Video: Signed petitions are delivered to the US Department of Justice concerning US Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas

Uploaded to YouTube.com by CommonCauseEthics on Mar 22, 2011:

 

Common Cause delivered more than 32,000 petitions to the Department of Justice on March 22 calling for a Justice Department investigation of US Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. We want to know whether Scalia and Thomas should have recused themselves from the Citizens United case because of their participation in secret political strategy meetings with Koch Industries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62-KHOI9OxA

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Official GoPetition Blog: A Petition: Calls for Constitutional Reform Escalate in the USA

"What has become clear in the United States is that there is widespread discontent, if not anger, with the current status quo. Budget deficits, fiscal madness, bailout after bailout after bailout, and a never ending printing press at the Federal Reserve as Ben Bernanke seeks to devalue, if not debase, the once mighty US dollar.Not surprisingly, many have called for an end to the Federal Reserve, a return to the gold standard, a return to balanced budgets, and the end of self-serving fiscal theft by politicians and their crony supporters and interest groups.Perhaps in response, a 28th Amendment Petition was released on Presidents' Day February 21st, 2011. It was published as an online petition at www.gopetition.com/petitions/28th.html and simultaneously released as a spoken musical performance by We the People Folk Group atwww.youtube.com/wethepeoplefolkgroup."

The entire article, with commenting, is at http://blog.gopetition.com/calls-for-constitutional-reform-escalate-in-t 

Again, you can sign the petition, at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/28th.html.

Remember, "voter turnout and activism means spreading the word!"

Ask your congress members to double public transportation funding in transportation bill

U.S. PIRG state affiliates are running an online petition to improve our nation's transportation system. It asks our congress members to double the portion invested in public transportation in the new, six-year transportation bill.

Folks are already responding to higher gas costs by using more public transportation where it is available. In fact, people drove less last year -- for the first time in more than 20 years -- and transit ridership is at a 50-year high.

All activists can go to TXPIRG's petition and sign on as supporters of public transportation. Thank you

Tell your two US Senators you support foreign lobbying disclosure by signing the online petition

Public Campaign is asking us to sign an online petition supporting the Schumer-McCaskill legislation- it closes the foreign lobbying loophole. Some lobbyists who influence U.S. officials on behalf of foreign elected officials do not have to disclose these relationships, or how much they're paid. Domestic lobbying has disclosure requirements.

Tell your US Senators you support closing the foreign lobbying loophole- Schumer-McCaskill, also known as S.3123. Go right now to Public Campaign's petition and sign on to this campaign. Thank you

Sign the petition for National Popular Vote to replace the Electoral College in electing our president

Common Cause is running a petition drive to ask our states' legislators to support the National Popular Vote. It is a change from the current Electoral College system for electing our president. It guarantees the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Four times in our history, (most recently in 2000) the Electoral College has sent a second-place candidate to the White House. This almost happened again in 2004 and some pollsters are already predicting it could happen again in 2008.

So far, four states have adopted the NPV plan (Maryland, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Illinois) and it has passed through at least one legislative body in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Please sign the Common Cause petition now, to tell your own state legislators that you support the National Popular Vote as a way to elect our president.

Thank you

Sign petition and send your child's picture to Congress for a strong, safe toy bill

U.S. PIRG is leading a campaign to bring a toy safety bill that has passed both houses of congress to the next step, a joint conference. Very good provisions are included in both the US House (bill H.R.4040) and Senate (bill S.2045) versions; we need to see that Congress passes a final bill that gives the president the best features from both.

This campaign features both a citizens' petition, and a photo collage of our own children that we can upload to the campaign webpage. Please go to U.S. PIRG's toy safety campaign webpage now; here is the text of the petition:

Here’s a picture of my child. Congress should give him/her and millions of
other children the strongest protection possible from dangerous toys. We urge
you to take the strongest parts of both the House and Senate CPSC reform bills
as you prepare a final law for the President’s signature before Father’s Day.
Any final law should protect children up to 12 years old, as the House bill
would provide. It should require third-party testing for hazards of all consumer
products, including toys, as the Senate bill would provide. It should ban toxic
lead at the lowest level possible and include the Senate’s provision banning
toxic phthalate chemicals. On other provisions, children deserve the best of
both bills.

Thank you

Sign the online petition to tell presidential candidate John McCain to fire three lobbyist staff members

Public Campaign Action Fund has begun the "Fire the Lobbyists!" online petition campaign. Two of US Senator and presidential candidate John McCain's (R) staff recently resigned because it was revealed that they were lobbyists for the military junta in Myanmar. Still, there remains three more lobbyists on McCain's presidential campaign staff that worked for foreign governments or interests that offend American values and human rights.

Please sign the petition at http://www.firethelobbyists.com/ now, to tell Sen. McCain to fire these three remaining lobbyists! These people, and the associations they bring, have no place in a presidential campaign. Thank you

Sign the Public Campaign petition against special interest deals

Public Campaign Action Fund has a petition to the U.S. Congress leadership, asking them to take control of the special interest bill requests from Bush donors. President Bush rode into the White House in the elections of 2000 and 2004 on a wave of large corporate campaign contributions, and now they are asking for preferential benefits in return. Our president, however, is for we, the people, not special interests. If you agree and would like to sign the petition, please go here. Here's more info from the petitioner, PCAF:

Stop Bush's Holiday Giveaways
The New York Times reported that lobbyists for big corporations were “racing to secure final approval for a wide range of health, safety, labor and economic rules, in the belief that they can get better deals from the Bush administration than from its successor.” The industries seeking these changes are big donors to Bush’s elections in 2000 and 2004. Congressional leaders ought to do everything in their power to stop these disastrous changes that hurt the environment, public health, workers, and consumer safety.

Sign the VotersUnite.Org petition for better voting machines

VotersUnite.Org, a non-partisan promoter of fair and accurate elections, has a petition we can send to Congress concerning many of our election machines. We have developed a lack of trustworthiness in many of the new polling machines that have been installed in recent years. If you agree, please take action here. Here's what VotersUnite.Org has to say:

Take Action. It's time to call for accountability in the machinery of our
electoral system. Please sign the petition in support of VoterAction's call for
Congressional investigations into blatant and destructive commercial fraud in
the electronic voting machine industry.

From Fresh Start for Democracy: please sign the petition to presidential candidates!

Common Cause is starting its Fresh Start for Democracy project, by asking us to sign their petition to all of the presidential candidates. It is a commitment to democratic reform. If you agree, please take action and sign the petition here. This is Common Cause's message:

Dear _,
In 2008, we've got a fundamental choice to make: Will we settle for modest change and incremental gains? Or will we demand the broad, all-encompassing fresh start for democracy that our country so urgently needs?
Sign our Fresh Start for Democracy petition today! Let's make it clear that we won't settle for anything less thana vibrant revival of American democracy.
As it should be in a democracy, it's up to us. We are the leaders we've been waiting for. I urge you to join Common Cause in an all-out effort to reclaim the full promise of our democracy. We’ll start by delivering a petition -- signed by thousands of activists like you -- to all 2008 presidential candidates on January 1st, urging them to commit themselves to a Fresh Start for Democracy.
Sign our Fresh Start for Democracy petition today! We need genuine leadership from candidates ready, willing and able to address the fundamental, "can't wait" problems that America faces in 2008. To make it concrete and actionable, Common Cause is demanding:
* Ethical, open government without lies and abuses of power distorting it.
* A full, spirited, fact-based-debate on issues like health care and global warming without special interests driving it.
* An accurate and secure election process without fraud and unjust legal barriers undermining it.
* A robust national conversation about our future without Big Media stifling it.
Please sign our Fresh Start for Democracy petition today! Together, we can make sure presidential candidates know that there is a powerful popular outcry for the deep-seated changes we're calling for.
I am certainly ready for renewal, to say the least, and definitely up for the challenge. Are you? Thanks for all you do,
Bob Edgar
President, Common Cause

Sign the 100,000 Strong petition for federal earmark reform

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint is running an internet blogging campaign for earmark reform. Earmarks over several year's time, as they are dropped into appropriations bills, cost in the billions of dollars. These are mostly local-interest projects out of the jurisdiction of the federal government. Even with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the already bloated national debt, individual Congressmen are wasting millions of dollars per year. Take action below and tell Washington, DC enough is enough.

Support the Alaska Clean Elections Act

The Public Campaign Action Fund is running a petition drive to bring full public financing to state races in Alaska. And with several legislators now indicted for ethics violations, now is a great time to promote clean elections.

Accusations and guilty pleas of political corruption have been running high in Alaska. Four current and former legislators have been indicted on corruption and bribery charges while two corporate executives and a lobbyist have pled guilty to the same.

Alaska's elections should be about voters and not special interest donors--both honest and dishonest ones. Support Clean Elections campaign reform. Sign our petition below and tell others so we can build our base and make our elections about voters and volunteers instead of dollars and donors.

Alaska Clean Elections Act petition.