Courage Campaign

Campaigns

• STOP Act: Put an end to sexual violence in the military

  Sexual violence in the U.S. military is a crisis. The Pentagon estimates that sexual assaults increased from 19,000 in 2011 to 26,000 in 2012. That's 71 sexual assaults EVERY DAY, and in roughly 56% of cases, the victims are men. Making matters worse, each branch of the armed forces has its own judicial system. It's currently legal for base commanders to overturn a jury's guilty verdict, as happened at Aviano Air Force Base in February 2013. The STOP Act takes the prosecution, reporting, oversight, investigation, and victim care of sexual assaults out of the normal military chain of command -- which has proven grossly ineffective -- and places jurisdiction in an autonomous Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office. Join us to help pass it.

  59,890 of 75,000 Signatures

  Created by Congresswoman Jackie Speier
• No pay for Congress during the shutdown

  Since October 1st, hundreds of thousands of middle-class federal employees have been furloughed due to irresponsible members of Congress who refuse to govern for the well-being of the American people. The GOP-controlled House of Representatives decided to shut down the government rather than pass a spending bill that funds the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare.” Not only has the President’s signature healthcare law been upheld by the Supreme Court, but it was a major issue in the last presidential election when Republicans were soundly defeated. These Republican members of Congress -- including California’s own House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy -- are putting the extreme and ideological demands of a small minority over the health of the American economy. And now, federal employees, veterans, and hard-working families will be the ones that have to pay the price. That is unfair and morally reprehensible. Congress should take responsibility for their own inaction and lose their paychecks until they come to a resolution. Every day this drags on, the more damage it does to everyday Americans and our nation’s fragile economy.

  459,548 of 500,000 Signatures

  Created by Laura Leavitt, Courage Campaign
• The University of California Must Admit More Californians!

  The University of California (UC) system was built by Californians to serve Californians and should continue to prioritize Californians. The UCs have been turning away record numbers of qualified California high school students in favor of out-of-state candidates who can pay a greater price -- “full freight” -- for tuition. Meanwhile, California families are struggling as income inequality hits record highs, and tuition at the University of California has increased more than 300% since 2000. Despite all this, the Governor refuses to prioritize increased funding for higher education. While we recognize that including students from all over the country and the world is valuable to enhance diversity, the University of California must prioritize California families who have paid to support the system all their lives. Further tuition increases for in-state students is not the answer. The state, led by the Governor, must increase funding for higher education so the UC system can once again provide an affordable, world class education for all qualified Californians.

  329 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Lindsay Marsak, Courage Campaign
• Demand Nestlé immediately stop bottling precious water from California during drought!

  While the entire state is urged to conserve water and is potentially facing mandatory water usage restrictions, Nestlé is bottling the scarce resource straight from the heart of California’s drought and selling it for profit -- according to a recent Desert Sun report. Since Nestlé’s bottling plant -- which extracts water for its Arrowhead and Pure Life brands -- is located on the Morongo Band of Mission Indians’ reservation, it is exempt from oversight by local water agencies and is able to keep information about its groundwater levels and usage confidential. Therefore, it’s impossible to know just how much of the limited resource the plant is extracting to export and sell elsewhere. And to top it off, the bottling plant is located in one of the most drought-stricken areas of the state. With a recent report showing that California only has enough water to last the state one more year, we must put an end to this madness at Nestlé before it’s too late. Join us!

  30,613 of 35,000 Signatures

  Created by Laura Leavitt, Courage Campaign
• Stop the worst environmental disaster since the BP oil spill!

  For months, a gas leak at SoCalGas’s Aliso Canyon storage facility has been spewing 1,200 TONS of methane gas into the air in Los Angeles’ Porter Ranch neighborhood every day. The gas leak is emitting as much global-warming pollution as six coal-burning power plants and seven million cars.(1) Local residents are suffering from nosebleeds, migraines, and dizziness.(2) Pet dogs, cats, and fish are dropping dead.(3) Now so much gas has leaked that the authorities are warning that one small spark could cause a massive explosion.(4) And SoCalGas just got caught lying to the public about the amount of cancer-causing benzene that's leaking into the environment.(5) This is being called the worst environmental disaster since the BP oil spill, yet SoCalGas just abandoned their plans to stop the leak, and local officials are still scrambling to figure out what to do.(6) Our national authorities must step in now before it’s too late! 1. http://www.marketplace.org/2015/12/14/world/gas-leak-0 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/us/california-governor-declares-emergency-over-los-angeles-gas-leak.html?_r=0 3. http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20160116/pet-deaths-illnesses-evoke-concern-amid-porter-ranch-gas-leak 4. http://www.readingeagle.com/ap/article/explosion-risk-stalls-plan-to-capture-and-burn-gas-from-porter-ranch-leak 5. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/15/an-oversight-calif-utility-understated-levels-of-cancer-causing-chemical-in-l-a-gas-leak/ 6. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-porter-ranch-leak-stopped-late-february-20160118-story.html

  550 of 600 Signatures

  Created by Tim Molina, Courage Campaign
• Whole Foods CEO: Stop Spreading Lies about Obamacare

  Whole Foods' CEO, John Mackey, has been using his position as head of one of the most respected companies in America to promote anti-Obamacare lies and deter people from signing up for life-saving health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Fight back against this kind of confusing misinformation and tell John Mackey stop misleading Americans. Statements like these confuse people about the law and scare them away from signing up for the coverage they desperately need.

  80,121 of 100,000 Signatures

  Created by Dr. Paul Song, Courage Campaign
• Tell Wal-Mart: Stop selling assault rifles

  Wal-Mart can make a good-faith effort to help stop the kind of violence we saw in Newtown, CT: by joining Dick's Sporting Goods in voluntarily stopping sales of assault weapons, which belong in war, not in our communities. As reported by Bloomberg News on December 19, 2012, "Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said yesterday that it would continue to sell guns, including rifles like the one used at Newtown, where 26 people, most of them children, were killed on Dec. 14. Searches of five kinds of semi-automatic rifles on Wal-Mart’s website showed them to be out of stock at stores in five states, including Pennsylvania, Kansas and Alabama...Wal-Mart has about 10 modern sporting rifles, the gun industry’s term for firearms that look like an M-16 military rifle, listed on its website. The retailer removed a description and picture of the Bushmaster AR-15, which was the model used in Newtown, after the shootings." Why not remove the rest of these other dangerous models? Please do put public safety ahead of profit, and stop selling assault weapons.

  36,286 of 40,000 Signatures

  Created by Adam Bink
• Tell the CA Legislature: "End Tax Exempt Status for Anti-Gay Boy Scouts of America"

  Please join me in asking the California Legislature to pass SB 323, ending tax breaks for youth groups like Boy Scouts of America that discriminate against members based on their sexual orientation. I grew up in the Boy Scout tradition. I started out as a Cub Scout, transitioned through Webelos, and ended my Boy Scout journey as a Life Scout, one rank below Eagle. My closest friends were other scouts. Scouting stands for the finest qualities of humanity: self-reliance, creativity, and an appreciation of nature. Most of all, we were taught how to act as responsible, respectful citizens. This is why the Boy Scouts’ continued policy of excluding members based on their sexual orientation is so upsetting to me. It flies in the face of the very values that the scouting tradition professes to teach. As a straight ally, I can't sit idle while the current leaders of the Boy Scouts disgrace this once-proud American institution with their personal bigotry. Boy Scouts of America needs to do the right thing and change their policy to allow openly gay members. Right now, SB 323, sponsored by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Los Angeles) aims to give the Boy Scouts a nudge in the right direction by eliminating tax exemptions for groups that practice discrimination. Please ask the California Legislature to help pass SB 323. California should lead on this issue if Congress won’t. Ending this tax break is the right thing to do, for the Boy Scouts and any other youth group in California which discriminates against members based on sexual orientation.

  10,566 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Eddie Kurtz
• L.A. City Council: Sever your "sister city" relationship with anti-gay St. Petersburg

  Russia's elected leaders are out of control -- and we can't stand for it any longer. First came a ban on the adoption of Russian-born children not only to gay couples but also to any couple or single parent living in any country where marriage equality exists. Then came a law allowing police officers to arrest tourists and foreign nationals they suspect of being homosexual, lesbian or “pro-gay” and detain them for up to 14 days. And then the "gay propaganda" law, making any parent who tells their child that being gay is okay, any Pride parade organizer, any health official distributing information regarding safe sex between same-sex partners, even a judge or lawyer, can be subject to arrest or fine. Already people are being arrested, beaten, intimidated and more. One lawmaker even vowed that foreign nationals attending the 2014 Sochi Olympics would be subject to this. The St. Petersburg Assembly led the way for the "gay propaganda" law, legalizing it in 2012. The Los Angeles City Council failed to take action then, and Russia took the law nationwide recently. It is time for action now. In 1979, Los Angeles suspended its sister city relationship with Tehran, Iran over the hostage crisis. We can and should do so now. If we build enough pressure in advance of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Russia will be forced to act. Sign with me to tell the Los Angeles City Council: sever your sister city relationship with St. Petersburg.

  1,461 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Courage Campaign
• Stand with Richmond as it stands up to Wall Street

  The small city of Richmond, California has Wall Street terrified. The City is planning to help some of the 46% of city homeowners currently underwater by offering to buy distressed loans from the Wall Street bankers who own them, then reset the mortgages to current market value. If the banks refuse, the City will consider using eminent domain to acquire the loans, still paying fair market value to the banks. This historic action is called Local Principal Reduction, and if it works in Richmond, it could help stop the housing crisis around the country. On August 7, Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank, with the support of a Wall Street lobbying group, sued the City of Richmond to stop them from implementing Local Principal Reduction and eminent domain. Please stand with Richmond and demand that the CEOs of Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank drop their lawsuit and sell the homes to the City.

  1,823 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by Eddie Kurtz