After the shutdown, the U.S. Senate will take a vote on the LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) for the first time in 17 years, and this commonsense proposal already has 55 Senate supporters and counting. ENDA simply says a corporation can’t fire you just because of who you are or who you love. But Florida’s Senator Bill Nelson is still waffling. He’s 1 of only 3 hold-out Democrats who has not made up his mind. We think 100% of Democrats should support basic fairness for LGBT Americans. Floridians understand that Americans should be judged on the job based on their skills and hard work, rather than their sexual orientation or gender identity. In fact, a recent poll showed that 73 percent of Floridians support ENDA. Nationwide, so do more than 81 percent of Democratic voters, a majority of Republican voters, 61 percent of senior citizens, and 72 percent of Latinos. Sen. Nelson - You already support marriage equality, and the Democratic Party of Florida platform calls for all people to be treated equally regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. There’s no reason to keep stalling on workplace equality. Now is time to announce your support and publicly pledge to vote Yes for the LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Colin Grady has been incarcerated since February 2009 and is not set for release until May 2015. While incarcerated he has made great use of this time. He has graduated from college with a 2 year degree and is currently continuing with his education today, he has held several jobs, been an outstanding inmate, immersed himself in all the available self help programs that are offered, and graduated from a parenting course, (he did this course to make sure that he had all the appropriate skills to be the best Uncle he could to his Nephews and future children) We as his family, friends and community are ready to have him home. We feel that the time he has served is adequate punishment for the laws broken. The 26 year old man he is today is drastically different than the 19 year old boy he was in 2007. We are in full support of his early release.

It is outrageous that GOP Members of Congress are willing to destroy our economy to appease their Tea Party members. It's time to tell them to "Cease and Desist." We have had enough of GOP Members of Congress “talking the talk.” Now they need to show real leadership and “walk the walk” by: •Signing the Discharge Petition. With 218 signatures, a vote on a clean CR will be brought to a vote on the Floor of the House of Representatives; •Raising the Debt Ceiling without any conditions. Congress created this debt, now they need to pay the bills; •Telling Speaker Boehner to ‘Cease and Desist’ from his extremist actions that are ruining our country.

My name is Felipe Bravo and I am from Guatemala. I have lived in the United States for the past 15 years. I am married and have 3 U.S. citizen daughters (Karina 13yr, Jennifer 12yr, Azucena 6yr). I was arrested for not having a driver's license. Although all charges have been dropped and I do not have any criminal record, I am still facing possible deportation. I now have to leave my family on November 15. I pay my taxes and have strong ties to my community. Since arriving here, I have been an active member in my church, where I am the choir director. As a member of Familias Unidas, I have been working to help other families that are facing the same situation as my own, keep their families together. My dream is to stay here and see my beautiful daughters grow up and realize their dreams. I would like to continue contributing to this country that has given me so many opportunities. With your help, I hope to cancel my deportation, so that I can stay with my family. Thank you for your support and my God bless you.

On Tuesday, October 15 at noon, constituents are going to visit Representative Rodney Davis at his district offices in Illinois' 13th Congressional District. We're going to call on him to support and vote for clean bills to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling to avoid default on the nation's debts, without tying these to efforts to defund the Affordable Care Act or demands to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. We'll call on Rep. Davis to sign the discharge petition to force a clean bill to reopen the government to the House floor for a vote. Illinois' 13th Congressional district stretches from Champaign in the east to Madison County in the west. Davis' district offices are in Champaign, Normal, Decatur, and Taylorville.

Tea Party Congressman Steve Pearce votes against the needs of his constituents time and time again. He's one of the richest millionaires in Congress and a member of the minority Tea Party caucus that is holding the government closed. Now he told furloughed federal workers struggling to pay their bills that they should take out personal loans and go into debt while he continues to play politics with their paychecks.

Stop signs are about to be installed within the next two weeks. Once the signs are up, it is going to be very difficult to get them removed. The Stop signs will significantly impede traffic flow It appears the main reason for the Stop sign is for golfers to easily cross from one side of the gold course to the other

This is how we fix Congress to be the "Peoples" representatives as in "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more Perfect Union, establish Justice, insure Domestic Tranquility, provide for the Common Defense, promote the General Welfare, and Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

WE THE PEOPLE are being held hostage against our will by members of Congress by the means of this Government Shutdown. Those responsible need to be brought to trial in front of the Supreme Court to face charges of Negligence, Fraud, Corruption, taking the government hostage, Treason, and a host of other charges. It is the National Guards' duty to protect the people from threats such as this.

I'm really tired of having Kirstie Alley's Body Thetans dripping all over the place, it's a health hazard, you know.

To have the 99% of the country's population let the House know they are not representing the people who elected them. And Republicans, we know you are the worst at this, and the most at fault here. I am so not voting for one Republican in 2014 and 2016.

Secretary Hagel: People who live on Georgia’s coast have protected the North American Right Whale for many years. NOAA has designated our waters as critical habitat for this rarest of whales, for it is here that they birth their calves. A dozen environmental agencies tried to stop the Navy from building a submarine warfare training range here that will produce a barrage of sound and traffic that should not be allowed in the Right Whale’s nursery, where it targets the most vulnerable animals. They failed. Only you can stop the Navy’s use of deadly sonar and underwater explosives in training programs over the next 5 years. Nobody else has the power to make these changes. You do. Please use your power to force the Navy to use satellite technology, extremely accurate but harmless to marine mammals. Make them use the “Listening Buoy” system of whale detection instead of positioning a sailor on top of a ship, looking for whales. By the time a whale is spotted by visual detection, it’s too late to prevent vessel strike, much less the excruciating sound of sonar, which travels 900 miles underwater and causes cetaceans to bleed from their brains and often, to beach themselves. Over the next five years, in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico, our Navy will kill thousands of whales and dolphins and destroy the hearing of five million others. Secretary Hagel, a deaf whale cannot navigate, care for its young, evade predators, or find food . A deaf whale is a dead whale. In the case of the North American Right Whale, there are only 350 whales left. The naval warfare range, built to last 20 years, will cause their extinction. It won’t take long. Mitigating the carnage will not compromise our national security. There are many alternatives--- underwater drones, satellites, smart buoys, and simulation techniques-- that can be used in training our naval personnel to maintain their place as the best in the world. In fact, to be the best, our Navy must use the new techniques, because 20-year-old sonar technology cannot detect the new enemy subs coated with sonar-repelling paint. Modern technology can reduce the toll without compromising national security. The staggering numbers of dead and dying marine mammals predicted by our Navy cannot be allowed to stand. These inhumane actions, used not in war, but in routine training for war, must stop. We are better than that. Whales have been on this earth for 50 million years. They are not our enemy. There is no compelling need for them to suffer impairment to their most vital functions. There is not need for them to die slow, painful deaths. There is no need for whole species to go extinct. You, and only you have the power to compel the Navy to change its course. President Obama appointed you in part because you, as a combat soldier, understand what our troops must face in defending America. In this, you are unique. Please use your understanding to direct our Navy to chart a humane course when dealing with other creatures that have as much right to live as we do.