Big money is buying our elections and the running of our country. It should be against the law to spend ANY money on running for public office. We, the government should allot a finite amount of equal time, donated by the media, to be spent on explaining stances on issues and could not be used to talk about opponents, for each candidate that had a determined number of potential supporters signing a petiton to run.

Members of Congress will get more lucrative pensions than new federal employees under a little-known provision in the bill that extends payroll tax relief and unemployment insurance. Congressmen will retain a luxurious benefit that lets them retire years earlier than federal workers, without any reduction in their pension. They will be able to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service without the significant penalty most federal employees receive for retiring early. Federal employees’ pension will be reduced by 50 percent for retiring early while the congressman will be able to retire years earlier and start receiving their full pension immediately.

We can save the taxpayers $27K by releasing this 1 man this year. Steven was a Recovered alcoholic/addict and helped others to find Recovery - saved the taxpayers money by assisting at least 1 chronic prisoner to never return to jail/prison. 1 beer in Cabo sent him into a relapse - addiction took him back and he was arrested for possession of methamphetamine. (Residue on a spoon) Even the supervising Parole Agent spoke in court on Mr. HIrata's behalf (she would not have done so if this man had no mitigating history) to Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge James Brown) Margo Krystan state parole (retired) requesting that the 3rd Strike Sentence NOT be imposed. But after numerous positive character references and sworn statements/testimonies, the judge slammed Steven with 41 years to Life in Prison. Now is the time to speak up 1 by one to help our state to reduce expenses. Steven Louis Hirata P-26934 Pleasant Valley State Prison FAC B1-122 Low PO Box 8502 Coalinga, CA 93210

The cap on earnings for people who draw social security before normal retirement age, when congress is crying that the program is going broke.

In 2012, we have seen record lows of voter registration and engagement across most states. A Saturday Voting Day--Nationwide--would help to ensure that more people can have access to carpooling, GOTV campaigns, and more. This would also help awareness and almost eliminate the lack of appeal to leave work to vote.

I'm tired of the influence Wall Street and the Banks have on the White House and Public Policy. There is a conflict of interest, and many of the executives should be tried and imprisoned for theft and wrong doing.

The state of Oregon has been voting by mail for over a decade. Participation is about 80% compared with turnouts as low as 10 - 15% in regular elections in other states. The cost savings to communities is around 35% when voting by mail. The huge volume of mail from all elections in all states by adopting Vote By Mail would offset the loss of business to the Post Office by electronic mail.

A large number of Congressional Republicans have signed an oath not to ever raise taxes for any reason. This oath has hamstrung our Congress from effectively dealing with the financial crisis that our nation faces -- there are a number of very reasonable revenue raising ideas that go nowhere because of this pledge. No matter what proposals come from Democrats, they are immediately rejected because Republicans can only support budget cuts, which is the primary reason that our Congress remains deadlocked on just about every issue.

special interest groups are running the country. They are paying off our politicians so they can afford their costly ad campaganes. Should the canadate with the best add company win the election? Or should they win based on their views and beliefs. Lets replace the obnoxious and offensive adds with a series of debates and allow each canadate equal air time.

Garrett County Maryland is only one of hundreds of Counties across our Nation that is considered an Orphan County by the Federal Communication Commission. As an Orphan County, we do not have the opportunity to view Television Stations from our own State. Thousands of Garrett County residents would like to see local news and sports from the Washington DC and Baltimore MD area but because of the FCC rules, we cannot. Please help us by signing this petition and If you also are in an orphan county, you too should sign this petition.

The Postmaster General has spent the last few years telling congress and America that the postal service is losing billions of dollars. He has asked for sacrifices from his employees, he has requested the raising of prices, and he has stated that he needs to close thousands of Post Offices across the country. Yet, recently he approved an agency rule that allows Postal executives to use postal funds to purchase hard liquor and wine for business meetings, etc.

This petition is about stopping one of the many excesses of our elected officials that they would rather keep out of the public discourse. They give themselves pay raises without any oversight. Never paying into the social security system and all of it at our taxpayers expense.