Erica, have a great birthday and a wonderful weekend!

Two elderly dogs, who were rescued by Love of Paws from a neglectful and horrible situation while L0P tried to place them, were taken to our animal shelter and the shelter given three phone numbers to call should the situation become desperate. Instead of calling those numbers, the animal shelter destroyed them. We're not living in the dark ages, are we? This needs to be a no-kill shelter.

We're standing with Sen. McCaskill and the majority of Americans who support a nuclear deal by a 2-1 margin.

The agreement is going to need solid Democratic support to make it through a hostile congress eager to rob President Obama of this achievement. We Democrats need to stand firmly behind the president.

Due to the veto of the budget by Governor Rauner, federally funded programs, such as what the Community & Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA) offers cannot continue to offer services to our communities, including the LIHEAP program. The LIHEAP program provides emergency assistance to low-income clients who need help cooling or heating their homes. CEDA provides services to over 500,000 clients throughout all of Cook County Illinois. Collectively, community action agencies such as CEDA serve more than one million individuals in Illinois every year. In addition, community action agencies in the state of Illinois have had to lay off more than 2,500 staff due to this blockage of funding. The State needs authorization from the General Assembly to spend these federal funds, which is normally accomplished through an appropriation in the budget. These federal funds have nothing to do with balancing the state budget, nor can the state of Illinois use these funds for any other purpose, which is why the federally funded programs cannot be allowed to continue receiving these funds. Many not-for-profit agencies across the state do not have non-grant resources to keep their doors open to continue to provide services during this budget impasse. Legislative action on this matter is required NOW , while the final state budget is being debated. We should be deeply concerned that our families who are in need of these services will fall deeper into poverty because of the interruption in services. Please take action and sign and pass this petition to restore the flow of these federal funds, so that we can protect and provide the much needed services to our low income communities state-wide. Additional negative impact of suspended State and Federal funds: Over 43,000 households in Cook County will not be served if State funds are suspended Over 28,000 households that were enrolled in the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) program will lose their benefits Clients on the PIPP program will have utility arrearages placed back on their utility bills Another 20,000 households will not be serviced by the interruption of Federal funds for WIC, Weatherization and Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) programs. Please sign the petition and urge your family and friends to do the same.

No more wars in the Middle East. No war with Iran!

Judges should not legislate from the bench and they should never, ever impose their religious beliefs on the citizens they have sworn to serve in the name of the municipality, county, state, or nation they represent.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently ended the investigation of possible illegal activity between Scott Walker's 2011-2012 recall campaign and outside special interest groups. Four of the justices of the court were the beneficiaries of dark money spent in their behalf and which was the heart of this case. They should have recused themselves and did not. This type of behavior can happen all across the country: in Wisconsin, many states and the U.S. Supreme Court, it is up to the court itself to adopt recusal rules. Demand that judges adopt strong rules and abide by them to ensure our courts are fair and impartial.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently ended the investigation of possible illegal activity between Scott Walker's 2011-2012 recall campaign and outside special interest groups. Now Wisconsinites and the rest of the American people will never know if Scott Walker and his campaign engaged in illegal activity during 2011-2012! Four of the justices of the court (Michael Gableman, David Prosser, Patience Roggensack and Annette Ziegler) were the beneficiaries of dark money spent in their behalf — and dark money was at the heart of this case. These judges should have recused themselves and did not. In Wisconsin, it is up to the court itself to adopt recusal rules, which they voted against doing not long ago. Demand that they adopt strong rules and abide by them to ensure our courts are fair and impartial.

Because you asked me to - don't cut by comments short.

We note, with compassion, that the innocent People of Greece should not have to suffer austerity consequences of others' corruption. In the spirit of democracy, we encourage the IMF and European Union decision-makers, especially Chancellor Angela Merkel (despite German law(s) preventing debt reduction--law(s) which could be adjusted), to use the provision in the recent "Bailout Agreement" for restructuring Greece's debt, to not only restructure timelines and/or interest rates, but to also restructure by granting debt forgiveness. Debt forgiveness ("haircut"/reduction) of a significant portion of the debt would be contingent on Greece continuing to show its good-faith cooperation and promise of adherence to the terms of the Agreement. With such adjustment, it is deemed that Greece's People will not suffer even more extreme hardship and that the economy of this beautiful and historic "cradle-of-civilization"--and first democracy--will make a hopeful turnaround, thereby being a greater asset to the European Union. In the throes, it is suggested as an aside that those having caused the economic problems in Greece via corrupted practices be censured and/or prosecuted - and made to pay appropriate amounts-due toward the debt. "Greece, Its Back to the Wall, Adopts Austerity Steps," The New York Times, July 15, 2015 http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=305487&id=&t=4 "IMF appears to be only one looking out for Greece's long-term future," The Guardian, July 15, 2015 http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=305488&id=&t=5 "Greece Financial Crisis Hits Poorest and Hungriest the Hardest," The New York Times, July 11, 2015 http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=305491&id=&t=8 #####

I'm tired of the poor logic used by some Christian legislature, which espouses religious freedom in order to trample civil liberty. I'm quite disappointed that so many of our leaders seem to have failed our 8th grade lesson detailing the cause and spirit of separation of church and state.