In advance of President Barack Obama's first online town hall, on Thursday, March 26, the White House has launched an "Open for Questions" page.

For this inaugural virtual town hall, the theme is the economy. Once you set up an account, you can submit your own question (text or with a link to a video version) or vote on others on a range of subjects, including auto industry, budget, education, financial stability, green jobs and energy, health-care reform, home ownership, jobs, retirement security, small business, and veterans.

Just in case those doesn't cover it, there's also a "more" category. Is that where you can ask, Can you do more to fix the economy? How can you keep health care from costing more? What's the best way to keep more Americans from losing their jobs?

Among the current roster of questions related to the home:

• "Why do I have to be to the point of foreclosure to get any help with my mortgage? Why aren't you helping the people who want to PREVENT foreclosure?"

• "Why can't the refinancing of your home, at the home's current values, be available to any homeowner, not just the ones in trouble now. Help the homeowners across the board, give us all relief, treat us all the same."

• "What can be done about the drop in home values that have left many people "under water" on their mortgages and unable to refinance to take advantage of lower interest rates?"

• "Do you plan on giving any incentives to people who choose to update their homes with green energy sources, such as solar panels?"

• "Dear Mr. President, When and how will legislation make it possible for independent landowners to create green energy (i.e. wind), work with local utilities to sell energy back to the grid at fair prices, and promote individual energy independence?"

• "Here in SoCal we are facing a huge drought. Would you consider creating a government program to buy/subsidize water trapment systems so people can catch rain water for use in irrigation, bathrooms, etc. So we can save money and conserve water?"

It'll be interesting to see not only which questions get asked but also how the president handles this foray into crowd-sourced questioning.—Steven H. Saltzman