The Federal Election Commission has argued that since Level the Playing Field is not a political party and gives no guarantee that it will run or back a candidate in 2020, it has no “competitor standing” to challenge the commission’s policymaking.

In a court filing on August 8, Level the Playing Field (CPF) fired back on the FEC’s attempt to dismiss a second complaint against the Commission on Presidential Debates. LFP states, “The FEC concedes that at least one of these parties has standing, and both clearly do. The Libertarian Party has been excluded from every presidential debate staged by the CPD, and it will nominate another candidate to run in 2020.”

Read the full story here.

IVN takes a look at the clean energy empire Elon Musk has built, and how a good bit of the money for his companies, Tesla and Solar City, has come from taxpayer subsidies.

In particular, the story examines California and the bill that just passed the Assembly that will likely bring some $3 billion taxpayer dollars to Tesla. There is no question Musk is a brilliant entrepreneur, and the piece doesn't argue that point. But it would be a good place to start if politicians negotiated these subsidies with the best interests of taxpayers in mind. Currently, it’s not clear that the decisions being made are done with those intentions. With so much spending, Governor Jerry Brown just announced the state of California will have a $1.5 billion budget shortfall next year.

If you would like to hear the IVN Ideas Podcast on this issue and read the story, click here.

Kate Harveston tackles the subject of marijuana and our failing health care system and if one can save the other.

Harveston writes:

"The introduction of cannabis, both medically and recreationally, has created new revenue streams and reduced costs for social care programs, bolstering the medical community’s ability to deliver care with next-to-no downside. For patients who rely on the benefits of medical cannabis, there’s no going back."

Despite some local jurisdiction push back, Harveston is bullish on nationwide legalization, "For states, shutting down dispensaries would be forfeiting significant tax revenue and destroying jobs. Neither seems likely, and although the federal government still takes a negative stance toward marijuana, it seems that nationwide legalization is only a matter of when, not if."

Check out her story on IVN right here.