Tell the members of New York's Independent Democratic Conference to end their outrageous alliance with Trump Republicans in the State Senate immediately.

When local jurisdictions take a stand against racism and bigotry and affirm that vulnerable populations within their communities should not be scapegoated, they should be applauded, not prosecuted. Trump's hateful rhetoric cannot be allowed to rewrite core American values that we hold as a nation of immigrants. The signers of this petition urge the rejection of any measure to criminalize sanctuary cities and the elected officials who voice support for them.

The NYPD must focus on reducing deadly traffic accidents, not ticketing bicyclists. Reduce car-on-pedestrian fatalities by at least half before stepping up ticketing of bicyclists.

Give up the gun giveaway and accept the offer of a buyback of all of the raffle tickets.

Stop supporting big media and the political campaign advertisement system. I will stop donating to political campaigns and demand that information about candidates be disseminated only via their personal websites, party websites, or news media interviews/stories.

Recently I heard about a possible new federal revenue-raising law called “the Robin Hood Law.” It is something the bumptious politicos in Washington, much less the “NYSE,” certainly will oppose. At least at first anyway. It is something that has been suggested for stock exchanges in Europe, especially the Common Market countries. How it works is quite simple. Each new stock, bond and derivative transaction would involve a VERY SMALL new tax which would go directly, no stings attached, to the US Treasury. This new tax might only be up to fifty cents on each separate trade. With the huge volume of business done each day, it could bring in as much as $350 billion dollars in new revenue each year. One desirable side effect would be that the big boys- the J.P. Morgan Chase’s of this world and hedge funds (together with all their henchmen)-and their like would have to think twice before executing the massive amount of late-session trades which have brought on so much volatility to Wall Street recently. It is hoped that this new tax might even work to the benefit of very small investors, such as yours truly and others! Finally, it might help us out of the trade imbalance and keep some of our own hard-earned money right here in the US, where it belongs. Frank Baumgardner

Our culture and the artists that are it's catalysts are more like a garden than an oil well. Too often we look to bring in culture from out side to enrich our culture, while our local arts entrepreneurs struggle to maintain impoverished incomes and attention. I call upon you to consider a turn around in your approach to cultural development. We need a government that supports artists and art projects and art education not one that exploits the artists and asks them to serve for less at the same costs as institutions and corporations. As an opening gesture I suggest the model already working in New Orleans, Louisiana. In that city, where the sales tax is high and tourism is a big part of city revenues, there is no sales tax on the sale of original works of art. This simple tax adjustment encourages the purchaser of art to support work and increases sales of the stuff that culture is made of directly benefiting artists. Such an act would support culture directly with no bureaucratic cost. It would most likely increase reporting of an area of the economy we could all brag about. isn't that better than asking artists to volunteer what they do, so that they can continue to work? Please give art a better chance by sophisticating our way of viewing its place in our society..

Arch Coal wishes to put in a Tongue River railroad for a new Otter Creek coal mine in the Cheyenne ancestral homeland. The mine and railroad are opposed by the Cheyenne people. This does not serve the public's interest, as is required by the Surface Transportation Board in order for this coal strip mine and railroad to be built. There is no clear market for this coal, and it is wrong to destroy a people's land. We ask you to stand up and protect the Northern Cheyenne ancestral homelands. Please show your opposition to the Otter Creek mine by opposing the development of the Tongue River railroad. The Otter Creek area has been historically used by Native American tribes, including the Northern Cheyenne and Crow. The coal from this one proposed strip mine would release 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide—making it one of the biggest new sources globally—which would worsen the effects of climate change.

Request Ohio house of representatives appropriate adequate funding in fiscal year 2013 for start-up of a viable passenger rail system for the state with capability to interface with new and/or existing regional and national passenger rail systems in the near future.

Require that JP Morgan Chase return all excess interest payments received from mortgagees as a result of LIBOR manipulations.