Sooner or later, you or someone you love will become disabled. Maybe you know someone now--a parent, friend or other loved one. Being able to remain autonomous and direct our own lives is what gives our lives meaning, instead of being warehoused in a nursing home with limited options decided by others. IRIS allows disabled people to stay in their homes. The IRIS program is a Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services waiver for self-directed, long-term support. The program is an option for adults with long term care needs. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Long Term Care (DLTC), Office of IRIS Management under the authorization of the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) is responsible for oversight of the IRIS program. IRIS is available to Wisconsin residents determined financially eligible for Medicaid, functionally in need of nursing home or Intermediate Care Facility, and/or Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID) level of care; and living in a county where managed long-term care and IRIS are available. People who are eligible have the choice of IRIS or managed care through their local Aging and Disability Resource Center. The participant has the flexibility to design a cost-effective and personal plan. IRIS provides an alternative to institutional managed care. Nursing homes are quite frankly a big and often faceless business, and who hasn't read the horror stories what happens inside them. Anyone who loves life will do their best to stay out of one as long as possible. People who choose IRIS design a waiver-allowable Individual Services and Supports Plan to meets their functional, vocational, and social long term care needs. Wisconsin has Medicaid Home and Community Based Services waivers 1915(c) and the Self-Directed Personal Care State Plan Amendment 1915(j) approved by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These CMS approved applications define the types of services and goods included in the IRIS program. Disabled persons enrolled in IRIS are able to manage goods and services to meet their long term care needs and goals. IRIS funding waivers allow eligible recipients to remain in the community and avoid institutionalized care. IRIS program recipients are supported in self-direction by IRIS Consultants and Fiscal Employer Agents. IRIS creates jobs for caregivers outside of institutional settings, and serves the disabled population. Cutting IRIS won't make the disabled go away, but it will certainly make their lives more difficult. Scott Walker's Medicare/Medicaid cuts would kill the IRIS programs, forcing many disabled persons to sell their assets and move into managed care facilities where their quality of life is considerably more limiting and bleak. Please ask your local state representative to tell Scot Walker to preserve the IRIS program from budget cuts.

Have had ENOUGH of politicians and their ME ME ME attitude. Do the job you were put in office for. Governing FOR us the people!

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act legalizes discrimination in the state of Indiana. Our state should never legally discriminate against any person or people based on religion, race, nationality, gender, sexual or gender orientation, age, or any other factor based on discrimination.

The outcry against Indiana's #ReligiousFreedomRestorationAct is a wake up call. #BoycottIndiana not enough. #RecallPence is not enough. Only Civil Rights for All Americans can make a difference. http://incorrigiblycorey.blogspot.com/2015/03/can-last-straw-be-first.html

Indiana has passed SB 101 a law that allows businesses & people to discriminate against ANY group of people that they believe goes against their personally held religious beliefs. While this bill was targeted against the LGBT community, the impact goes beyond that to others of different faiths. Given the fact that Hawaii is the most religiously diverse state in the nation and we pride our selves on our diversity - NO public employee should be purposely put in harms way while on official business and NONE of our taxpayer dollars should go toward supporting this discriminatory law.

I live across the street from the blast yesterday on the site on 2nd avenue between7th street and St Mark's Place. At 3 in the afternoon, my entire building felt like it exploded. I felt this a year ago, when something exploded in the basement of my building at 104 2nd ave, corner of 6th street (104 2nd ave Realty is the owner of this building.) It was so strong that it broke one window and broke the seals on all my windows. A few days later, an unlicensed plumber was trying to fix a radiator in my apartment, and the radiator blew up and water enveloped my home. The owner of the building assumed NO RESPONSIBILITY!!!! From that moment until today, I always ask for someone's license before I let them fix any emergency. The landlord keeps sending unlicensed electricians and plumbers to fix things. PLEASE JOIN ME, New York, in demanding legislature to force our Landlords to protect our homes and families by making it mandatory for them to hire only licensed workers. We are another tragedy just waiting to happen.

We request his resignation in light of the material harm his governorship has caused Indiana: A secret, last-minute refusal to bid on likely federal monies directed at early childhood education in Indiana; the subversion of an elected state official's office by the unilateral creation of an un-elected body with overlapping authority; his passage of a law extending the right of religious conscience to for-profit businesses serving the public. (This law trumps state and local nondiscrimination laws and was lobbied for in the wake of gay marriage equality in Indiana. After a single weekend, the damage to our economy and reputation has been severe.) By signing, we recognize we are asking a partisan politician to act thanklessly for the good of his state and the ill of his base. Our chances of success are slim. We also realize, however, that the governor has provided an opportunity to number the Hoosiers standing in opposition to a platform of political self-interest. In doing this, we hope to make clear that Hoosier Hospitality is not an empty slogan; it is a true source of local pride.

This bill would eliminate the whole post-secondary department that governs the Alabama two-year community college system and replace it with a board that is appointed by the governor. This is nothing more than a way for politicians to get their hands on the Education Trust Fund, not to mention that it has the potential of turning all community colleges into technical schools, leaving underprivileged individuals no chance of an academia education, which will also result in thousands of educators to lose their jobs. This is big slap in the face to both the citizens and staff of the way two-year college system across Alabama!

I am a mom of two children from Silver Spring, Maryland. Personally, I have suffered from the horrific health effects from FRACKING chemicals. FRACKING contaminates our public drinking water and releases toxic gases into the air. There is no safe method for FRACKING. The hazardous chemicals used in the fracking process are abnormally dangerous and ultra-hazardous. Please help me to STOP FRACKING in Maryland.

Suddenlink is ripping off the hard working people of West Virginia by capping internet and charging us if we go over. Let's stop them by bringing in competition that doesn't have data caps.

Some lawmakers are pushing legislation to force the Alabama ABC Board to give up control of its well-run liquor stores, opening the store for out-of-state corporations to come in and expand liquor sales in Alabama. Studies consistently show that states like Alabama with strong alcohol controls experience less problems associated with alcohol abuse, such as drunkenness and underage drinking. Control works. Keep Alabama in control.

Deir Ezzor city, located in the east of Syria, for more than 3 months, has been suffering from a strict siege imposed on the civilians there by the ISIS and Al Assad troops at the same time. The fact that more than 300 thousands civilians live in the city currently makes it the largest human community under siege since the embark of the Syrian revolution, which is considered an imminent threat to the lives of the civilians staying there, not to mention that half of them are children. Deir Ezzor city has been destroyed by Al Assad air strikes over 4 years and 70% of its neighborhoods suffer because of complete lack of the basic needs for life. Inhabitants of the city find no means whatsoever to get food, medicine or communications, especially with the fever of high prices where prices jumped to more than 1500 times. Food supplies are controlled by the Regime's officers and intelligence in coordination with the mercenaries of ISIS who prevent food supplies from civilians but allow the landing and take-off of the airplanes providing supplies for Al Assad troops. In no time, Deir Ezzor will most probably be the worst human catastrophe in Syria, if not in the whole world. If the international community, the United Nations and the International Coalition do nothing to stop this catastrophe this will create an environment for more radicalism in the area. We strongly urge you to apply strong pressure on Al Assad Regime and ISIS to lift this strict siege and facilitate the process of providing food and humanitarian supplies to the city. We also appeal to the International Coalition to take necessary procedures to break this tight siege of the city.