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1. The Columbian says Washington state's top-two primary system is on the "cutting edge." "Washington is blessed to have a top two primary, meaning that two candidates in each race will advance, regardless of party. It also means that voters can cross party lines in the primary, a system that is much preferable to that found in many parts of the country. Most states have party primaries, and the result in modern times has been that party members often support the more extreme adherents to their

When journalist Adi Ignatius asked Vladimir Putin what his favorite Beatles song was in late 2007, the Russian leader replied, “Yesterday.” For some commentators, this expression of nostalgia is enough to convince them that Putin is the second coming of Stalin and that the Cold War is ending more than two decades of dormancy. However, the clash between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine represents not a restart to the Cold War so much as it represents a contest over the terms of its proper conclu

Our current tax code is not only hard to understand, but many people say it's unfair. Some think that the rich don't pay enough, while others think they pay too much. Regardless of one's stance on our current tax code, there is a solution out there that could potentially satisfy everyone. It's called the " FairTax." It has been a proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives, as H.R. 25, and in the U.S. Senate, as S. 13, for several years now. The FairTax is a national sales tax and it would g

The Centrist Project Voice, a political action committee the Centrist Project says is the first to support candidates ready to set partisanship aside and "focus on the core issues of critical importance to all Americans," on Wednesday announced 5 U.S. Senate candidates it has endorsed, including Larry Pressler of South Dakota, who the PAC made its inaugural endorsement in May. The four names added to the list of endorsements along with Larry Pressler are Republican Susan Collins of Maine, Democ

In the wake of last week's startling upset of Eric Cantor, it would be easy to believe that the political middle will once again be left out in the cold. Yet something unique is happening this primary season. Political moderates, the perennial underdogs of party primaries, the forgotten footnotes to the partisan favorites, are mobilizing. It's a trend across the country, seen not just in the Republican backlash against the tea party, but in independent candidates and unique, moderate Democrats.

Our familiar and enduring ideologies offer convenient explanations and easy solutions to contemporary problems – and this is no less true when it comes to understanding government dysfunction. Generally speaking, liberal Democrats see a well-funded state as capable of remedying social ills caused by the failures of the free market, and conservative Republicans see the state – at best – as incapable of solving major social problems that are best left to the workings of market forces. "While we c

It is quite well known by now that there is two-party dominance in the United States because of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) -- or plurality -- electoral system. Third parties can have an unintended “spoiler effect” on contests by stealing votes from the ideologically similar -- but more viable -- candidate. For instance, in Virginia’s 2013 gubernatorial election, Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis siphoned nearly 150,000 votes from Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s total, which was enough to give

“What limitations upon the right to bear arms are permissible? Some undoubtedly are, because there were some that were acknowledged at the time. For example, there was a tort called affrighting, which if you carried around a really horrible weapon just to scare people, like a head ax or something, that was I believe a misdemeanor. So yes, there are some limitations that can be imposed.”—Justice Antonin Scalia In his 2008 DC v. Heller decision, which for the first time established gun ownership

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

"Today, I and many other citizens of Pennsylvania will be denied the right to vote," independent Pennsylvania voter Tom Stack wrote in a letter to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It is not because we are in prison or non-citizens. It is because we are registered Independents or not affiliated with a political party." The Pennsylvania primaries will be held on Tuesday, May 20, along with the 2014 primary elections in Oregon, Kentucky, Idaho, Georgia, and Arkansas. Four out of the six states holdin