The foreclosure crisis continues to grow. Loan modification programs, designed to help homeowners during this financial crisis, have only fast-tracked foreclosures and increased bank evictions.

Have you looked up at the sky lately? "Everyone has seen crisscrossing streaks of white clouds trailing behind jet aircraft, stretching from horizon to horizon, eventually turning the sky into a murky haze". These planes are spraying and filling our air, water and soil with aluminum, barium and strontium. This is causing our global climate to change, farmers crops to die, reduced sun exposure and illness. This must be stopped!

My father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I want to care for him at home, but can't afford to because caregiving is a 24/7 job in itself. Tell Congress that caregivers need a stipend to keep their parents out of nursing homes.

I have a brain tumor, a divorce pending and share ownership of a house that I had to leave with our 3 kids because my husband refused to move out. We tried to refinance our mortgage so we could rent the house out at an affordable rate to cover the mortgage before selling. Our tenant moved in with a year long lease and monthly payments covering the new mortgage amount, just as the refinance fell through. Because my husband and I had moved out of the house, it became an "investment property' so I was not eligible for help anywhere. Our tenant's rent covers the mortgage less $700 a month but the bank wants all or nothing. Our savings are gone and our income is spent on our own rental accommodation. With my credit rating plummeting and my lease ending soon, foreclosure is looming and possible homelessness. Rentals are hard to find when you have bad credit. My health and children's welfare is at risk as we are falling through the safety net - an exception to the 'Making Home Affordable' eligibility needs to be made on compassionate grounds.

My name is Siena and I am nine years old. My mom and I eat vegetables, and my mom says that eating them is good for us. It won't be if the ground they grow in or the water that helps them grow is poisoned by fracking. When people frack, they inject water, sand, and toxic chemicals into the ground. These chemicals can poison our water and our food. Fracking can give my friends, my family, and other people that I don't even know cancer. I don't want to get cancer. Do you want to get cancer? I don't want to drink fracking water. I don't want to eat fracking food. Fracking can cause big earthquakes. These earthquakes can be deadly. Right now, the people of California--and that includes you and me--don't know where or when the drillers are fracking, what chemicals they are using, and what pollutants they are releasing into the water and air that we drink and breathe. A lot of big oil and gas companies don't care about that. They just care about making money. They want our governor to let them poison us and maybe cause earthquakes. Maybe they are so old that they don't care if they get sick or ruin the planet. But I do. I want to stay healthy and keep the earth healthy too. I'm only 9 years old.

This country is stalled. I am a small business person. It appears no matter what party one belongs to this country is not helping those who are in need of food, education, shelter, employment, tax breaks for the small business, quality of life, good roads, safe bridges, and a host of other things. I am appalled. It is upsetting for me to see my tax dollars being used by those in state and federal government not be of more help. The famous Keynesian Approach is not being used. We used this approach during FDR. Children and families are hurting. Jobs are needed. Congress continues to play games and believes the people are not watching. Also, I am frustrated by the lack of progress that no one was held accountable for the wall street problems.The best interests of the people are not being served. What happened to working together for the greater good. Our greatest leaders did that for the country. Thank you. Rudy Flora

I have to support myself, am 61 yrs. old, was laid off my job 9/28/12 & still can't get a job because it seems that no one wants to hire anyone past the age of 40, even though I have been working 40 years. Also, it seems that no one wants to interview people if they don't have at least one certificate or degree. They don't seem to want to train, just "jump in", but we have to know their procedures, etc. & at least some training. June 1, 2013 my unemployment will be cut by 16.8%. The original 6 months of unemployment was bad enough, meaning I still couldn't pay all bills on time, and now it will be even harder.

Berkeley and Oakland California were blessed with the leadership of John Muir. We have a wonderful park system in the East Bay Hills. Now FEMA, under the guise of fire prevention, is considering funding clear cutting our beloved forests - eliminating 60,000 trees - and then spraying 30,000 gallons of Monsanto Round-up twice a year for 10 years. This is "eco-cide" - genocide of our ecology, and has to stop.

For 15 years, Merrie Najimy received exemplary evaluations, earned the respect of parents, faculty and administrators, and won the love of her third grade students. Subsequent to her election as President of the Concord Teachers Association and her organizing activity as a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association Board of Directors, the current school administration has utilized the evaluation system to target her. On April 30, 2013, her principal recommended not to rehire Merrie Najimy.

Taxpayers shouldn't give political groups tax free status and have anonomus donors

I know, and know of, plenty of people who have been poisoned -- resulting in cancer and birth defects -- by Monsanto's "agricultural" products.

Sick-leave for employees! I lost my job because I was sick. My company didn't care! Been with that company for 9 1/2 years. Worked very hard, sometimes 17 days straight. No compassion or regard for the employee. I'm a Personal Care Assistant. I take care of the elderly. Worked 2 times when I had Walking Pneumonia, brought all my medications with me to my patient's home. I developed Asthma afterwards and had to bring my kit for Asthma. No work, no pay!!!!! This is another case that happened to me. That's what they said when they terminated me because of being ill with stomach problems.....throwing up and down. I asked they if they were laying me off cause I needed to collection unemployment. She smiled and nodded her head. ?