The Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans Alliance is very concerned about the growing practice of hospitals keeping patients under “observation status”, rather than admitting them as inpatients. We are hearing from more and more of our members who are being affected by the policy.

Workers across North Carolina and the entire country have been suffering from the ongoing economic crisis. The prices of many vital needs such as food, rent, childcare, gas and other utilities have been driven up, totaling over a 15% increase in consumer price index for the Southern region since 2008. Meanwhile, workers' wages have been stagnant. UE150 is fighting for across the board wage increases of $3,000 for all state and city employees in N.C. We join the demand by striking fast food workers for a $15 per hour minimum wage -- many public workers make less than this base rate for survival.

Congressional Reform Act of 2012 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office. 2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Don't you think it's time?

I do not want the City of Evanston to permit the rentals of homes and rooms of homes to transient guests in residential areas.

After a recent experience with Grace Hospital (Blue Ridge HealthCare) in Morganton, NC, I am left with a feeling of distrust and disbelief since I have was not treated in a respectful manner after the loss of my mom this past May. My hope with this petition is patients and family members in the Morganton / Burke County, NC service area will sign this petition if they feel their experience was less than satisfactory as mine was, and based on limited research, I believe MANY people have been improperly dealt with in some manner, and should speak up - and empower themselves.

Stop unneccessary increases in Kentucky Utilities' (KU) and LG&E fees.

Dear Council President Darell L. Clarke This past Martin Luther King Day, Philadelphia and its residents nearly missed having a state of emergency when Bakken Shale oil trains derailed on a bridge over the Schuylkill River and bustling Schuylkill Expressway. In the past 9 months there have been 7 derailments of trains carrying explosive Bakken Shale oil and gas. Philadelphia was the sixth incident and the only one not to result in disaster from a leak or explosion. These mile-long trains are currently coming through twice a day, seven days a week, an alarming risk in an extremely congested area. We ask that you quickly pass a resolution demanding an all-out moratorium on the transport of toxic and flammable Bakken Shale oil and gas by rail. Bakken oil and natural gas has a track record of being volatile, and we can’t afford to leave residents of Philadelphia vulnerable to its risks. Had the cars ignited, we would have risked contamination of our water supply, carcinogenic toxins being released into the air near the UPenn and Children’s Hospital complex, and a fire that would likely have burned for days, with no known evacuation plan or alert system for the hundreds of thousands of people in the surrounding area. Please use this near miss from disaster as a wake-up call for an immediate halt on the Bakken Shale oil trains now.

Please cosponsor and fight to improve the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014. Despite the fact that the bill is bipartisan, it's not guaranteed to pass and we need your help.

We, support the enactment of a statewide resolution to establish a Bill of Rights for the reproductive health of Mississippi’s women and girls as stated herein:   WHEREAS, ​Mississippi’s women and girls do not have unfettered access, without undue government interference to reproductive health care; and WHEREAS, Mississippi has unacceptably high rates of poverty, teen pregnancy, maternal and infant death, placing last or near the bottom of every positive indicator nationwide; and WHEREAS,​ Policies of abstinence only sex education, restricted access to health insurance, reduction in public benefit programs to individuals and families in need, restricted access to reproductive health, including abortion care and contraception, has created these problems with a generational cycle; and WHEREAS,​ Nearly a quarter, 24.2% of Mississippians live in poverty (highest in US), Mississippi has the 2nd highest rate of teen pregnancy in the US, the highest teen birth rate in the US, the highest rate of infant mortality in the US, the 6th highest rate of maternal death in the US, and the highest rate of STD/STIs in the US, which all hinders the educational, financial, and social advancements of Mississippi’s women and girls and therefore the entire state; and WHEREAS, Personhood initiatives and other discriminatory legislation targeted against infertility clients, doctors and facilities, prohibits embryo cryopreservation, and threatens the family planning options of those affected by infertility by misguidedly granting full citizenship or "personhood" status to an embryo; and WHEREAS,​ Mississippi’s extreme lack of ready access to affordable and convenient reproductive health care, including only 1 abortion clinic in the state, serving 84 counties with increasing governmental restrictions only exacerbates these problems; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED,​ the Mississippi State Legislature immediately implement, evidence-based, medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive sex education in every school district in the state, immediately repeal any laws causing undue restrictions to reproductive health care, including those unjustly targeting abortion providers, access to contraception, and other areas of family planning, ensure that every pregnant woman in the state of Mississippi has access to affordable pre and post-natal care regardless of status, especially income and age, public benefit programs are fully funded and accessible; and, be it FURTHER RESOLVED, that the state government will no longer unfairly target the rights of women to make their own health care decisions for themselves and their families and will simply trust women to do what is right for their individual circumstances.

Dear Councilmember: I am writing to humbly request that you vote yes on the Drivers Safety Amendment Act of 2013, so that all D.C. residents can finally receive equal, unmarked identification in the District of Columbia. D.C. should set the standard across the nation for how we treat our undocumented immigrant community. The undocumented community already lives in fear that revealing their status could result in their detention and deportation if they drive to neighboring states. The bill introduced by the Mayor would have reinforced discrimination against undocumented D.C. residents by creating a two-tier system that would unfairly label and stigmatize undocumented residents. By amending the bill, you have ensured that the District remains a leader in immigrant rights by providing equal, unmarked driver's licenses to all residents. As a true ally and champion to immigrants, I hope that you vote in favor of unmarked driver's licenses for everyone, which would truly honor and unify our community, as well as set an example for other states to follow. We are one city, and we should henceforth have one license for all. I look forward to seeing you vote in favor of ONE CITY, ONE LICENSE for all residents in the District.