Good and decent people know that the deplorable conditions of puppy mills are not humanely acceptable. Yet, they continue by folks who care nothing of animal welfare but see it as a way to make some dollars. The people who mistreat animals to make money by breeding them endlessly, lack of food/water and medical care, can be considered disrespectful and dishonest, but many get away with it because of the lack of consequences due to weak and unenforceable laws. Its time to either outlaw inhumane puppy mills, or regulate them.

Please require all Michigan employers to provide paid sick days. It's the right thing to do!

The current state of New York’s 2015 executive budget reinforces doubt about the state legislature’s dedication to keeping New York’s state colleges accessible and properly funded. Student activist groups, such as New York Students Rising and Democracy Matters, as well as teacher’s unions, have been calling on the state legislature to make good on their promises about higher education. At 1.2 trillion dollars and growing, the youngest generation of this country holds more debt than any other group in history. This is unacceptable and it is the responsibility of our state government to begin addressing the situation.

In response to Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge that a Palestinian state will not be created in the West Bank and Gaza so long as Netanyahu is Prime Minister of Israel, the Obama Administration is publicly weighing whether to lift the US “diplomatic shield” at the United Nations that has protected Netanyahu’s policies from criticism by the UN Security Council. [1] The US “diplomatic shield” has meant that the US has automatically threatened to veto any resolution opposing Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank or pressuring the Israeli government to end its military occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank. If the US “diplomatic shield” protecting Netanyahu is lifted, the UN Security Council can take the lead in advancing a diplomatic resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict – which is exactly what the UN Security Council is supposed to do. [2] Urge President Obama to follow through on his threat to lift the US diplomatic shield protecting Netanyahu by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/israels-america-united-116203.html 2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/un-security-council-israel-palestine-_b_6905006.html

I just listened to a highly rated news show in which President Obama was commonly referred to as, "Obama." No matter who is President, The United States people and our system is demeaned by this. When speaking about the U.S. President, the proper title should be used.

Mr. Enright has bachelor’s degrees in psychology and philosophy and a Master of Science degree in conflict analysis and resolution. His work experience is inadequate for the Chair of the Dept. of Agriculture, and more appropriate for a corporate lobbyist. He has been described as “Charged by the Governor to assist Big Island Dairy.”, which, on behalf of a private investment firm, will be trashing parts of Kauai and Big Island with waste, pesticides, deforestation, and perpetrating lots and lots of animal cruelty! He has publicly opposed GMO labeling and wants state money to go into GMO research for animal feed, as well as many other livestock operation boondoggles. He is opposed to pesticide regulation enforcement, including opposing money for additional inspectors, urging the legislature to allow self regulation by industry instead. He is opposed to any pesticide buffer zones by parks, schools, and hospitals. He is opposed to taking responsibility for the continued mismanagement of the state animal quarantine station. He is the wrong nominee for the job and should be rejected.

Steve Anderson was a Brigadier General who served directly under Petraeus in Iraq in 2006. Tasked with saving the lives of soldiers, Anderson discovered that thousands of soldiers were dying on fuel convoys transporting fuel to generators for remote outposts."If Americans knew how our reliance on oil is putting our soldiers lives at risk, they'd be outraged" says Anderson. When Anderson and his staff developed a solution using spray foam insulation for military installations, it cut energy usage by 80%, saving billions in tax payer dollars, and countless lives of soldiers. Despite the success of the program, there's been little effort to expand the scope of the initiative, which is why we need an across the board energy efficiency policy. The actual memo that we want Ash Carter to sign can be found at http://www.greenthemilitary.org The U.S. military is the largest consumer of energy and oil in the world, and our defense contractors also supply most of the world's militaries. The U.S. military's reliance on oil endangers the lives of American soldiers, costs taxpayers billions, and increases greenhouse gas emissions, which disrupts the climate and creates global instability. Furthermore, technology developed by the U.S. military--GPS, Internet, Computers--often spills over into civilian life and becomes used around the world. Our military is also the envy of the world, and also trains many other militaries around the world, which means that practices adopted by the U.S. military often get adopted by other militaries, which affect their civilian populations as well. If Ash Carter, the Secretary of Defense, were to sign a memo mandating energy efficiency from the top-down as a metric of job performance, establishing reporting and accounting mechanisms to make everyone accountable for their energy usage, and making energy consumption a Key Performance Parameter (KPP) for all military equipment purchases, it would create a chain reaction that can help lead the world away from a dependency on fossil fuels.

Idaho is one of the final two states in the nation that do not have a law that protects nursing mothers from being harrassed and discriminated against when in public places. We are asking for business and organization support for a bill to show mothers that we respect and support their choice to breastfeed their babies in our businesses and public areas. Please make sure that you use your business or organization name in the signature section of this petition! If you are an individual that wants to support this cause, please sign our other petition here http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/idaho-needs-a-law-to?source=s.fwd&r_by=5245760. Thank you so much.

My name is Ian Swanson. If you signed my letter to Ronald McDonald last year, THANK YOU SO MUCH! If you didn’t, thank you for reading this message now and for considering to join me this time. Last year, I got very upset when I heard that McDonald's and many other fast food companies were stealing from workers by not paying them for the work they do. My parents taught me to share and never take what does not belong to me. I really didn’t like it that Ronald was not being fair to workers. So, my grown-up friends helped me write a letter to Ronald. More than 1,500 signed my letter — I was so glad to see that many other people were just as upset as I was. This week, my godmother told me that the workers are still not being paid right AND that many of them get hurt or burned while making our fries. That’s really bad…and I can’t have a Happy Meal when I know that the people who make them are getting injured and being mistreated. Again, I want to help the McDonald’s workers, but I am just a kid and sometimes I need an adult to help me do things. I want to ask McDonald’s to stop hurting workers by not paying them fairly and not giving them the help they need when they’re hurt. Will you join me? *Ian is a fifth-grader from Chicago. To learn more about the struggles of fast food workers and ways to support them, visit www.iwj.org*

If Ethanol is so bad, why has Brazil been producing, exporting and using Sugar Cane Ethanol in their vehicles for over 45 years and Indy 500 racers have also been using 100% Ethanol in their high maintenance vehicles? Do the research and learn the truth about the benefits of Ethanol that the oil companies don't want you to know about.

Duke Energy has repeatedly over pruned trees, which destroys the aesthetics of home and neighborhood landscapes. They have also sprayed chemical herbicides to kill plants by powerlines without informing residents they are planning to do so. This could be dangerous for individuals, animals, children and the hives of local beekeepers. Please sign this petition to ask Duke Energy to work with residents by maintaining the health and aesthetics of nature when pruning trees to protect the power lines. Educate residents by providing arborist recommended guidelines and give homeowners the option of maintaining their own landscape. Please inform residents before using herbicides or other chemicals and give them a choice to opt out of herbicidal and other chemical applications. Incorporate transparent policies and procedures when working with homeowners. Please respect the personal property of homeowners and residents as we are Duke Energy paying customers.

I know people whose credit was destroyed by these loans. I am very worried that Rep. Justin Woodsen, under pressure from the payday lenders lobbyists, will kill the bill by failing to call the hearing.