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Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week. Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities. The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday. But amidst Washington's annual kabuki theater dance around fiscal policy and possible government shutdowns, a litt

Deep tax cuts and major changes to the individual tax system have been proposed by President Donald Trump and his team. President Trump’s economic advisors laid out the plan in an effort to strengthen his economic and legislative agenda as he nears the 100-day mark of his presidency. The plan includes some notable changes from the rhetoric we’ve heard these last few months. Of note, Trump is proposing to repeal a provision in the tax code that allows individuals to deduct the state and local t

The people at Mediaite interviewed comedian and talk show host Joe Piscopo about all the news coverage on Russia and Russia's alleged ties to the Trump administration. Piscopo, who is reportedly considering an independent run for governor in New Jersey, called the whole thing "comical" and "ridiculous." It’s a ruse. It’s a joke. They got nothing. The Russia thing is comical because it won’t go away … and I ask this, I ask this with respect, with respect to the Russian theorists — you talk about

At no time in history has the issue of “open v. closed primaries” been so prominent in the national discussion as it is today. This is, in large part, because Bernie Sanders made it a plank of his presidential campaign. But it is also a consequence of an important reality: independent voters are the fastest growing segment of the electorate, by far. Yet, the first and highly important stage of our election process most often serves the exclusive benefit of the voters who choose to join one of t

New Jersey is a corrupt state. You could write a book about it. In fact, this reporter did. This reporter did as well. If you grew up here, like me, then government corruption is just part of the landscape of New Jersey politics. We tend to normalize certain things, such our U.S. Senator being indicted on corruption charges and the Democratic establishment proudly signing on to say they are “with him.” Or the county bosses getting to decide who your legislators will be based on the power to awa

There is a new movement underway in New Jersey to elect independent-minded candidates to the state legislature that will support election reform to end partisan corruption in public elections. "The electoral process is very corrupt," said Dana Wefer, a life-long Democrat running for New Jersey governor as a Republican. Wefer is also the founder of New Jersey Awakens, which has proposed 5 reforms to break the parties' control over elections: * Initiative and Referendum: "New Jersey is one of t

Democracies are not the normal order of human civilizations. Throughout history, and even today, people are far more likely to live under monarchies, dictatorships, and authoritarian regimes than they are to be self-governed. Our democracy was inspired by an era of enlightenment that recognized the importance of individual freedom and human dignity. Maintaining it requires vigilance and direct participation when things have gone awry. Things have gone awry. The Republican Party, the strongest p

The 2016 election cycle was an exceptionally rough one for voters and candidates alike. The divisive rhetoric and lack of support for the major-party candidates revealed a failure in our system to engage all voters and demographics alike. Last year, around 28 million independent voters registered nationwide to participate in the electoral process, becoming the fastest growing voting demographic in the United States. Yet, many states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey disenfranchised independ

I voted for Bernie Sanders. Not because I’m a liberal. Not for any particular ideological reason, actually. I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary because, to me, he represented the only real challenge to the Democratic AND Republican Party establishment that continues to put their own partisan interests and rhetoric ahead of actually governing. In Bernie Sanders, we had the first presidential candidate who talked about things that mattered to non-partisan voters. Money in politics is impo

Legal efforts to shut out voters from publicly-funded primary elections in Hawaii and Montana may be heard by the Supreme Court next week. The lawsuits challenging open primaries were brought by Republicans and Democrats alike. On February 17, the court will decide whether to reconsider the findings of lower courts in the cases of Ravalli County Republican Party v McCulloch and Democratic Party of Hawaii v Nago. Previous decisions have upheld Montana and Hawaii’s open primaries as constitution