The deregulation of the banking industry resulted in catastrophe. The Glass-Steagal Act protects us as consumers and as tax-payers.

According to Waste Management World (http://www.container-recycling.org/media/newsarticles/plastic/2006/5-WMW-DownDrain.htm) "Each day in the US more than 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away. Most end up in landfills or incinerators, and millions litter America’s streets, parks and waterways." Unfortunately, voluntary recycling of these items is not working. The amount of plastic beverage bottles littering our streets and contaminating our waterways would be reduced if we would require ALL Plastic Beverage Bottles have a deposit on them. Please show Congress that we care about our environment and ask them to stand up to the beverage and retail industries and their trade associations, including the International Bottled Water Association. Statistics prove that the financial incentive of a deposit increases the amount of recycling in all states that have initiated this action.

After a terrifying few years of layoffs and foreclosures, many companies are now coming after those who have owed them money from several years ago. Just as people are getting back on their feet and employed, they are hit with their old debt and knocked back down again. We need to be allowed to get back on our feet. The banks have already gotten their money in the form of federal bailouts. It's time they leave us alone to rebuild our economy.

Force the banks to actually modify the mortgages of the hundreds of thousands of American homeowners that actually qualify for them. Right now the banks string along desperate home owners for up to two years only to reject the modifications. Regulate and enforce laws that require American and Foreign banks to modify mortgages and regulate them. Stop this banking scam. Make the American people know that the banks actually make more money on foreclosures. Instead of short sales; reduce principal and interest to actually make the home affordable. Make it a law! Regulate it and enforce it. Give consumers an actual government agency to report the malfeasance of the banking institutions regarding mortgage modifications and fraudulent foreclosures! HOPE is a complete and total scam!

There is something seriously wrong with legislation that tosses out our basic Freedoms in order to protect them. Make no mistake, handing over such power to our Military is not a wise move. History has shown that this course of action always ends in disaster and human suffering on a massive scale.

BofA is a massive zombie bank. It claims $2.2 trillion in assets equivalent to 15% of our entire economy, yet it is trading for $5 a share. This zombie just got a lot more dangerous. BofA is trying to move $22 trillion in derivatives out of its Merrill Lynch subsidiary and put them into its FDIC-insured bank. The Fed favors the move, FDIC does not. In this pile could be massive amounts of bad European debt, the same kind of debt that brought down Jon Corzine's MF Global. Taxpayers don’t backstop MF Global, we do backstop BofA. Tell President Obama, no more bailouts! Visit our site for bank-busting activists, Bankster USA (www.BanksterUSA.org), a project of the Center for Media and Democracy, for updates on the financial services re-regulation fight in Congress and for progressive net-roots campaigning against the big boys on Wall Street.

Establish control of our American democracy by defining who is a citizen and who is not a citizen and who has First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. Support a Constitutional amendment that allows the Congress to set maximum amounts that individual citizens can contribute to political campaigns and declare unlawful any campaign contribution from any corporate organization of any kind.

Corporations do not vote. Corporations should not give money to candidates or PACs. The very wealthy should not be able to buy elections. Elections should be publicly funded so that voters are not deceived by unaccountable and misleading interest groups.

We hear about cutting medicare, medicaid and social securtiy to balance the federal budget. Why haven't we heard about cutting the salaries of government officials? And cut the retired officials off the dole. The working majority has had salary and benefit cuts, why not them? If enough people sign this petition, we can give our public servants a strong message of change.

Many Civil Air Patrol, United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and Young Marine Units have lost facilities and resources when US military bases have closed. Many of these youth have been unable to find comparable facilities for their drills. We're asking the State legislators and governor to put in place guidelines under which Air National Guard and Army National Guard facilities would be encouraged to provide facilities for these youth.

To keep our environment safe from pollutants and our health safe from carcinogens, we want the DEC and Gov. Cuomo to ban hydrofracking in NYS.

To bring gas prices down, we only need to boycott ONE company. (I'd suggest starting with BP) Tell them no one will buy from their company until they lower their prices to $1.00 a gallon. In order to survive, they must. When they do, the other companies will have to follow to compete.