Articles by Jonathan Denn

I previously published a piece calling for Election Day to be held on Veteran’s Day. But besides honoring Veterans with this poetic display of democracy in our republic, what else could independents do? The United States is exceptional, we have a marvelously productive society. We could, if need be, produce any goods or services that we could need or even reasonably want. We just have to set our minds to it. Why do veterans groups have to go on TV and beg for our wounded warriors? Why are ther...

I've written here previously about what I believe is the #1 most important electoral reform. More important than ending gerrymandering, more important than ending the legal extortion and bribery of elected officials, more important than term limits, more important than no political party shall be privileged, and more important than ending first-past-the-post single mark ballots (the #2 most important electoral reform) is the right to a fraud-free counted vote. (Also read: Hard Evidence Support...

I’ve written here previously asking if we, the People, should be subsidizing obesity? In response, it seems a super majority (84%) believe we should not. However, many people may not know that the U.S. subsidizes sugar and high fructose corn syrup manufacturers. There is overwhelmingly good science that excess simple sugar consumption over-stimulates insulin production and can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet, cash-strapped Americans will eat what they can afford to put on the ...

There are basically five ways for money to flow into politics; well, six if you include the revolving door -- oh wait -- there's also the spousal side door and family back door — so that makes seven. The following is a list of the top 10 individuals who donate to 527s, nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations with the primary purpose of influencing elections. Data was collected from the Center for Responsive Politics on OpenSecrets.org, which supplies a wealth — pun intended — of information. 10. A...

There is a lot of money in politics, from local, to state, to federal elections. But some groups give a lot more to candidates and committees than others. Data was collected from the Center for Responsive Politics on OpenSecrets.org. There is a wealth -- pun intended -- of information in several categories to parse, including donations by Industry, Lobbying, PACs, Organizations, and 527s. 25. American Crystal Sugar American Crystal Sugar has donated $727,750 in the 2013-2014 election cycle, b...

This is the most popular, and seventh most important issue for an omnibus Constitutional Amendment for electoral reform and clean government—one that should be wildly-popular because it is designed to be that way. Here is a link to the thread on the first six. On aGREATER.US where independents’, liberals’, and conservatives’ opinions are given equal weight the #1 top rated idea with a 98 percent positive approval rating is No Political Party Shall Be Privileged. We’ll be parsing out the various...

Welcome to the 2013 Crony Capitalist Awards: Senate Edition. For these awards we define crony capitalism as the disproportionate influence by special interests (non-individuals) on elected officials. One of the founding principles of our country was no taxation without representation. Having to “pay to play” is merely another tax. And not being able to “pay to play” just another negative freedom. Let's look at what percentage of tax “individuals*” pay nationally, and what percentage of tax corp...

Credit: sumofus.org Anywhere else in society if you took money from people you had a fiduciary responsibility to otherwise serve it would be a crime, and you could have civil liability. But the duopoly has this sweet deal, they can require campaign contributions for access (extortion or pay-to-play), or accept large unsolicited campaign contributions (bribery) with an explicit or implied expected behavior. Last year, I ran a Twitter campaign, #ShouldElectedOfficials Stop Taking Money From Corp...

credit: Votecitizens.org Gerrymandering has become a prevalent hurdle to meaningful political participation across the country (with few exceptions, including California*). The duopoly at their finest: if you can’t win by playing fair—CHEAT. The third most important electoral reform—thy name is gerrymandering. Attention Democrats and Republicans these are Independents exhibiting open derision to your sleazy ways. Before we go on let’s review the first two important electoral reforms. The first...