It turns out the company that brought us the Beetle, the flower-powered microbus and “Fahrvergnügen" is also a cheater. The good news: The EPA and other government officials acted quickly to investigate and order a recall, and VW has agreed to stop selling new diesel car. But are you thinking what I’m thinking? Didn’t GM just get away with what critics called a slap on the wrist for hiding a fatal ignition-switch defect linked to at least 174 deaths? The company faces no criminal charges and will pay a $900 million fine — out of $156 billion in revenue last year alone — and that's after we bailed out GM with $50 billion in taxpayer funds. This must change. Tell Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Justice and Congress to hold Volkswagen accountable for threatening our health and safety. If you want VW, GM and other major corporations held accountable when they break the law and endanger the public’s health and safety, please sign this petition. Our friend and ally Clarence Ditlow of the Center for Auto Safety has a saying about GM: “There’s no problem too big that money can’t solve.” It’s time to stop letting big corporations buy their way out of accountability. Let’s stand up to these powerful interests and fight for our health and safety. NOTE: Facing public pressure, VW CEO Martin Winterkorn's recently resigned. So we will be delivering this petition to Volkswagen headquarters in Herndon, VA.

To the New Orleans City Council and Mayor Landrieu: Each year, thousands of men, women and children enter the Orleans Parish criminal justice system. 85% of them are appointed a public defender. Most are charged with nonviolent offenses and many enter the system with undiagnosed and untreated illnesses and addictions. All are supposed to be presumed innocent, however, two-thirds of all arrested remain imprisoned pre-trial – too poor to pay their bond. The Orleans Public Defenders’ office (OPD) plays a critical role in protecting the rights and well-being of our community, reducing recidivism by connecting people to jobs and services, and ensuring our criminal justice system remains fair and just, especially for New Orleans' poorest and most vulnerable citizens. Recent budget shortfalls threaten our community’s right to an open and honest, efficient and effective criminal justice system: OPD is facing a $1 million shortfall. The current funding crisis is brought about in part from systemic, structural underfunding; budget cuts by the state; and declining local revenue. And while the City of New Orleans provides direct support for OPD, our appropriation is one-sixth of the support provided to the District Attorney’s office – and even less when compared to other criminal justice agencies. While OPD handles 85% of all criminal cases in New Orleans, OPD’s budget is about one-third the budget of the District Attorney’s office. This present budget crisis is brought about entirely as a result of an unstable, unreliable and inadequate user-pay funding scheme that too heavily depends on fines and fees. In the absence of sustainable funding by both the city and the state, we will continue to face frequent budget shortfalls. To create and maintain a public defense system that contributes to the goals of the city's criminal justice policy – reducing over-incarceration, connecting the poor and mentally ill with services and jobs, advocating for the rights of incarcerated people to receive services and treatment that will reduce recidivism – then the City of New Orleans must play a more significant part in funding public defense. New Orleans can do better. New Orleans must do better if we are to continue the strides already made toward meaningful criminal justice reform. Please cast your vote in favor of a fully-funded public defender’s office.

We can fix this. It doesn't even require an act of Congress. The Department of Education can declare a moratorium on garnishing Social Security benefits for student debt. We can make this happen—and bring relief to the many Social Security recipients still struggling to repay their student loans. Sponsored by: Student Debt Crisis AFL-CIO AFT AFSCME Alliance for Retired Americans Campaign for America's Future Center for Global Policy Solutions Common Cause Courage Campaign CREDO Daily Kos Democracy for America Demos Justice in Aging People For the American Way Project Springboard RootsAction Social Security Works The Nation The Other 98% The Zero Hour

In 2009, my wife was falsely accused and was sentenced to 20 years regarding a charge about a letter found by police in our home in Georgia. This note was actually authored by a relative of ours while we were living in Texas, but my wife's attorney failed to defend her on these reasons. To further increase the injustice, after attorneys were consulted, a determination was made that my wife was denied parole based on charges she was found innocent on and were dropped. The Georgia Parole Board has refused after multiple requests to provide detailed information on the denial decision. It would be important to know from the Georgia Parole Board their reasoning for denial to ensure they are upholding their public claim that they exist to hold accountable the Georgia judicial system. It would also be important to make sure the Georgia Parole Board is judging in an ethical manner. Because of the way the parole board is given power in Georgia, the inmate is not allowed to attend the hearing and the prosecutor is requested to provide their input. No information on the reasons for denying parole ever have to be provided. Any inmate can be denied parole for other reasons besides dropped charges such as race, religious beliefs, etc. without anyone ever knowing it. This year, a law was passed allowing open records for parole decisions regarding death row inmates; however, no such right is given to the citizens of Georgia to know whether a parole decision is fair and ethical for non- death row inmates. I am calling on the government of Georgia to allow the public to hold the parole board accountable by having open access to all information that pertains to the decision making process when any inmate is considered for and denied parole.

I have personally benefited from Planned Parenthood when I was uninsured and had no where else to turn.

This is corporate greed at its worst. Martin Shkreli's actions will result in lives lost.

Sex and gender are not the same thing, sex is what you are born as and gender is what you identify with. We are all born human though. There is an issue with restrooms, because those who identify with a gender other than cis female or cis male are being forced to use the restroom of their assigned sex. There are 58+ genders, but only two sexes. Stop the sex and gender restriction.

Several of my close friends, some that are combat Veterans, are at risk of losing access to the medicine they rely on. Some in the Montana state government have taken it upon themselves to go against the will of the people and try and stop medical marijuana by any means. Multiple doctors who are brave enough to prescribe medical marijuana to patients are being targeted by the government for legal action. Recently Dr. Ibsen of Helena was targeted and the charges have been dropped, but this has had a detrimental effect. Now, doctors are afraid of being the target of the next "witch hunt" and this has got to stop. Please help me to stand up for voters' and patients' rights.

It's outrageous: a decades-old drug that has been used to treat a common parasite jumped in price by more than $700 after a pharmaceutical company purchased it and raised the price tag practically overnight. This egregious practice isn't new — drug costs have been steadily rising, and studies have found that more Americans are cutting back in other areas because they’re having a hard time paying for their prescriptions. But Congress can help curb this disturbing trend, and Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Elijah Cummings are leading the way. The Prescription Drug Affordability Act of 2015 would allow Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical prices, allow consumers to import cheaper drugs from Canada, ban pay-for-delay schemes, add additional penalties for companies who settle with the government, and require companies to disclose the costs related to particular products and prices they charge in other countries. Add your name to our petition calling on Congress to rein in prescription drug costs and pass The Prescription Drug Affordability Act of 2015!

Volkswagen repeatedly and intentionally cheated the Clean Air Act for the last 6 years. The company’s “clean diesel” cars included software VW installed on nearly 500,000 cars sold in the U.S. to cheat on emissions tests. When researchers discovered that VW cars circumvented emissions regulations in 2014, the company told the EPA they fixed the problem. But we now know the problem persisted for half a million vehicles. And the real-world results are astounding: VW cars could be emitting 15-35 times more smog-forming pollution while on the road than was showing up on their emissions tests. And while we aren’t sure why VW cheated, we have a pretty good guess. Experts have suggested these emission controls impacted performance, making the cars less fun to drive. When engineers couldn’t solve the problem, they decide to install a little bit of code to cheat the Clean Air Act and consumers. One thing is clear. We’re suffering. Pennsylvania has been named the second smoggiest state in the nation by a recent report from the American Lung Association. Another recent study found that diesel vehicles a major source of Pittsburgh’s air pollution problems. What the consequences look like for VW isn’t final. With fines reaching $36,000 per a vehicle, they could be astronomical. But, it’s important that the EPA comes down hard on VW—to protect our health and to make it clearing this kind of cheating isn’t tolerated.

America hears the Republican candidates, but not our voices!

Recently, Turing Pharmaceuticals announced that it had raised the price of the drug Daraprim from $13.50 per pill to a staggering $750 per pill, representing a nearly 5,556% increase in price. Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a medical condition that can be fatal for people with AIDS and developing fetuses. Turing Pharamceuticals's owner is hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli. After being rightfully criticized over Turing's decision to increase the price of Daraprim, Shkreli has taken to social media and openly attacked progressives and other critics of the Daraprim price increase. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, Shkreli donated $33,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), an organization that provides financial and other types of support to Democratic candidates running for U.S. Senate seats. The DSCC, which is chaired by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), should do the right thing and donate $33,400 to a charity, preferably one that supports research to find a cure for AIDS.