We are standing together to change the lives of the abandoned, surrendered, stray, and abused dogs in our community. We demand humane treatment of the dogs at Sumter County-City Animal Control, we demand that our tax dollars are used to do more to rehome dogs rather than euthanize them, and we demand that Animal Control staff is held accountable for the lives that are in their hands. When we vote for elected officials, we will support those who support us. 1. Increase hold time for dogs. Dogs are killed after their hold time is up, regardless of whether resources exist to sustain them (six days for city, 10 days for county). Dogs should be held longer so an effort can be made to find homes for them. 2. Change the operating hours. The current hours do not allow easy access by the public, including volunteers. 3. Increase staffing. Inmates should not be allowed to "work" at Animal Control. Additional staff is necessary to maintain the facility, clean and sanitize kennels to prevent the spread of disease, care for the dogs, and assist the public. 4. Perform better building maintenance. Heating, air conditioning, and a washing machine should be installed. The property should be fenced in with separate runs to provide room for the dogs to exercise, and all kennels should be kept in working order. 5. Take monetary donations. Monetary donations should be accepted and utilized to purchase supplies for the dogs, including bedding, food and water bowls, and food.

*Congressional Reform Act of 2012* 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are 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 are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen 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. 8. All political representatives are subject to a two-term limit, same as the President of the United States. 9. Elected Congressmen and Senators will be prohibited from any future or present employment with companies who do business with the government, or lobbyists and lobbying organizations that seek to influence government.

Medical cannabis patients around the world object to the stance and view that medical cannabis has no medical value. Take a look at the hypocrisy in today's world regarding medical cannabis. The U.S. federal government claims "marijuana" (slang term—cannabis will be used from here forward) has no accepted medical value or use. Yet: 1. They have maintained the Federal IND Compassionate Use Program for a very select group of patients, and have provided medical cannabis to these individuals for over 35 years. 2. The federal government has patented the neural protectant properties of cannabis and certain cannabinoids. 3. The federal government authorized 55 grow licenses to big pharma in the summer of 2011—amidst multiple DEA raids in multiple states. 4. The federal government has maintained a five-acre garden of cannabis at the University of Mississippi since the early '60s . 5. The federal government distributes medical cannabis to a select few individuals in the nation—and does nothing to study them, or track the reports of their success. Physicians and nurses from around the world are attending the 7th National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics in Tucson, AZ, to gain continuing education credits sanctioned and approved by the American Medical Association and American Nurses Association. Millions of people have found relief with medical cannabis. Please—stop the oppression. Educate yourself, and help advance health care in America, and beyond. Signatures on this petition indicate the signer believes medical cannabis has medical value, and they wish for you to vote for and support change. Please—listen to the voters.

OPPOSE SB 2927 SD-2 Authored by Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, SB2927 would: 1) fast-track process for commercial and residential development. 2) exempt projects on state or county land from Chapter 343 environmental review. 3) exempt projects from zoning, impact fees and parking standards. 4) exempt development from school impact fees. 5) exempt development from all fees associated with land development. 6) exempt development from impact fees. 7) ignore the State's planning system by requiring the State Land Use Commission to reclassify land around transit stations or centers* as urban. 8) circumvent county general plans, development and sustainable community plans. 9) allow automatic approval of an "exceptional planning project" (we do wonder how this would be defined). 10) establish planning districts i.e. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) within a 1/2 mile radius from a county-designated rail transit station or as designated by the county to achieve density and ridership goals 1/4 mile radius from a county-designated bus transit station or center to achieve density and ridership goals. NOTE: Whether you're for or against rail, it's important to completely understand the full ramifications of #10 (above). The areas in red on the map http://www.calthorpe.com/Honolulu_TOD_Study? roughly define the enormous land areas that would be exempted by SB2927-SD2.

I propose a bold, 6-step approach to solving the economic and employment problems we’re facing now: 1) Declare a 1-year moratorium on collection of FICA (federal payroll) taxes for all employers and employees. This will, in effect, give every employer a tax break equal to 7.65% of their payroll, and every employee a 7.65% “raise.” 2) After the first year, start phasing the tax back in, as follows: Increase the tax by 2% each year (each, for employer and employee) for 4 years, while also raising the social security limit (the amount of gross annual income against which the tax is levied) by $50,000 each year. 3) After four years, abolish the social security limit, so FICA taxes are collected on all earned income (remember, it’s only 15.10% of annual income up to $110,100 now; under my proposal, after 4 years, it’ll be 16% of all earned income). 4) Somehow give strong incentive for people to invest additional funds on their own toward their retirement. 5) For five years, give a tax deduction for 100% of the interest paid on purchases of big-ticket items manufactured in the U.S. 6) Beginning in year 6 of the interest deduction, reduce this deduction by 1% per year until it disappears, leaving only the home mortgage-interest deduction. A possible seventh step might be to somehow penalize companies which outsource jobs to other countries, and reward those which insource them.

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are 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 are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen 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. ‎8. Term Limits 12 years max, some possible options are below. A. Two Six-year Senate terms B. Six Two-year House terms C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

This is one idea that really should be passed around. _*Congressional Reform Act of 2011*_ 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 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congressmen/women 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? THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!

There is a lot of nonsense going around that Buying American will hurt our economy. “Not Just a T-Shirt” Myth: Apparel – people spend approximately $631 per year on clothing Fact: Since credit card receipts are not analyzed to determine what percentage of purchases is for apparel, we can safely assume that number is much higher for those who do have revolving non-secured debt. And, children’s clothing is approximately $600 per year as well which is purchased by the parents, or family members. So, let’s settle on $600 per year, or $50 per month. One of those purchases is probably a T-shirt made in China, or Vietnam, or some other non-USA place. Out of 31,200,000 Americans, what if 10% of us bought a Made in the USA T-shirt for $15? 31,200,000 x $15 = gross $468,000,000 Yardage of material per shirt = .75 Cost of Material = $5 per yard Cost of Materials to make a shirt = $4.75 ($3.75 + notions & printing $1) $15 - $4.75 = $10.25 left over to make jobs 31,200,000 x $10.25 = $319,800,000 $319,800,000 divided by $12.50 hour (decent wage to get people above the poverty level) = 25,584,000 hours of work 25,584,000 hours of work divided by a 40 hour work week = 639,600 weeks 643,700 weeks of work divided by a year (52 weeks) = 12,300 full time jobs for a year Let me say that again: 10% of Americans buying 1 Made in the USA T-shirt = 12,300 full time jobs for a year

1) We the people have the right to vote directly in local city, county, state, and federal elections. Our votes should be counted and matter. Ex convicts have done their time and paid for their crimes and should have the right to vote. 2) Abolish the electoral college. We the people do not need an archaic electoral college to vote on our behalf. Install direct popular vote in place of this ancient practice. 3) Guarantee a Voter-Marked Paper Ballot for All Voting. Every voting system in the United States must be equipped to facilitate a permanent, visible record of every vote cast. 4) Replace Partisan Oversight with Non-Partisan Election Commissions. 5) Make Election Day a National Holiday. Working people should not be forced to choose between exercising their right to vote and getting to work on time. 6) Make it Easier to Vote. Eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and restrictions, such as voter ID laws etc; implement same-day voter registration, early and absentee voting should be available to all US citizens, to ensure equal access and minimize the wait at the polls, election authorities must allocate resources based upon the number of potential voters per precinct. 7) Modernize and Implement Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), Proportional Representation (PR), Fusion voting, and none of the above as an option on the ballots. 8) Replace Big Money Control With Public Financing and Equal Air-Time. 9) Guarantee Equal Access to the Ballot and Debates. 10) Enact Statehood for the District of Columbia.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011 : 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are 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 are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen 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. Pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election. Pass a law that says anytime Congress' approval rating drops below 10, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.