The American people are still suffering from the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. With their lucrative, risky gambling, big banks may trigger another crisis requiring a taxpayer bailout to save the economy from total disaster.

Everyone uses hot water for bathing, cleaning, etc, yet less than 1% of homeowners use solar energy to heat that water. This low participation is costing 80 million homeowners about $43 billion each year. This petition is to our federal lawmakers to provide a 20 year loan to any willing homeowner to purchase a solar water heating system with no up-front money required. The savings would be double the loan payment. In other words homeowners make money even during the payback period. Based on 60 million homeowners and 5 hours of sunshine per day, some of the benefits include creating a million jobs, save homeowners over 1/4 electric bill, lower coal consumption by 1/8 US yearly output, reduce CO2 pollution equal to removing 25 million cars, offset 120 power plants of 250 megawatts each. This will start a culture of real solar energy use as our economics and environment demand.

In 1999 I ran for city council in Indianapolis with a friend who was running for mayor. A principal plank in the platform was to have the city of Indianapolis enact an ordinance requiring the city-county governments to pay living wages to all its employees. Although our party (which we called Our Party) was not elected, we were effective in raising awareness of the issue in Indianapolis and the successful candidate for mayor did raise city workers' wages as much as $4,000.00 a year for some employees and later raised county workers pay and equal amount.

Seeking to extend Debt and Tax Forgiveness legislation to help protect homeowners attempting to modify or settle on existing home loans or through the Short sale or foreclosure processes. Many of these protections, both Federal and State are set to expire at the end of 2012. Allowing this to happen with only extend the recession and keep the Real Estate market deflated and stagnant. There are an enormous number of people in this country who are still caught up in underwater properties and our economic recession will not improve until something more is done and allowing these to expire will most certainly have a negative affect on any recovery. This legislation makes it more feasible for homeowners facing tough decisions to attempt to work with lenders to find acceptable terms and protects the homeowner from unfair and often unknown tax liabilities when trying to better their economic situation caused by the Real Estate collapse. My wife and I own a severely underwater property in Ventura, California and are seeking to modify our loans or possibly obtain a Principal Reduction on the first and/or a settlement on the Second so we can stay in the home we love. I was laid off from a job in the Architectural community almost three years ago so my income dropped by roughly 75% and we have been struggling to make or mortgage payments ever since then. If we are able to get a principle reduction (after 2012) we will face a Tax liability from the Government (in the form of a 1099) which seems like adding insult to injury as we have been so negatively affected by the role the banks played in this collapse and our household income was so drastically reduced. We are left with few options other than short sale or foreclosure, however if the Legislation is not extended we face the ominous threat of a civil action to attempt to collect after that process as well. It is nearly a no win situation for homeowners like us if we allow these protections to expire. Everyone who owns a property is affected if we allow this trend to continue. The Real Estate market affects the entire economy, regardless of if you are underwater on a property or not; this affects your homes value.

It amazes me that our own government would sign free trade pacts with countries that do not have the same standard of living, epa regulations, and worker safety standards as the United States. There is no possible way that we as workers can compete with countries that pay such small wages.This only promotes our manufacturers to go where they do not have to pay a fair wage for a days work. These pacts were supposed to bring up the standard of living in the countries we signed them with but the opposite is happening.

In the health care field, it is common practice for workers to have to pass drug tests, criminal background tests, and get DCFS clearance. However, in the past several years, many companies, including most major hospitals, have added credit checks to the application process. This forces many otherwise qualified candidates out of their chosen field, and into working for less wages with fewer or no benefits. This practice needs to end now. Making gainful employment only accessible if one can pass a credit check is only helping to force individuals and families into poverty. Please sign my petition to make our state and national leaders aware of this policy.

The economic storms of recent years have raised concerns about growing inequality and questions about a core national faith, that even Americans of humble backgrounds have a good chance of getting ahead. Most of the discussion has focused on labor market forces like falling blue-collar wages and lavish Wall Street pay. But striking changes in family structure have also broadened income gaps and posed new barriers to upward mobility. If you or your children have been adversely affected in pursuing the American Dream, let your voice be heard in the election box and through this petition.

Only to the degree that I and the rest of America does not know what Gov. Romney did with his income taxes for the past 12 years.

It's about the practice of writing in fine print important details on any form of commercial advertisement or written contract, whether it be at an advantage or disadvantage to the assignees, that binds the parties and defines the legitimacy of an offer or contract. This is intended to stop practices designed to deceive and/or conceal the content, merely because it its hard to read. This is about outlawing any said practices or contracts to be illegal if it has fine print. Now, wouldn't that be something!

It's about the practice of writing in fine print important details on any form of commercial advertisement or written contract, whether it be at an advantage or disadvantage to the assignees, that binds the parties and defines the legitimacy of an offer or contract. This is intended to stop practices designed to deceive and/or conceal the content, merely because it its hard to read. This is about outlawing any said practices or contracts to be legal if it has fine print. Now, wouldn't that be something!

I pay property taxes for a mobile home purchased in 2004 for $69,000 and was denied General Relief help when I had lost my income. If the mobile home is not worth $50,000+ it is considered "personal property" which makes me ineligible. Yet property taxes are still billed for it? Finally granted S.S.I. of I $854.40 then due to an alleged utility charge error from some prior month I was billed over $900. for rent/utilities for the month of March.

Each time a cashier is replaced with a self-checkout lane, a job is lost. Supermarkets, Big Box stores, and retail chains like Home Depot are replacing American workers with self-service checkout machines. The profits continue up the chain to the CEO and jobs that could be given to students or part-time workers are forever lost.