Debate questions have been submitted in advance for years. Giving them time to tweak and memorize the 'answers' isn't a debate and we need to elect someone who can think on their feet.

We need real rent reform now. For far too long, average working Americans have seen their wages stagnate while the costs of living have skyrocketed. In order to better regulate rental and real estate prices, we need legislation to protect renters from unreasonable price hikes. Additionally, those entities that do not require private housing should be excluded from investing, speculating or otherwise interfering with actual humans gaining and attaining shelter. To this end, I propose that all metropolitan areas enact rent ordinances that limit affordable housing prices to no more than 1/3 the monthly income of one person working at minimum wage for a one bedroom unit. If there is a family of at least one adult and one child, or one employeed adult and one unemployeed adult, the rental price is to be tagged at no more than 1/2 of a single income based on full-time employment at minimum wage. The number of units to be considered for these pricing regulations shall be directly proportionate to the number of individuals living below $40,000/year in each metropolitan area. For example, in one city with an overall population of 500,000 people, and population of 300,000 people earning at or below $40,000/year, the number of affordable rental units shall be no less than 300,000. Additionally, there needs to be an immediate expansion of public housing units throughout the US. We need a jobs program and the capital to provide for the entire population of Americans living at or below the poverty line with adequte housing opportunities. This means a country-wide building project in all major and minor population centers to build additional public housing units. Housing is a basic human right. It is not a commodity to be traded on the stock market.

We have a perfect storm coming at us. Looking into my rear view mirror, I've seen police close down a flooded I-95, and have learned that Sea Level impacts Maine disproportionately. Looking forward, I can see that we will sorely need trade and climate for People. TPP negotiations have just been finalized. Starting today, through COP21 and beyond, we need to envision what Climate Policy can look like without having restrictions and blinders placed on Mainers by the TPP. And why has the TPP text been kept "secret" for 5 years until Nov 5, 2015? Mainers like to see and to lead on.

Industrial-scale farms are purposely organized with large numbers of partners fraudulently claiming they are “actively managing” such farms so each partner gets government checks to enable their operations to maximize government payments in the hundreds of thousands per farm. This situation gives industrial-scale farms government-subsidized competitive advantages over family farms by enabling them to buy inputs at bulk discounts family-scale farms can never get. Essentially, the Farm Program is driving family farms out of business and causing rural poverty. Taxpayers do not want to subsidize destruction of our cherished American tradition of family farms and rural communities. U.S. Department of Agriculture proposes to "reform" the program by limiting the number of people eligible for payments per farm to eight, with a limit of $125,000 per person... for a total of one million per farm! USDA's final decision will be made soon; so we need to get our elected officials to tell USDA to allow no more than two persons per farm to collect payments now. To be delivered to legislators and President Obama on December 15th.

As you know, our democracy is in crisis. Fewer than 40% of Americans voted in our last midterm election, and our overall turnout rarely breaks 60%. That puts us at 138th out of 172 countries in voter turnout. This is unacceptable for a country founded on the bold idea of a democracy for and by the people. Instead of taking actions to make voting more accessible, some in positions of power are implementing more and more voter suppression tactics, much of which resulted from the Supreme Court’s gutting of the historic Voting Rights Act. Since that decision, nearly every state has introduced a discriminatory voter photo ID bill or cut back on early voting, same day registration and other reforms. This is all on top of our problematic voting infrastructure that leaves poor communities and communities of color stuck in prohibitively long lines at polls during every national election. I am not willing to stand-by and let this be the America I live in. That is why I am calling on you to restore democracy and make the 2016 Election Day a one-time federal holiday - and thereby give all states and businesses permission to follow your lead. This will be a concrete step towards increasing access to voting by giving busy families more time to vote while decreasing lines at the peak times before and after work. And this executive action will help shine a well-needed spotlight on poor turnout and voting access in this country. It would be a step in the right direction toward making the polling place more - not less - accessible. I urge you to lead on this issue and help us take this important step towards reclaiming the democracy we deserve. Prioritize democracy above all else for just one day. Thank you.

This petition was started because San Francisco deserves better from its public servants, especially those that serve on bodies that influence our city in such a powerful way.

Republicans have spent $4.5 million of taxpayer money on the House Select Committee on Benghazi—a committee that the Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican Rep. Richard Hanna, and a Republican committee staff member have said was convened to make Hillary Clinton look bad in an attempt to hobble her presidential campaign. Taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook for Republican smear campaigns. Sign the petition: Make the Republican National Committee reimburse taxpayers for the $4.5 million spent by the Benghazi Committee attacking Hillary Clinton.

They should free our director and free Biafra, or they will light a fire they cannot quench.

I'm tired of seeing American taxpayer get ripped off every 2 years so each candidate can live luxuriously on the campaign trail, double dipping from campaign donations and legislative salaries, while their constituencies sit idly by and do nothing about it.

I recently discovered why all the CNA's [Certified Nursing Assistants] I work with are uninformed regarding politics in this country. Many work 2-3 jobs to afford basics [food, shelter, car] and many confided that they can not afford what is called "expanded cable" [too expensive for them]. The poor are being disenfranchised. This is NOT Democracy.

Nine out of ten voters agree: big money has too much influence over our elected officials. From shadowy SuperPACs to billionares buying influence, the candidates are all complaining about the influence of money in politics -- but no one has grilled them on the solutions. After three presidential debates, no moderator has asked Democratic or Republican candidates what they'll actually do to solve the problem of money in politics. We can fix that. The moderators at the next debate will have a chance to get candidates on the record for specific reforms -- but only if they hear from enough of us.

Help keep American people safe: do not let Trump win the election because he doesn't care about America or the American people. America is not just one race; it's every race coming together to build a nation. Whites aren't the ones who own this country. This country was built by the Native American people so if were saying that all the races should go back, then we're saying Trump needs to go back to his own country, too. See? What he's doing is very wrong and he doesn't deserve to be president because he doesn't care about our country or the American people.