The foreclosure crisis continues to spread like a virus throughout our neighborhoods. Foreclosure sales, vacant homes, and blight have spillover effects that are impacting our entire community. Surrounding home values have plummeted resulting in an upside down housing market. Today, 20% of Coloradans are underwater on their mortgage – they owe more than their home is worth. They have collectively lost $9 billion in wealth. This loss of wealth means our families have less money to spend. The lack of middle-class purchasing power in this recession has been the trigger for our historic levels of unemployment and continued stagnant economy. The child poverty rate in Colorado has more than doubled since 2008. Additionally, the number of homeless children has risen 33% across the country since 2009 due to foreclosure crisis and the recession. We are not even halfway through this crisis. In 2010 lenders filed 3.8 million foreclosures and 5.7 million were at imminent risk. By the time the crisis subsides it is projected that between 10 and 13 million families will lose their homes. We know how this happened. We can blame this crisis on abusive mortgage issuers, abusive and predatory mortgage practices, ineffective government oversight, and rampant and complex securitization with little accountability. It is time to take action to stabilize the housing market and jump start the economy by preventing unnecessary foreclosures, by providing consumer protections and more integrity within a system that is currently biased towards the lender. Sign this Petition to tell your State Senators to protect Colorado homeowner rights: http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/603C3674C9B9C54487257A8C00506EF3?Open&file=1249_01.pdf

The most far-reaching study of the death penalty in the United States has found that two out of three sentences were overturned on appeal, mostly because of serious errors by incompetent defense lawyers or overzealous police officers and prosecutors who withheld evidence.

The importance of a free public education

Other states collect royalties from companies that collect natural resources from their areas, such as Alaska, Texas, and the Dakotas. Ca would benefit by doing the same since natural resources belong to all of us

The State budget for our state's veterans, along with all other state agencies, has caused a withering of the vine. Our vets and their dependents, from WWII up to Afghanistan are not being served due to massive state wide office closures & severe personnel losses.

This petition is being formed to change Illinois' current flat-tax rate of 5% to a progressive rate that will increase as an individual's income increases (at a marginal rate, like our federal taxes). In fact, Illinois has maintained a flat-tax rate at least as far back as 1969 when it was 2.5%. It has remained approximately this rate since that time until 2011, when it was raised from 3% to the current rate of 5%. How does this affect us as Illinois citizens? Our state is fast-approaching a crisis position where it may go bankrupt. Pension-funding is being blamed, but this is money that was never properly allocated to the pension funds. So, now the workers who rightly earned this money might not ever see it or only get a fraction thereof. Why not make the wealthy pay more? They alone have profited over the last four decades from increases in productivity and efficiency gained in the workplace. The poor and working-class remain poor or unable to maintain a decent standard of living. The wealthy can afford to pay more and should. This is their way of contributing to an economy that afforded them the ability to gain these riches in the first place.

My son was murdered by an individual using an unlicensed gun.

My names Liz, I'm 17, and I've had helped my aunt and mother work with the special Needs adults, and many people make fun of them and it gets on my nerves so much! I also helped in middle school with the class, and the students would make fun of them and me, this is a big issue not all the special needs were born "special" and the kids need to learn that! If we can start teaching about gays why not about special needs? I joined a group on Facebook, called "stop discrimination against special needs children" they talk about stories of discrimination, but its mostly a support group, they are adorable and they are NOT a burden, we need to make a change and stop judging them for being different! They teach us not to bully, so why does it still occur to our kids? I'm wanting this to be reviewd as Big issue because I've seen some kids get sad and depressed because other kids use the "R" word I get so heart broken!! Please make special Ed a class so other kids can learn about differences!!

Congress regularly legislates laws on social security, medicare, medical, federal/union/private state pension rights WHILE the whole time being seperate and inequal from those systems they invoke on the tax payer paying THEIR salaries. Only two years of work as a senator give congress full golden-parachute rides their whole life while they vote to freeze cost of living increases to police/emergencyworkers/military and they are not affected by the same draconian reductions they pan out. Let's require congress to work a full 20-30 years before vested in the SAME pension the rest of us taxpayers work.

Save our US Postal Service as we know it and need it. Through ruthless demands of Congress, Postal Offices in small cities like mine will disappear unless the rule of paying 75 years of pension in just ten years is repealed.

I have been disabled and sick for the last 3 years and the insurance companies are changing the amount of coverage and increase all deductibles. Every year since i got sick I NOTICE THAT INSURANCE COMPANIES PAY LESS AND LESS .This have afected me because all of the bills that they dont want to pay ,i am responsible. The doctors dont give you a chance ,inmedietly they put the bill with collections companies and my credit rating has been afected dramatically.

I am not allowed to carry a sidearm for protection from the very large criminal element in this state.