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.

NH ranks 49th in the nation for help for addicts, and the wait for beds is extremely long. Funding is almost non-existent for the care of our addicts and as a result our loved ones are dying daily from overdoses from the influx of heroin and other drugs. My 19-year-old niece was a heroin addict. She died 6/7/15 in a heroin-related car crash. If she had the opportunity to receive the proper help, then maybe Jessica would be here today! We need to create a system where citizens can get detoxed in a safe manner under medical care and without them going into withdrawals in some back alley somewhere. As a community we demand more funding, more detox treatment beds, more transitional housing, easier and shorter waits for a bed, intensive outpatient care and mental health care for these people. Sure it is going to cost money, but not as much as continuing to allow this epidemic to grow and get worse! We must consider the immeasurable price of the lives lost and the devastation it is bringing to the families of New Hampshire, which fails in comparison to actually helping those sick and suffering with the disease of addiction to receive proper treatment. Please sign this petition to support Jessie’s Law and let our Government know we demand immediate change!

I have started this petition because my wife is a recruiter for the United States Air Force, and it is obvious that the time has come to add security measures for these recruiters. They are not allowed to carry, have no type of security, not even a button to alert police, if something goes wrong. The constant threat of stateside terrorism is real, and they need to be able to protect themselves. Installations have their own security measures in place, why don't they? Why are they being left unprotected?

DA Mathis said there was no reason for concern, despite the fact that an allegedly routine traffic stopped turned into a violent arrest is itself a cause for concern. Sandra's family says that Sandra would never kill herself and that police seem to be covering up her death. We must demand that local officials release all video, information and photographs relating to Sandra's unjust arrest, imprisonment and death. The local police department and prosecutor's office have a long history of racism and corruption. Last year, DA Mathis threatened a local Reverend who spoke out about racist prosecutions, saying he would release his “hounds” on the Reverend. Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith was fired from the police department in Hempstead, Texas for documented cases of racism. According to her loved ones, Sandra Bland was a loving, compassionate woman, with a bright future ahead. Today would have been the first day at her new job working student outreach at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University. Loved ones described her as bright, spirited, and having a thirst for life. She was also a vocal advocate against police brutality and often spoke about ending racism and police violence. Our hearts and minds are with her friends and family as they move through this unimaginably hard time. But in a world where Black people are stereotyped as “violent” and police exist to enforce the boundaries of a deeply divided and racist society, who Sandy was or the life she was creating, did not matter. What mattered was that she was Black, and therefore, in the eyes of the law, didn’t deserve respect, didn’t deserve her civil rights, her freedom or her life. To be Black in America, is to be safe nowhere. Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to be targeted by police and incarcerated than white women. The Department of Justice and Attorney General Lynch have the power and responsibility to address the systemic police violence targeting Black communities. The reality is, racism, corruption and a deep-seated culture of secrecy prevents local and state police from holding themselves accountable. Without independent oversight, police will continue to kill and prosecutors will continue to do nothing. We should not have to demand justice, every time a Black person is murdered, but we will continue to do so until the justice system respects Black lives.