...and with that sentence you came so close to exposing the reason petitioning the government doesn't yield results anymore. If you'd just gone a little bit further down the road you were on, I think you'd have answered your own question. That answer, of course, is why the 97% of voters who's wishes were blatently ignored by those sitting reps didn't hit the polls and vote them out? Until the average US voter wakes up and stops blindly voting along party lines or solely based on tradition or buzz-topic stances the media uses to stir up conflict between different candidates, petitions will continue to be wholely ignored. However, if we'd actual grow an electorate with spines and brains and vote to replace those "representatives" who have stopped representing the bulk of their districts, watch how quickly legitimate petitions would once again be noticed and cared for by seated reps.

We all have the power to enact changes, but signing a petition is meaningless unless you take it a step further and use your vote, (or your money, your time, or your product loyalty if the petition is not political in nature) to actually reward those who acknowledged the issue you were supporting or punish the ones who ignored it.