As of this week, Iowa Governor Branstad is the sole decider for each Medicaid-funded abortion performed in Iowa! Everyone needs to know about this violation of human rights and women's rights, to be able to make her own personal decision, no governor or government needed.

Our elected officials in Washington work only three or four days and spend the rest of the time fundraising. It is time for them to work at least five days a week like those they govern.

A teacher from the Diocese of San Diego, who is a victim of domestic violence, was fired rather than being helped because of her estranged husband's criminal acts. This is WRONG!

Southwest Florida is known around the world as "paradise." We have miles of beaches, a thriving local economy, and year-round international tourism. It is home to the Florida Everglades, Big Cypress National Preserve, Picayune Strand State Forest, and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. There are many protected and endangered animal species who live in this area. The immediately proposed drill site is in Golden Gate Estates in Naples, Florida, and is very close in proximity of these protected preserves. Families live right next to the proposed drill site and call it home. Golden Gate Estates residents all produce their own drinking water from wells. Drilling for oil at this site would put our families and our sensitive ecosystem in great danger. Dan A. Hughes Company of Beeville, Texas, applied for a permit for "oil and gas exploration" on 115,560 acres they have leased from the Barron Collier Companies. Hughes representatives have been unable to assure us of our safety or that oil drilling will not compromise the safety and integrity of our environment. They have evaded the majority of our community's questions with the response, "I don't know, it's not us." When asked what they planned to do with the oil - if it would remain in the United States or be exported - they didn't know. When asked if it would create local jobs, they didn't know. When asked about if they would be fracking, they responded with, "we don't plan on it, but we can't speak for other companies." They wouldn't put anything in writing. When asked about the dangers to our families of polluted drinking water, hydrogen sulfide, fires, spills, industrial traffic, and noise, they responded with, "getting in your car every day puts you in danger." They have said "you never know how the Earth is going to respond" with nary a thought as to how people and other species can be endangered by the Earth's response. The citizens who live in Southwest Florida do not want oil drilling in our neighborhoods and our preserves. We want our voice to be heard. Please safeguard our families, our way of life, our protected and endangered wildlife, and our parks and national preserves. Please listen to us. Please also register at our website: http://preserveourparadise.org Thank you.

We need some basic operational improvements for our democracy to represent the voters

In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power. The Latin word ambitus is the origin of the English word "ambition," which is another of its original meanings; ambitus was the process of "going around and commending oneself or one's protégés to the people," an activity liable to unethical excesses.[1] In practice, bringing a charge of ambitus against a public figure became a favored tactic for undermining a political opponent. -- Wikipedia

Labeling on food products is inaccurate and too often incorrect. Some labels say product of Canada, but that doesn't mean the food source originated in Canada. Force food producers, food wholesalers and food distributors to label all ingredients as to country of origin. Stop the duplicity.

I am a blind person who is trying to help make web sites accessible

There was a day in the not recent past where most state and county governments coordinated the planning for (including establishing the need for) building new cells for additional prisoners with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee in the state or that county that the new space would serve. These CJCC's were sponsored by federal government who also supplied along with the Council of State Governors the methodologies and list of consultants who were approved to provide technical assistance. Members of the various CJS (Corrections, Courts, Probation and Parole, and Police got together along with these Councils to produce Projections Reports for Incarcerated Populations on a yearly basis whether or not any plan for expansion was being. Reports were part of Public Information. Now, it seems, a few states have ignored this procedure and governors have felt free to lobby for passage of facility expansion without any reports being issued to inform public opinion. Arizona, a state with the second highest per capita incarceration rate, is one of these states. Whereas, in 2001 it was reported that an average of 5.3% of the prisoners (across all states) were being held in Private facilities, while some states including Louisiana had 50% of their prisoners in Private facilities. Currently Arizona is fifth (at close to 50%) while Louisiana has backed off to 11th. Arizona has not put out a population Projection Report for several years even though the department was staffed with people who were more than competent to do so. Meanwhile, there are well known accusations that the governor has accepted multiple contributions to her campaigns and according to CBS 5 "two of Brewer's top advisers have connections to CCA" All states, especially those with significant contracts with Private Prison Companies, need, to maintain public confidence, to issue Corrections Projection Reports either annually or in association with efforts to obtain more public money for prison expansion.and these reports need to be developed with local criminal justice coordinating councils and use recognized methods for conducting their analyses.

This is a petition to legitimize our nation’s association with HARRY POTTER. Our nation has a national anthem and a national past time, but we do not have a national text of heritage. HARRY POTTER is the one book that has unified our faith as a nation in the living WIZARD. HARRY POTTER has been historically attached to our nation, from the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock, to educating Slaves on America’s Underground Railroad and even so today. HARRY POTTER's place throughout American history is that inheritance and our nation’s legacy should be to acknowledge this text with such an honorable title and declaration.

In recent decades, Congress too often has underrepresented the interests of the greater majority in favor of minority special interests. These interests can exert an unbalanced influence on legislative agendas, electoral processes, and free media, and they can undermine our democratic ideals. Recent attempts to remedy this situation include changing the filibuster rules in the Senate and campaign finance reform, but they have failed. This illustrates the difficulty of reforming Congress from within. Fortunately, the Constitution provides a method independent of Congress whereby two thirds of the governors may convene a constitutional convention, and three quarters of the states can ratify an amendment to change the Constitution. Today, citizens have the technology to directly participate in our democracy to an unprecedented degree. We, the petitioners, therefore ask the governors to convene a constitutional convention for the purpose of creating a third, virtual chamber in Congress called the Citizen Chamber (CC). The CC will have the singular authority of voting on legislation which moves through either the House or the Senate, thereby influencing the outcome of that legislation. Every voter will be able to cast an electronic vote over the Internet on any legislation moving through Congress. In order for the CC to influence a congressional vote, a quorum of one fifth of 1% of registered voters - or about 300,000 votes - must be cast, otherwise the vote in the House or Senate shall remain unchanged. If there is enough citizen interest in a particular bill to achieve the necessary quorum, the ratio of the yea to nay votes in the CC shall multiply the yea votes in the House or Senate, which will then determine the final vote outcome. For citizens without internet access, provisions for voting stations in public high schools will be made available every business day. The Citizen Chamber will have the capacity to act as a third and independent party, therefore more perfectly reflecting the will of the people in Congress.

Thousands of Philippine American families are forced to wait over 20 years to reunite siblings. Uncles and Aunts are often never given the opportunity of consideration for immigration to join families in the US. It is unfair and inhumane to give Latinos that entered in the US illegally to become legal immigrants cutting in line ahead of Philippine immigrants that have followed the rules. The average wait for my brother to be considered for US immigration is 23 years, why should ALL illegal Latinos be allowed to jump ahead in 13 years?