The American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan will transform the lives of millions of people across the country. They contain provisions to deliver millions of good jobs, massive investments in our crumbling infrastructure, free community college education, universal preschool, permanent child tax credits for low- and middle-income families—not to mention that this legislation will increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations, so that they’re finally paying more of their fair share. But the GOP, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, is bent on obstructing President Biden's agenda and stopping Democrats from delivering for the people. Other Republicans in the Senate have wasted precious weeks by putting forward laughably inadequate counter-proposals to President Biden's plans. With the Senate planning a month-long recess in August, we need to demand that Congress pass the AJP and AFP without delay. We need to keep up the pressure on our members of Congress in order to make this a reality. Sign the petition, and demand that our government provide much-needed and long-overdue relief to the American people.

The last thing new parents want to worry about is whether their baby gear can actually HURT their baby. If it’s on the shelves at baby stores, families should be able to trust that it’s safe. But right now, they can’t -- a report just released by Congress shows kids’ company Fisher Price ignored years of safety warnings and kept selling a popular baby sleeper even after 50 infants died in them! Millions of sleepers were sold to unsuspecting parents before it was finally recalled in 2019, while Fisher Price made $200 million in profits. It is unacceptable that a major company like Fisher Price cut corners by ignoring consumer and regulator warnings. According to NPR, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is supposed to oversee such products, allows companies to sell goods with little to no safety standards. The government regulators that were supposed to protect us didn’t. And that has to change. Sign this petition asking Congress to give government watchdogs the power to protect kids!

Donald Trump has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault and misconduct. In 2019, E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of assaulting her. Trump’s response caused Carroll to sue him for defamation. Trump’s handpicked Attorney General Bill Barr claimed that Donald Trump was a federal employee so that the DOJ could take up his legal defense. President Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland, should have dropped this defense and let Donald Trump fend for himself. Instead, the Garland and the DOJ just confirmed that they’re following Bill Barr’s flimsy reasoning and continuing to provide Donald Trump with legal defense. Donald Trump already has an army of lawyers. He doesn’t need Biden’s DOJ protecting him.

GOP lawmakers nationwide -- who are upset that their party lost major elections in 2020 -- are using ex-President Trump’s conspiracy theories to pass new laws that make it harder to vote. In April, UPS released a statement that condemned this widespread attack on our rights and pledged to work with lawmakers to “strengthen our democracy by facilitating equitable poll access.” [1] Why, then, does UPS still fund one of the major right-wing groups pushing these horrific anti-voter laws? That’s right: UPS is one of the many companies that funds the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). And both before and after the election, ALEC has worked around the clock to restrict the freedom to vote, spread vicious lies about the integrity of our electoral process, and undermine American democracy entirely. ALEC’s top figures have been widely pushing Trump’s “Big Lie” about the 2020 election in an effort to manipulate the American public. At the same time, ALEC representatives have met with prominent GOP lawmakers -- like Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Rand Paul -- to discuss strategies to restrict voters’ rights. And according to one report -- in 2021 alone, more than 100 ALEC-connected state legislators have been lead sponsors or co-sponsors of anti-voter bills in Georgia, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Texas. [2] The fact is: by continuing to back ALEC financially, companies like UPS, FedEx, and Anheuser-Busch are endorsing this modern Jim Crow effort. And they’re hoping everyday Americans won’t notice. Over the last few years, we’ve pushed over 100 major companies to cut ties with ALEC due to its extreme agenda -- and now, we need to keep the public outcry going. Add your name to condemn these corporations’ hypocrisy and urge them to stop funding ALEC immediately. 1) https://about.ups.com/us/en/newsroom/statements/ups-supports-equitable-poll-access-and-voting.html 2) https://www.commoncause.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ALEC-anti-voter-letter.pdf

"Whether you are a fan of Star Trek or not the following has universal appeal to all. "A dream that became a reality and spread throughout the stars." – James T. Kirk, 2269 (TOS - "Whom Gods Destroy") "The United Federation of Planets was a supranational interstellar union of multiple planetary nation-states that operated semi-autonomously under a single central government, founded on the principles of liberty, equality, peace, justice, and progress, with the purpose of furthering the universal rights of all sentient life. Federation members exchange knowledge and resources to facilitate peaceful cooperation, scientific development, space exploration, and MUTUAL DEFENSE."** I've emphasized "Mutual Defense" because its important! While an obvious interpretation is "military defense", it also means Mutual Defense of Morals, Mutual Defense as in Care of Each Other. The US Senate are the rare few who are given the honor and duty of representing us all. But Minority Leader McConnell has vowed to put all of his efforts into blocking Democratic legislations to help all of us. We need to pass the President's Infrastructure Bill, the country needs roads, bridges, transportation, Broadband Internet, and We Need Clean Water. We need to Pass the For the People to help protect us from malicious voter suppression bills that are being passed by State Legislatures in multiple states. We need to have a commission to investigate the seditious attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6th, who are the Republican's trying to protect? We also need to Pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, The John Lewis Act, The Equality Act, The Pro Act, The Breathe Act, American Jobs Plan, American Families Plan, and Washington DC (our nation's great Capitol, is home to 712,000 people that are taxed hire per capita than any other state) should 100 percent be a state! We need common sense gun control like Mandatory Background Checks. We need the multiple Immigration Acts to Pass, We must raise taxes for the wealthiest one percent, they must pay their fair share, TAX THE RICH, We need NON-TRUMP JUDGES and damn it WE DIRELY NEED CLIMATE CARE!! WE NEED ALL THE THINGS NOW! WE CAN'T HAVE ANY OF THE THINGS WITHOUT ENDING THE FILIBUSTER! The Conservative Dems like Joe Manchin (WV) and Kristen Sinema (AZ) have said they want bi-partisanship. We have tried this to no avail. The Republican Senators do not represent the majority of the country, they do not speak for all of us, and they do not even speak for their constituents they claim to be speaking for. These policies are overwhelmingly popular with over 80 percent of the country's population. Enough is Enough. The Filibuster was established to protect Systematic Racism, and it continues to be in the way of changing that racist system.We need all of our Democratic Senators to ABOLISH THE FILIBUSTER NOW because WE NEED ALL THE THINGS NOW!! **(c/o https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/United_Federation_of_Planets)

It is very important to put an immediate stop to the death threats and harassment for two important reasons: 1) The 2020 Presidential Election was a free and fair election that did not have any fraudulent activity whatsoever. The numerous audits requested by Trump proved that it was fraudulent free and that Biden won. 2) These US Election Workers and Election Officials are being unfairly driven from their jobs by these Trump Extremists causing election workers to fear for their lives as well as their families lives. Besides receiving death threats, they have been harassed by these thugs by attempts to run them off the road, plus while driving they are being followed for 25 minutes. Plus getting threats of being killed by firing squad, and also in 21 counties there were threats of bombing polling sites, telling election workers unless Trump is guaranteed POTUS, no one would be spared at these bomb sites. As a result from the constant harassment, many election workers suffer from panic attacks. All of this harassment is still going on today! Fulton county’s election director, for 22 years, said, “ it seems like we are descending into a third world mentality. I never expected that from this country.” So many election workers and officials are leaving their jobs because they don’t want to be constantly harassed while they do their jobs. We need to stop this awful persecution ASAP!!!

In a meteoric fall from grace, Michael Flynn plunged from one of the most respected intelligence officers of his generation, to a far-right conspiracy theorist and prominent QAnon figure. After a 33 year military career, Flynn was forced into early retirement for his caustic leadership of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and from there he has time and again exploited his military clout to uplift dangerous, white supremacist rhetoric. He has taken illegal, secret payments from the Russian Government, pushed racist conspiracy theories on national news, was convicted for lying to federal investigators, and multiple times advocated for Trump to impose martial law to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Instead of facing any consequences for his laundry list of transgressions, Flynn was pardoned by Trump and has been allowed to remain a sounding board for the far-right. Treasonous, corrupt individuals like Michael Flynn exploit their military experience to push a dangerous agenda that threatens our multi-racial democracy, enable the toxic culture of sexual assault and violence that currently runs unchecked in our military, and make a mockery out of our service — all without any semblance of accountability. This is no surprise. Throughout history, we've consistently seen white supremacy, right-wing groups, and corrupt, treasonous insurrectionists like Michael Flynn go unchecked for the violence and terror they cause. General Flynn is a disgrace to our country. But his pathetic, power-hungry, conspiratorial behavior is particularly embarrassing to veterans like myself. His words MUST have consequences, because all that he has said and done keeps veterans out of spaces where we can organize and advocate for the needs of our communities. Michael Flynn used his power to incite the violent insurrection instead of acknowledging the actual concerns of working class troops, like abuse and exploitation by an endless war economy. It’s unjust to send us to endless wars that only profit the war machine. It’s unjust to not provide a place of healing for those left to mourn the loss of our military members. Veterans are coming together to challenge the status quo. We are here to interrupt the cycle of violence and those complicit through silence and inaction. Will you join alongside us and add your name to this petition demanding that the Pentagon investigate Michael Flynn?

It's now obvious Mitch McConnell and today's other GOP leaders will do and say anything in order to win, thereby assuring that the prize goes to the ultra-wealthy. The window of opportunity is short. Democrats must wake up to the fact they are wasting precious time trying to bring the old GOP back to life. Instead, they need to move swiftly and aggressively to do whatever it takes to get all the pending legislation passed. At the same time, they need to go local in a widespread manner, making their case directly to voters by pointing out in factual detail how the GOP is hurting them and show exactly how the Democrats will help them with whatever specific issues and problems they care about. This might include needed infrastructure repair, the high cost of medicines, a need for better jobs and a higher income, the lack of clean water and good air, the cost and availability of food basics, the need more extensive child care. Whatever it is, Now is the time to act.

Your administration did the right thing by cancelling the permit for Keystone XL. Like Keystone XL, the Line 3 tar sands pipeline is a threat to our climate and water and violates Native American treaty rights. The Enbridge corporation’s Line 3 tar sands pipeline project would expand the production of one of the world’s dirtiest fuels--tar sands crude oil--through 200 bodies of water in our treaty territory. These are lands where we have the right to hunt, fish and gather the sacred manoomin (wild rice). In the face of climate catastrophe, it would carry the carbon impact of 50 new coal plants. The permits for this massive expansion were issued without proper review by the Trump Administration. The Army Corps of Engineers refused to prepare a federal Environmental Impact Statement for Line 3, even though the project would cross hundreds of bodies of water including the Mississippi headwaters. I urge you to revoke or amend Line 3’s presidential permit, as you did for Keystone XL, and direct the Army Corps of Engineers to immediately reevaluate and suspend or revoke the Line 3 project’s Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. Please take action to both honor treaty rights and science by stopping the construction of this dangerous pipeline. Please create good jobs by investing in clean water and clean energy for all our communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown every person how vulnerable our health is. Presidents Obama and Biden delivered real quality, affordable care for millions by championing and passing the Affordable Care Act. 20 million Americans -- a disproportionate number of whom are low-income people and people of color -- are insured through the ACA. 133 million Americans live with pre-existing conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma, and cancer. With the ACA, insurers are not able to reject these 133 million Americans from buying a health insurance policy or charging them significantly higher premiums. Medicaid has been expanded in 38 states and Washington, D.C. providing coverage to more than 15 million people. The essential health benefits mean those with complex medical conditions don't have to worry about million dollar bills and children can stay on their parent's insurance until they are 26. The ACA has saved countless lives and has started to reverse generations of inequitable healthcare in our country. Thank you Presidents Obama and Biden for putting people before profits and passing the ACA.

The U.S. government’s unconditional support for the state of Israel has informed how the American news media reports—or fails to report— on the Israeli government’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights. But during Israel’s assault on Gaza this May, Palestinians shared their experiences on social media, enabling the American public to get a clearer understanding of the violence that Palestinians face. As a result, the news media’s lopsided stories that privileged the narrative of the Israeli government began to fracture. American news media has played a significant role in promoting the false understanding that this is a conflict between two equal parties, not a struggle between an occupying force violating international law and a people fighting for the safety of their families and the basic human rights they are routinely denied. U.S. mainstream news regularly creates a false equivalency between the power of the Israeli government and Hamas and fails to provide historical and present day context, including information about the Nakba, the blockade on Gaza, and the imbalance of resources and power between Israelis and Palestinians. Moreover, mainstream news frequently only interviews Israelis and far too regularly uses the passive voice to avoid holding the the Israeli government accountable for its own horrific violence (an example from the New York times: “Just minutes after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out, Baraa al-Gharabli, 5, was killed in Gaza”). The Arab and Middle East Journalists Association issued clear guidelines for responsible reporting on Palestine / Israel. It's time for major news media outlets to balance the narrative and center the voices and experiences of Palestinians by using the active voice in describing Israeli violence, interviewing Palestinians, and including proper context in describing history, sources of conflict, and the disparity in power and resources.

We need to have our voices heard and find a solution that will allow us to begin healing as a community. We need to be louder than the unrelenting helicopters. Please join us by signing this petition so we can let the news media in the Twin Cities know how their thoughtless actions are negatively affecting our quality of life and demand they stop harassing us with helicopters.