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Dr. Shaun Crowell is a veterinarian and small business owner from Union City, TN whose animal hospital in the little town of Spring Hill, TN has grown every year despite the recession. He's also the Libertarian Party's 2012 nominee for US Senate representing Tennessee, and will be up against incumbent Bob Corker (R-TN) in November. He says that his interest in politics began as a result of the 2007 - 2008 financial crisis, and now he's hoping Tennessee voters will send a hard-working, middle-cla

July 4th, 2012 marks the United States’ 236th birthday. Although still a relatively young nation, the U.S. has transformed into an influential world power with a large and diverse population. The implementations of Decennial Censuses were included into the Constitution to acquire the enumeration of the American people every ten years, to be used for apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives among the states. They also have proven to be a great way to mark the constant changing U.S.

The roots of liberal policy failure are intertwined with the dark side of scientific rationality. During the 1980s and 1990s, experts working for the World Bank and development agencies persuaded African nations like Malawi to stop subsidizing fertilizer. Subsidies for fertilizer were extremely popular among Malawi's people -- roughly 90 percent are small farmers growing staples on depleted soils who cannot afford fertilizer at market prices. Malawi's political leaders resisted the expert advic

Recently DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart attended a DEA Oversight Judiciary Subcommittee hearing regarding the DEA's priorities. This is most likely a result of multiple recent episodes of DEA malfeasance. Leonhart was bombarded with questions regarding the Daniel Chong forgotten detainment scandal, the Columbian prostitution scandal, and the newly discovered Fast and Furious weapons smuggling scandal, but listen to the revealing exchange as she attempted to sidestep the inquiries of Jared Po

A five-year agricultural spending bill was passed by the Senate yesterday on a 65-34 vote. This version of the farm bill is expected to cost $970 billion. The following are some observations on the most ambitious farm policy reform proposal in decades. Senate Farm Bills are always a bastion of bipartisanship, but this one might be the product of a what N.Y. Sen. Charles Schumer is calling a “new Senate”: As the Washington Post reports: “The farm bill is the latest in a string of measures that

He came up with what he called the American System.  His name was Henry Clay of Kentucky.  In 1806, Henry Clay was elected to the US Senate by the Kentucky legislature.  At which, he set out at once for the nation's capital city, Washington DC.  Part of his route would be via boat while more of it would be via the nation's roads... or what were considered roads at that time.  It was upon this journey that Clay's zeal for an internal improvement program for the nation were formed.  He had already

In light of former Senator Rick Santorum's recent comments on ABC's This Week, it is clear GOP social conservatives are becoming increasingly worried about the presence, and power, of Dr. Ron Paul at the Republican National Convention. In the case of a divided Republican Party, if Governor Mitt Romney is going to have to choose between Dr. Paul and Sen. Santorum in Tampa, he has to go with Dr. Paul. In an earlier posting by IVN, we pointed out that at some point Gov. Romney was going to have to

Today we hosted our second tweet chat, this time inviting independent-minded candidates and voters. Nine independent-minded candidates participated: Phil Dodds, Jack Todd Arnold, Maurice Duhon, Linda Parks, Chad Condit, Anthony Adams, Eric Reyes, William "Cleave" Drummond, TJ O'Hara. This was a unique opportunity for an open discussion among independents from across the country. Topics included: legalizing marijuana, the Occupy Movement, innovation in campaigning tactics, the rise of independen

One of the most enduring myths in US politics is the assertion that there are no alternatives to the candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties. Many would-be voters who are fed up with the forced choice between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dumber are undoubtedly more likely not to vote than head to the polls and cast their ballot for a third party or Independent alternative. Given the lack of media coverage devoted to third party and Independent candidates, a large portion of the electorate

Political parties are private institutions. In fact, political parties have often asserted the private right of private association to prevent unwanted influence on party activities. Yet, prior to 2012, every state in the union, except Washington and Louisiana, had partisan based primaries. Therefore, in almost every state, nonpartisan voters pay for the nominating process for political parties in which independent candidates cannot even participate. In many cases, the ability of independent vot