As a physician and a human being, I am disgusted by governors refusing #MedicaidExpansion because the constituents affected are too poor and powerless to fight back.

As a physician and a human being, I am disgusted by governors refusing #MedicaidExpansion because the constituents affected are too poor and powerless to fight back.

On January 1, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would begin apprehending individuals who had deportation orders. They were looking for individuals who had orders of deportation since the summer of 2014 when there were vast amounts of unaccompanied minors who were fleeing Central America. The people that ICE is looking for are specific to a geographic location. They are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and are individuals who came to the US seeking refuge and protection.

Mitch McConnell and other senators are obstructing the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice...because they want to, and apparently they can. These Senators took an oath to uphold the Constitution. To sue for a writ of mandamus would force these officials to do their job whether they want to or not.

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has actually done one good thing; it's brought light to the fact that knowingly contaminated water is being pumped into homes across the U.S. For more than a year now, families in regions of North Carolina have fallen victim to the contamination caused by Duke Energy and other large corporations. These people have had to resort to living solely on bottled water for their drinking, cooking and cleaning, and have no alternative for their bathing water. Governor Pat McCrory, a former employee of Duke Energy for 30 years, has ignored these people and has refused to publicly address this issue for far too long! Not only has he allowed these heinous wrongdoings to persist, he has actually lowered the fine over leaking coal ash pits throughout North Carolina from $25 million for just one site, to $7 million for all 14 sites across the state. The health of our citizens needs to start coming before big business! Join me in telling Governor McCrory and the rest of the NC State Legislature, "WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH! WE WILL NOT BE IGNORED ANY LONGER!" For more information and personal stories from those who have been directly affected by this, check out this article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/logan-smith/echoes-of-flint-as-north_b_9486756.html

To equalize health insurance premiums for all Coloradoans who rely on individual policies. Currently, rates vary as much as 50%, making health insurance unaffordable for many in higher cost areas.

Its only proponents are the followers of the billionaire class whom he is against them having it all. For the sake of this and all future generations of Americans, please stand up to them and reject this assault on our natural heritage. By doing so, you will secure a lasting environmental legacy preceding your administration.

BACKGROUND: UGI Utilities has asked the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for approval of a 19.7% rate increase for all UGI natural gas customers. The proposed rate increase will produce approximately $58.6 million to cover costs associated with the distribution of gas to residential and commercial customers. According to UGI, the requested rate hike is being driven, in part, by the cost of replacing outdated bare steel and cast iron distribution lines. This work was required by a PUC order following a deadly 2011 Allentown gas explosion that resulted in the deaths of five people, including one infant. While gas companies have been pocketing profits for years, they now want to reach into the pockets of consumers to cover the costs of what should have been routine and ongoing maintenance. Pipeline replacement should have been covered within the cost of safely operating a gas utility, but as we know, companies are often willing to forego routine maintenance in exchange for profit and at the expense of the consumers. These costs should not be forced onto consumers. UGI is the lead investor in the proposed PennEast/UGI Pipeline, a project with a $1 billion price tag. This project is unnecessary and will not benefit PA Natural Gas Customers who are already enjoying historically low natural gas prices. In fact, the opposite is true. In PennEast’s application to FERC, they claim that this proposed interstate transmission line from Luzerne County, PA, to Mercer County, NJ, which will distribute 1 bcf of natural gas at approximately 1500 psi, is not to serve local communities, but to expand natural gas service to “southeastern Pennsylvania, parts of New Jersey and beyond.” It is this last entity that suggests this natural gas is for exportation, making this rate increase even more disturbing. While UGI aims to expand its service area for profit, it is neglecting the safety and security of its current customer base. Consumers should be forewarned that they will pay for the costs of the proposed PennEast/UGI pipeline if it is approved. The cost of this unnecessary pipeline will be added to any rate increases approved by the PA Public Utilities Commission and will be borne by residential and commercial UGI customers.

America has an enormous crises right now at its most pivotal time regarding our PERSONAL and CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO VOTE. How can a state law supersede Constitutional law? Many states have different sets of voter laws that restrict you from being free to vote for who you want mainly due to party affiliation. Taxation without representation was one of the reasons this country broke off from England. Politics have become the new battle for The Crown. Congress has become the new house of lords and a CORRUPT house at that. Just look at Florida; 3 million taxpayers Not Allowed to VOTE! I found out that my party affiliation in California was not allowed to vote for my choice of President. Something needs to be done, like automatic voter registration immediately, no matter one's party affiliation, then a national Election Holiday for both the Primaries and the General election. Hopefully, every type of government system voting would do this. Ideally, it's the way it should be: The Land of the FREE The home of the BRAVE. Please copy and share if you believe this needs immediate change. Just start all the voting ALL OVER, the right and easy way. Paper ballots, bring your ballot vote into the polling station and put it in the voting box. Videotape hand-counting workers. More time... focus on one state at a time or have someone from the UN help make sure the voting system is fair for Americans; ANYONE OF AGE WITH ID/D. Any legal identification in America. No more Super-Delegates. Re-think pledged delegates. Ideally, this would be the American voters' dream. I would patiently and gratefully await for an honest and fair count. Thank you for allowing me to express myself. Please, tell us all what you may know and how you feel about our voting system. (Please keep in mind the "problems" with voting computers.) Thank you for letting me share.

There is a solution to Illinois’ budget impasse, but the solution requires unity and a willingness to act. You see, a budget that calls for funding requires sufficient capital. Illinois simply has insufficient revenue to support the necessary funding, but Illinois can quickly generate upwards of ten billion dollars a year without raising any existing taxes. Rather, House Bill 106 assesses transactions not yet being taxed. Each of you pays a 6.25% tax for general merchandise transactions, 1% for qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances, and wagering starts at 15%. Yet those financially able to gamble at the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, while utilizing a wide variety of Illinois services, pay no tax at all to Illinois on their transactions. Nothing. The vast majority of trading is done by large banks, hedge funds, large businesses, and very wealthy individuals. There is an average $900 trillion traded per year on those exchanges, more than five billion contracts traded per year. Illinois Representative Mary Flowers proposed House Bill 106, for traders to pay a single dollar contract fee on agricultural futures and futures options traded, and a $2/contract fee on non-agricultural contracts. That averages 0.001 of 1 percent of average contract value. The bill is currently active in committee and subcommittee chaired by Representative John Bradley, and it absolutely needs a huge push by the public. Transactions involving securities held in retirement accounts or mutual funds are exempt. The tax would generate an estimated $10 billion in revenue annually, enough to avoid the currently projected cutbacks for everyone. Fast-track passage of House Bill 106 should be our single greatest imminent priority. The alternative is an ever increasing financial burden placed squarely on the financially weak, on public employees, retirees, students, educators, the disabled and infirm, the homeless, and the rest of us who desire, or depend upon, a state government capable of serving its core functions. People will tell you there is no point to making the effort. There is. Many people’s lives and livelihoods depend on it. People will say these exchanges will move out of Illinois. That is a particularly annoying deception. The exchanges’ owners and operators, the CME and CBOE Groups, are not the ones paying the transaction tax, so they have no incentive to move. The buyers and sellers will pay. Also, many products traded, like the S&P 500 index futures, are exclusively licensed to these exchanges so cannot be traded elsewhere. Critically, millions of dollars are sunk into the computer-based infrastructures in Illinois. The expense of relocating the hard-wired infrastructure would not be economically feasible. The Aurora facility alone spans 7.5 football fields in size. The setup of co-locators to matching engines along straight-line and fiber-optic and microwave transmission is such that major traders position their offices physically in close proximity to these exchanges; whereby, the transmission of information is described by them as almost at the speed of light. Traders would have little incentive to upset that setup as a result of HB 106 because that speed due to proximity substantially increases their profits. Please understand, taxes of this type are successfully implemented in more than 25 countries without causing any exchanges, or a significant volume of traders, to trade elsewhere. When thought through, arguments against passage of H.B. 106 are frivolous when compared to the benefits to every person in Illinois. Again, we all must take the initiative to instruct our legislators. Write a letter and mail it. Make contact with your legislators and the Governor demanding immediate passage of House Bill 106. It is the duty of those who have retained a moral compass and been made aware of this opportunity to solve the budget impasse.

The Poverty State University Campus-Community Fight for $15 is working to unite and coordinate union workers, non-union, and student workers to fight for a $15 minimum wage on the Portland State University campus! Workers at PSU are struggling with food and housing insecurity now. Workers need a raise now, not in six years! We are demanding the following from PSU President Wim Wiewel and the PSU Board of Trustees: 1. We demand a $15 minimum wage for all campus workers, including contract workers. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, the current living wage in Portland is $23.11 for one adult with a child. Due to rising housing costs and low vacancy rates, many of our community members are fighting to have basic necessities like food and shelter on low wages. 2. We demand a transparent and accountable public process to ensure economic equity on campus. In the U.S., for every dollar a White man makes, a Black man makes 75 cents, and a Latina makes 53 cents. We demand that the Portland State Office of Equity and Compliance release a statement in support of equal pay, and creates policies and procedures to document, reduce, and then eliminate inequitable pay gaps due to race or gender on campus. 3. We demand that the PSU Administration stop threatening student activists. Students do not lose their rights to free speech when they enroll in college. The right to join with fellow Portlanders in protest or peaceful assembly is critical to a functioning democracy and is at the core of the First Amendment. PSU does not have the right to threaten student activists and must stop these threats immediately. Join us in our fight for a living wage at Poverty State University!

These orcas have suffered enough and will not be abandoned by the community. Holding orcas, Belugas and dolphins captive is a crime against nature and in no way humane. Sea Pen or free them!