To not vote this bill out of the Criminal Justice Committee to begin the process of House Bill 22 (Expansion of Obstruction of Justice) becoming law.

Redistricting occurs approximately every 10 years, after the U.S. Census. The purpose is to adjust congressional, legislative, and other districts based on population, while ensuring certain requirements of the Voting Rights Act are met. When redistricting is a partisan process, problems occur. The party in power uses its power to draw districts that weaken the other party. This is called gerrymandering. The one-hour documentary How Elections are Rigged by Snag Films describes the problem in depth and can be found on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-285T7Pdp58&t=463s Both the Democrats and the Republicans have been guilty of gerrymandering. Presidents from both parties – including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Barack Obama -- have spoken out against gerrymandering and urged for a non-partisan process in redistricting (see the youtube video). One way to achieve that goal is through an independent, non-partisan redistricting commission. As of this writing, 13 states exclusively use redistricting commissions to draw electoral district lines. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redistricting_commission Texas is not one of those states. Instead, the Texas Legislature draws district boundaries. If it fails to do so, the Legislative Redistricting Board (LRB) will draw the legislative (but not congressional) districts. That Board is comprised of five partisan officeholders: the lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, attorney general, comptroller, and commissioner of the general land office. Texas’ redistricting process has been the subject of federal litigation for years. See Perez v. Perry; Evenwel v. Abbott; and Davis v. Perry. These lawsuits have cost Texas taxpayers in excess of $5 million. Multiple attempts to create an independent redistricting commission in Texas have failed. Republican Jeff Wentworth (San Antonio) sponsored bills in 2005, 2009 and 2011. In 2015, Democrats Rafael Anchia (Dallas) and Donna Howard (Austin) sponsored bills. Howard is sponsoring a bill now in the 2017 Legislature. HJR 32 would create an Independent Redistricting Commission and give Texas citizens the opportunity to vote on an amendment to the Texas Constitution to permit the Commission. In addition, Democrat Royce West is sponsoring SB 209, which would create an Independent Redistricting Commission for congressional districts but not legislative districts. That bill has been referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee. This petition urges the Texas House Committee on Redistricting and the Senate State Affairs Committee to hold public hearings on HJR 32 and SB 209, and to vote both bills out of committee so that the full Legislature can consider them. At a bare minimum, all of our representatives should have a say in whether this proposal goes to the Texas voters. Texas these days is considered a purple state -- in recent elections, its cities have gone blue while its rural areas remain red. Because of this, this is an ideal time to seek an independent redistricting commission, as both parties will benefit from it. The San Antonio Express-News supported the proposal in 2015: http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/editorials/article/A-Texas-way-revealed-on-redistricting-6377717.php The Texas League of Women Votes supports the idea: http://www.lwvtexas.org/Redistricting.html The National Organization for Women (NOW) supports the idea: http://now.org/resource/issue-advisory-restoring-democracy-court-ruling-approves-independent-commissions-to-counter-gerrymandering/ The New York Times found that independently-drawn districts are more competitive: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/02/upshot/independently-drawn-districts-have-proved-to-be-more-competitive.html?ref=politics&abt=0002&abg=1&_r=0 Common Ground for Texans supports drawing districts without partisan gerrymandering: http://cg4tx.org/about/vision-mission-statement/ Texas Common Cause supports redistricting reform: http://www.commoncause.org/states/texas/?referrer=https://www.google.com/?referrer=http://www.commoncause.org/states/texas/ The Brennan Center for Justice supports reforming the redistricting process so that it is independent, transparent, and ensures that communities are fully and fairly represented in Congress and the nation’s legislative bodies: http://www.brennancenter.org/issues/redistricting

In 1776, representatives of the residents in thirteen North American colonies adopted a Declaration of Independence that set forth the philosophical principles behind their recent and future actions, their grievances against King George III of Great Britain, and the redress they sought. Among other things, that Declaration made note of the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The writer of the Declaration substituted “pursuit of happiness” for “property” found in earlier formulations of those three inherent rights. After struggle, victory, and peace, representatives of the citizens of the thirteen sovereign, independent states established from initial trial and error, through debate and consensus a new form of government of, by, and for the people. That government has withstood invasion, wars of expansion, defense, principle, ideology and questionable motive, economic transformations, immigration of individuals from every part of the world, cultural awakenings, social unrest and political corruption, assassinations, and a great conflagration that soaked this country’s fields with blood from self-inflicted wounds and tore the fabric of a shared civic culture. That government has evolved as its creators intended to meet new challenges and provided infrastructure, regulations, and services as the need arose. That government remains a beacon of hope for all human beings seeking democratic, representative, responsible, humane, and limited rule over their affairs. Today, many citizens of the United States of America fear their government has become a creature of the wealthy, the corporations from which the wealthy derive their resources, and the politicians driven to act in the interests of those corporations due to their need for funds to fuel their endless campaigns to stay in office. Some of those citizens have made their concerns known by occupying parks, streets, and public areas in the cities and other localities of this country. They call upon the one percent that wields power through wealth and elected office to return the government, its policies, laws, regulations, and justice to the ninety-nine percent that have the capacity to fuel the economy, generate jobs, mobilize society, and move forward but are starved of the resources to do so. They seek change. As the colonial representatives knew two hundred thirty-five years ago, great change must be founded on rational principles soundly developed from evidence, facts, and natural law. Such are the times now that some choose to twist, dissect or profane the principles supporting change out of fear, ignorance, or self-interest. Nonetheless, the foundations for change are present for all to see. The evidence is clear. We truly are created equal, endowed with certain rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We all require and are entitled to consistent shelter, social and familial companionship, wellness and good health, education to our potential, full and complete nourishment, adequate clothing, employment of our skills and knowledge, and safety from harm. We build communities, support our brothers and sisters regardless of skin color, religion, ability, condition, sex, attribute, or characteristic, and treat one another with respect and dignity. We are a diverse nation. The citizens of the United States of America have found their government and political discourse in their country at an impasse. They have reacted in frustration, fear, apprehension, and sadness to the growing sense that their great nation has taken an unproductive and dangerous path. Witness the facts: • the wealthy have steadily increased their share of the nation’s wealth at the expense of the poor and middle classes; • politicians have pledged to enact no taxes despite the necessity for revenues to meet the needs of the people and revitalize our nation’s infrastructure; • corporations have been deemed persons with political rights, allowing these corporations to support candidates and political causes financially, thereby drowning out the voices of voters; • elected officials have engaged the nation in lengthy, unwarranted wars that have sapped the economy, killed and harmed tens of thousands of people, and invoked ill feelings abroad; • legislators and governors have used the narrow tenets of religious minorities as the basis for laws that restrict the exercise of fundamental human rights in order to maintain political support; • politicians have set out arbitrary and selfish requirements prior to debates on issues that require negotiation and consensus; • companies, business groups, and single-issue interests have used their resources to influence and shape legislation and regulations for their benefit, squeezing out the common good; • representatives have conducted inquiries and provided earmarked funds for their own self-promotion; • laws have been passed to address issues that do not actually exist and other laws...

The ink wasn't dry on the Constitution when the imagined nobility of a Machiavellian mentality and hereditary privilege began on-going sabotage of our constitutionally mandated "Republican Form of government." "Would you believe it possible that in this country there should be high & important characters [Corporatecrafters united with Christiancrafters] who need your lessons in republicanism, & who do not heed them? It is but too true that we have a sect preaching up & pouting after an English constitution of king, lords, & commons, & whose heads are itching for crowns, coronets & mitres. But our people, my good friend, are firm and unanimous in their principles of republicanism & there is no better proof of it than that they love what you write and read it [Rights of Man] with delight." -- Thomas Jefferson Letter of June 19, 1792 to Thomas Paine. After inspiring the American Revolution via "Common Sense" Paine closed his argument for armed conflict with "Four Letters On Interesting Subjects" written between May 22 and July 2, 1776 just prior to the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. At the close of Letter III Paine wrote: "As to Corporations themselves, they are without exception so many badges of kingly tyranny, and tend like every other species of useless pomp, to the oppression and impoverishment of the place, without one single advantage arising from them. They keep up a perpetual spirit of distinction and faction, engross emoluments and advantages to themselves, which ought to be employed to better purposes, and generally get into quarrels and lawsuits with the other part of the inhabitants. They diminish the freedom of every place where they exist.... But of all Corporations that of Philadelphia is the most obnoxious, its power resembling that of an hermaphrodite, or is at least a kind of aristocratical Corporation made hereditary by adoption"[ and "person" via Supreme legal fiction]. Jefferson observed that "virtue and interest are inseparable. It ends, as might have been expected, in the ruin of its people, but this ruin will fall heaviest, as it ought to fall, on that hereditary aristocracy which has for generations been preparing for the catastrophe. I hope we shall take warning from the example and crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." -- Jefferson Letter of November 12, 1816 to George Logan. "If the concentered powers of this combination are entrusted to a single man, it is a kingly prerogative, inconsistent with our form of government, and should be subject to the strong resistance of the State and National authorities. If anything is wrong this is wrong. If we will not endure a king as a political power we should not endure a king over the production, transportation, and sale of any of the necessaries of life. If we would not submit to an emperor we should not submit to an autocrat of trade, with power to prevent competition and to fix the price of any commodity." -- Senator John Sherman, 1890 Session of U.S. Congress, (21 Cong. Record 2457), cited from The Court Years, p.156 and authored by Justice William O. Douglas. "Corruption dominates the ballot-box, the Legislatures, the Congress and touches even the ermine of the bench. The fruits of the toil of millions are boldly stolen to build up colossal fortunes for a few, unprecedented in the history of mankind, and the possessors of these in turn despise the Republic and endanger liberty." -- Populist Party of 1892. "A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car, but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad." "These economic royalists [of Corporatecraft] complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. These economic royalists are unanimous in their hate for me---and I welcome their hatred." "We know that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob....I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master." -- President Franklin Delano Roosevelt WE THE PEOPLE must take the Corporate monster by its pointed tail and end its endless pilfering from the U.S. Treasury via legislative and judicial legal fiction. WE must demand that the fair tax rate of 92% imposed on the Corporations in the 1950s be imposed today and be an on-going rate forevermore. No more welfare checks in any form for the multi-millionaire and billionaire, especially in the form of tax breaks. Once our constitutional Republic is cleansed of all cancerous corruptive forces it will flourish under the true egalitarian and economic system as intended by the Founders...

To Move On For now this is the best I can do I not have a staff or resourses Bobby Cather (336) 223-6081 google voice or sms email [email protected] This does not have to be my idea it is yours and the People of this Country who still know Democracy but it must happen fast I do not have the funds, Get Melissa Gates , Warren Buffet, Robert Reich and other of Wealth and Knowledge I am just a hick who’s ancestors help found this country, they were Irish Immigrants The Bridge not Wall to Freedom and Democracy and the Foundation of the US I have donated for over 40 years both time and walking precincts . I actually began in the late 60s and marched for Peace, Sandinista issues around Archbishop Romero and his prayer is one of my foundations, marched in Civil Rights issues in the South, stood in the trenches against Vietnam War, was active in California Politics where I worked as staff for the Senate my roll was much deeper than that, Even though the job title said one thing much went on behind the scenes to affect change. George Moscone was my best friend when he was a state senator and after when he became Mayor, I was friends with Jesse Unruh, Willie Brown, Cory and many other members as well as many news media reporters. My take now is an organized March to the border to greet our neighbor immigrants, with sponsors like churches Franciscan for example, but all who believe in the principles of Democracy. Our troops will not fire on them or American Citizens. This is also a chance for the youth of today to participate in a March like we had in the past. It is similar to MLK and the Edmund Pettus Bridge it is a way to welcome them to Democracy and put the plaque of the Statue of Liberty in Trump's face. As Jerry Brown of California said bridges not walls. Remember even Reagan gave amnesty please help to organize this. It is bigger than the Hispanic issue it is about Democracy and our Country , build bridges not walls. Take some of the money you have and organize this . Bring in President Obama, Michelle, and Folks like Neil Young, Willie Nelson , Kris Kristofferson, and so many others Unite Unite an quickly this can become a Unified focal point for Democracy. Invite and educate even the troops Under article 90 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice it is their duty to disobey an illegal order. This is not an invasion and with Civil Rights and Disobedience we not only win the elections but change the attitude of some American People who have been Hitlerized for the lack of words. I spent a lot of time writing this to you. Mine name is Bobby Cather our founding fathers were at Cornwallis surrender as well as the surrender of Lee. My family has paid for Democracy like yours and many others in blood. But the Goal is Peace we have a opportunity to work together and turn the tide of ignorance of Trump's, McConnell,Ryan, Grassley and all these mongers of hate. I doubt you will call me 916 505 7348 or my email you have [email protected] . I implore you to to act fast make this happen in a way of some secrecy that it is upon them before it's too late. We can support and supply food, water, medical, and the Spirit of Freedom and Democracy as well as the UN. My Kind Regards [email protected]. Bobby Cather . I have one thing to say on this it's NIKE Time please just do it. This could be promoted in way almost like Farm Aid but a Bridge to Freedom and Change Greet the Caravan With food, water, shelters, medical, and welcome to the US on the principles of this country and Democracy found Even on the Statue of Liberty Have President Obama Promote and Participate, Michelle Obama, Carlos Santana, Musician and Singers in concert for the Caravan to greet them, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Sean Penn Celebrities Like Alec Baldwin, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Keith Olbermann,Rachel Maddow,Lawrence O Donnell. Chis Mathews, Brian Williams, Bring the Country together against the tyranny that is happening and division, Make this an event sponsored by Franciscan Churches,Jewish Churcher, Protestant Groups like the Foundation for Excellence, Steve McSwain, Even the Dalai Lama,Sports Stars and Invite the troops of the National Guard in a Spirit of Inclusiveness , Remember it is their duty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 90 to disobey and illegal order. Have Senators and Legislators who support those people coming to go down to greet them in the Spirit of the United Nations it is Part of Article Six of Our Constitution, Have resolutions of support in the State Legislatures, I know California will be on board as well As Jerry Brown

Climate change is the defining issue of our time. Our youth are rightly taking to the streets to demand we ensure a liveable planet. The DNC doesn't have any formal or informal group addressing environmental and climate crisis issues. And we need one. At its August meeting, the DNC can take this crucial first step, and approve this Resolution to establish its first Environmental and Climate Crisis Council.

Indiana Governor Indiana Senate Indiana State House It is understood that while marijuana has been essentially illegal since 1937, the prohibition of this plant has not worked. There have been studies done that prove it has medical uses, if it didn't then the synthetic drug Marinol would not exist. It has also been proven that in recreational use it does less harm than alcohol. Please look at how much our government spends on trying to fight something that is of no threat to our society. Realize how many other ways that money could be spent to make this a stronger country. Also, look into how much more money the country would make through taxation, as it does with alcohol and tobacco. Don't be afraid to stand up and say this to your fellow politicians. We the people, your constituents, are asking you to do this for us and for our State/state Sincerely,

There is this petition on some other sites as well. Part of this is sharing thoughts with politicians. It helps when signing the petition to put in comments.

All legalizations and uses of the plant Cannabis.

We request that the Posse Foundation shifts its social, political, and economic resources to create a national Posse Peace Program.