Representatives narrowly failed [1] to approve an amendment sponsored by Rep. John Conyers [D-MI] that would have blocked the transfer of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, which has used U.S. cluster bombs in civilian areas in Yemen, in defiance of U.S. law. [2] Textron, based in Providence, Rhode Island, is the last North American producer of cluster bombs, and has the contract to supply cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. Some opponents of the amendment cited this as a reason for their opposition - banning the transfer of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia might hurt the profits of a U.S. company. Rhode Island's Representatives in the House, David Cicilline and Jim Langevin, rejected this argument - they did the right thing and voted yes on the Conyers amendment. [3] But Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed is leading the charge to keep the flow of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia going. [4]. Textron has been one of Reed's top campaign contributors. [5] Urge Jack Reed to do the right thing and renounce his support of cluster bombs by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/obama-heeding-close-house_b_10516480.html 2. http://www.noclusterbombs.org/news/2016/05/28/transfers-ksa/ 3. https://projects.propublica.org/represent/votes/114/house/2/327 4. http://www.rifuture.org/jack-reed-supports-selling-cluster-bombs-to-saudi-arabia.html 5. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=Career&cid=n00000362

As Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski was responsible for helping launch one of the most racist political campaigns in recent history - and is now being rewarded by one biggest new cable networks in the United States. In a shameless move to increase their ratings, CNN is providing Lewandowski with a salaried position and a national platform to promote Donald Trump’s hatred and racism. Even worse, CNN is hiring Lewandowski to cater specifically to Donald Trump supporters - since their regular Republican contributors oppose Donald Trump’s candidacy. By hiring Corey Lewandowski as a regular commentator, CNN is effectively validating the opinions of a man who repeatedly denied press access to journalists covering Donald Trump’s campaign, was charged with a misdemeanor after forcibly grabbing reporter who was attempting to ask Donald Trump a question, and who helped normalize Donald Trump’s dangerous and toxic rhetoric. If we want to stop Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric from spreading, then we keep biased political commentators like Corey Lewandowski from appearing on networks like CNN. We demand that CNN terminates Corey Lewandowski’s contract and removes him as a political commentator immediately!

What do the people who make the District run need to build a good life? The basics: strong wages, stable hours, and a predictable work schedule. In the coming week, our elected representatives have the chance to make that a reality. The D.C. Council is expected to vote on meaningful rules to ensure tens of thousands of working people right here in our city have work schedules they can depend on and hours they can better sustain their families on. A majority of Councilmembers have said they support this proposal, but they're facing lots of pressure from some big corporations to vote against it – the same profitable chain restaurants and retailers that assign our neighbors too few hours on too short notice. We only have a few days to send a clear, undeniable message to the Council that D.C. residents want schedules that work. Please urge your Councilmembers to vote YES on the Hours and Scheduling Stability Act. Make your voice heard NOW.

For the last week, the peace of Maui has been disturbed by loud helicopters looking for marijuana plantings. Meanwhile we have open assault and murder cases that are ignored. Stop wasting taxpayer money on this!

New Jersey urgently needs money for roads and public transportation, and raising our carbon fuels (gasoline) tax is a good way to do it because that will also aid the effort to fight climate change. However, the current package to finance the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) includes the complete repeal of New Jersey's Estate Tax. This is a complete sell-out to the rich that will increase economic inequality. Estate Taxes are progressive, as only the richest pay them. Gasoline Taxes are regressive, as the less money you have the bigger the portion of your income they consume. It is hardly fairness to give the rich tax relief in exchange for imposing a tax that they will hardly notice but the poorest will. It is hardly fairness to use taxes to increase economic inequality when taxes should be used to decrease economic inequality. Our Democratic leadership in the legislature, Sweeney and Prieto, should be ashamed of themselves for succumbing to this blackmail by the rich. The rest of the TTF package is fine, but the Estate Tax repeal must be stopped. It is too high a price to pay. It will rob too many dollars from the General Fund and reward Christie's obstruction of good government for the sake of the richest. We need to tax the rich to give to the poor - not the other way around.