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1. Ralph Nader criticizes the use of "spoiler" to describe independent and third-party candidates and how the major parties treat these candidates to maintain their dominance in elections. "Remember that the words "political parties," "corporation" and "company" are not even mentioned in our Constitution, raising the central question of why they are ruling "we the people" today." While Nader does not raise the issue, the above quote should also be considered when we talk about all aspects of t

Sarah PalinJohn Boehner In politics, they say, a week is like a year. By this reckoning, John Boehner’s claim that the “impeach Obama” talk originated with Democrats makes a certain amount of sense. It has, after all, been two and a half years since a former GOP nominee for vice president demanded, not only that President Obama be impeached, but that voters punish members of Congress who think otherwise. Here in Kansas, where time flows differently, it has only been two and a half weeks since

It’s no secret that the Keystone issue is a political powder keg. Neither is it a secret that it’s a controversial topic pitting two traditional foes: environmentalists versus big oil. Very murky, however, is what benefit Keystone XL offers the United States.As in so many situations, in order to understand the present, we need to understand the past and Keystone has a bit of a checkered and rapidly evolving past. With blinding speed, progress on the Keystone project began in 2005 when it was pr

For the 46.5 million Americans living below the poverty line, 16 million of which are children, life has become a consistent struggle. This struggle does not simply begin and end with monetary concerns, but in fact surrounds both a physical and mental exertion of the individual.Using the national U.S. census and NCCP, researchers found that in 2013, the poverty line rested at $11,490, a number which equates an individual working full time while only making $5.00 – far below the national minimum

The way we elect the president and vice president in the U.S. is quite unique compared to the way we elect every other elected office. We don't elect them directly. Instead, we vote for electors who then cast votes for a presidential ticket. Electors from each state are supposed to cast their votes for whichever candidate won that state's popular vote -- "winner takes all."  However, every once in awhile there is a rogue elector who casts a different vote as "winner takes all" is not required b

Recently, in the case Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, the United States Supreme Court, by a 6-2 vote, upheld a Michigan ban on affirmative action. The ban stated that universities didn't have to consider race as a requirement for enrollment. Michigan isn't alone with a ban either as states like California, Washington, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, and others have done so, as well. In June 2013, the New York Times ran an article which graphed how minorities have fared in states wi

Third parties that have a national infrastructure such as the Green Party and Libertarian Party have waged legal battles from California to North Carolina to improve their ability to get on the ballot. In California, a more lax state regarding ballot access laws, Terry Baum went through several legal hurdles in her race against U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi as the Green Party candidate. The common method is to attain a certain percentage from the previous gubernatorial election for a third

According to a Oklahoma news station, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Edmond) has filed a proposed amendment to the state's constitution that would change marriage in the state in a whole new way. Turner wants voters to believe that his solution to a potential court ruling that could overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage is to get the state out of the business of regulating marriage period. He says this will allow the state to keep same-sex marriage illegal while adhering to the U.S. Constitution.

It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since 1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920. There, of course, have been states that have attempted to circumvent Iowa and New Hampshire, claiming that they don't truly represent America as they are small states with seemingly narrow

Unyielding efforts are being made in the Oklahoma State Senate to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes for adults age 21 and older. Senator Connie Johnson has introduced Senate Bill 2116 which, if successful, would legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana similar to alcohol in her republic. “By taxing and regulating marijuana we can take the lucrative market out of the hands of criminals and drug cartels and put it in the hands of tax-paying, law-abiding businesses,” Johnson declared. The