As many of you know, most federal subsidies go to factory farms and not small scale agriculture. If we equaled the amount between small scale and large scale agriculture, a much larger percentage of people would have access to healthier and better tasting food, a great deal more jobs would be created at the rural and urban levels, and our economy would keep more of its money at home, instead of other countries around the world.

After WWII veterans were capable of buying a house with no down payment and low interest. We have a terrible problem with so many foreclosed houses and abandoned housing stock which is killing the real estate industry until the backlog is resolved. Make them available to veterans based upon present values,write off the deficit, provide fix up funds and a VA no down payment mortgage. We help the veterans for all they have done and you will create new jobs and jump start the economy and the real estate industry.

There are still too many people underwater on their mortgages and contrary to government belief the Home save program isn't working for everyone. In fact a lot less people are getting home modifications than you think. They are being harrassed by the lenders and threatened. Freddie Mac among the worst! The bailouts were given, but they haven't responded with lowering the principals on the homes to what they are worth today. They should be forced to do this with a lower that normal fixed interest rate.

If someone has been unemployed for 2-3 years through no fault of their own, lost their home due to the crash, or has had a devastating medical issue in their family, their credit report reflects this. When they go to apply for a better job or any job in order to get back on their feet, they may be rejected because of the credit report. This is ridiculous for 99% of job applicants as they can never get out of the trap, and they don't get considered for a job. It also gives the employer an unfair advantage when determining the situation of the person they are going to hire. It should be a privacy issue, just like information about your marital status. This is true for government jobs and many others. Congress should create a law barring employers from running credit checks on most job applicants except where there is a clear and compelling reason to. Frankly, I can't think of many positions where there is a clear and compelling reason. I think this is simply a punitive mechanism that prevents people from recovering economically , a barrier based on the prejudices of those who apparently have never had an economic hardship, and a lack of understanding that a vast majority of financial difficulties arise through no fault of the sufferer--loss of job, medical issues, and the like. It is best for our economy to allow everyone access to jobs, regardless of whether they have been harmed by the economy or not. Using credit checks is a privacy violation and discourages job seekers by sending them into a spiral they can't see their way out of. It should be abolished.

There are more than150,000 Chinese students enrolled in American Universities. More than 80% are graduate students and most of them have their tuition and living expenses paid for by federal taxpayer funded grants. These students are learning economic and military technologies that they take back to China and set up businesses to compete with American businesses and to modernize their military. American professors have gone to China to lecture on anti-satellite weapons, cruise missile guidance systems, ballistic missile nose cone technology and many other military and dual use technologies. If we stop subsidizing these students through taxpayer funded grants we will create more of an incentive to recruit American graduate students in engineering and science.

Lenders/Servicers/Investors should be required to set upright the mortgages of homeowners who live in their home as their principal residence and whose mortgage is upside down (owe more than the value of the home). The homeowner would then not be allowed to remove any equity (as it accumulates) for a period of about 10 to 15 years.

2012 IS OUR YEAR TO DEFEAT THE RIGHT WING EVIL AND THIER WICKED INTOLERANCE THEY HAVE NO INTENTIONS OR A CLUE HOW TO IMPROVE OUR ECONOMY WHILE THEY SPIT OUT MEANINGLESS RHETORIC PRESIDENT OBAMA TALKS TO WORLD LEADERS AND CONTINUES TO IMPROVE OUR SITUATIONS THEY BLOCKED HIM BY DESIGN SO LETS THROW THEM OUT THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE 2012!

Many people have been ravaged by the economic downturn, and, as a result, have lost jobs, houses, etc. With these losses come credit problems. Many companies, as a means of discrimination, are requiring credit reports on job applicants lessening their chances of getting jobs and being able to get back on their feet and provide for their families.

Many people are loosing their homes, still! Either they see no hope of recoverying the cost of their homes due to dramatic home devaluations or they have no means of covering the mortgage payments due to loss of jobs or having to take lower paying jobs. Instead of allowing foreclosure as the only means to address this, Banks should step up to address this properly. Additionally, if done properly, this would put more money in the hands of people to further help stimulate the economy and NOT increase the deficit.

The chronic issue with Social Security is that Congress has "borrowed" funds from the Social Security Trust Fund for use for non-social security purposes. It's time Congress paid those funds back.

The banks and mortgage companies were bailed out. Now, they are not helping regular Americans who need a break. This petition is calling on banks and mortgage companies to begin in earnest to help the millions of Americans who are underwater in their mortgages, to readjust or refinance home mortgages.

Those dealing with our deficit, Social Security, and ways to reduce taxes are the same people (Senate) receive a life time retirement no matter how many terms they serve. Also, there are groups that do not have to pay into Social Security. These are the individuals who vote on how much they will receive for a raise and write a law that makes it okay for them to invest with prior stock market info. which is illegal for the American citizen. Campaign money had led to more corruption in government than ever. Supreme Court should change decision and have all campaign money go into one fund that is divided up equally.