My son & daughter-in-law and two grandsons live in Maplewood, NJ and suffered through Hurrican Sandy, but not anywhere near as badly as many many others. Why was a vote on the relief bill cancelled?

Rumors that entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security will be considered as a negotiation tool in the debt ceiling and to reduce the deficit. Even the President has mentioned it being on the table. Please sign this petition, warning Congress and the White House to leave Medicare and Social Security alone.

State testing should not be used to dictate curricula nor deprive struggling schools with needed funding. Rather, it should be a tool to identify a student's academic strengths and natural proclivities. The discouraging results of the punitive policies of "NCLB" have led to: increased class sizes, school closures and furthermore, have reduced educators to "teaching to the test"; thereby defining a limiting notion of academic success. End the proliferation of "high stakes testing" mandates beleaguering our public schools. Cease and desist the promotion of unqualified tests which serve to benefit the test makers but not the test takers. Stem the flow of tax dollars away from for-profit corporations. Halt the march towards de-professionalization of educators. Acknowledge that the corporate model does not produce positive results in the classroom. Channel resources back into the classroom in order to compensate dedicated teachers, hire new teachers (who have invested in classical training), provide class materials, and support programming which enhances public education. It is crucial that we invigorate the public education system with well-rounded curricula which strongly supports the arts, foreign languages, science, technology, crafts, appropriate training in a broad range of physical education and good citizenship opportunities, as well as the three Rs. In this way, we would be enabled to invest in successful individuals who are well-primed to makes valuable contributions to our social fabric.

We need a safer more eco friendly materials and fuel. And, its too hard to keep denying the positive and healthier uses of cannabis.

The 2 Amendment right bear Arms for law abiding citizen.

I think it's ridiculous that the NFL gets to be listed as a tax nonprofit organization like churches and other charities. I don't think many Americans would accept the fact that they pay no taxes. Everyone knows that they are business and make plenty of money.

Let's look at the bigger issue. Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs, Obesity, and just being stupid, kill more people daily then any nut job with a gun. Lets go after the real killers of our kids and friends," Our Society that accepts the other killers".

For The USA Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches to grant a visa to the Great Chief Minister Modi of the state of Gujarat, India. You have granted visas to many leaders to visit this country who have done far worse to their citizens. And these leaders have admitted to their negligence and crimes. My Modi has not done any such crimes nor admitted to it. The Congress party of India and its leader the evil Sonia Gandhi have poisoned the American leaders against him. But rest assure as the rest of the world has begun to admire this great human being, your time will come where you will be required to meet him. You will need him. It is time to build a relationship now.

Puerto Ricans had never had the freedom from external forces to chose our path in the world.

Rick Combs, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, has requested $775,000 to pay dues to such organizations as the National Conferences of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Nevada taxpayer money should not be used to fund "corporate lobbying" by ALEC organizations.

This issue concerns the Sex Offender Rehab Center in Norfolk, Nebraska. The city officials decided that it was OKAY to remove the well tampered mentally ill patients to Lincoln or Kearney, where they are already overcrowded. The Rehab center is in sickly close proximity to the day care center. I am very irritated and disgusted by this, those people should be NOWHERE near a day care center, regardless of the feet of distance. I want these sick people out of here, especially the child molesters. They have a apartment complex right next door to the rehab center, which I (Alicia Steffen) personally stayed at, and the private manager does not allow children. Gee I can't imagine why?! Please sign this petition and get these jokers OUT of here! Or somewhere far far away!

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of school closings or charter school expansion, you should be very concerned by the recent trend of massive school closings and rapid expansion of charter schools. Many charter schools are expanding at a faster rate than can be sustained financially or academically. As a result, some charters have not been able to sustain the academic progress or operating stability they experienced in the past. Likewise, the wholesale closure of public schools has caused a shock in the system that extends beyond the classrooms. The social and economic costs outweigh any savings to be gained. These costs include disruption to students' learning; increased violence; displacement of teachers; reduction in salaries and costs of starting up new schools and disposing of public assets (which could be better spent in the classroom). It should be noted that rapid expansion of any type of school--whether charter, selective enrollment, magnet or neighborhood--without the financial capacity or sufficient population will result in failure. Chicago Public Schools, if left to its own devices, will continue to start new charter schools in communities with declining populations. As a result, Chicago Public Schools will continue to have more available seats than students. CPS has at one point claimed that there are 600,000 seats in the system, and only 400,000 students. CPS closed 50 schools in 2013 in an effort to correct the problem. Unfortunately, the data they used to make decisions were incomplete and inaccurate. CPS engaged a firm in 2013 to help them complete a master facilities planning process. The study--which only included half of CPS's school buildings-- wasn't scheduled to have been completed until June, 2014--more than a year after the schools were closed. In the interim, CPS proceeded to close schools without a master facilities plan in place. CPS opened 7 more charter schools in 2015, and is now poised to open or expand 20 more charter schools and open 12 new alternative high schools in 2016. This, in spite of the fact that there is excess capacity among traditional and charter schools. The consequences of closing schools are significant, and should not be taken lightly. Studies have shown that students typically lose 6 months' academic achievement as a result of transferring to different schools. Unfortunately, the receiving schools often perform at the same levels or worse than the schools that close. New schools take at least 5 years to fully develop. On top of that, a Catalyst Chicago study of Chicago charter school finances revealed that nearly 50% have had significant cash flow problems in recent years, including challenges funding state mandated contributions to teacher pension plans. This does not bode very well for long term sustainability for some charter schools. Unfortunately, the children who are most likely to be impacted are the ones who can least afford the disruptions.