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DC politics has gone mad. Americans are now treated to a 24/7 freak show of government dysfunction, charges and countercharges, midnight tweets, and a myriad of other forms of dystopian political theatre. Politics has become toxic. The professional pundits and their assembled panelists profess their disgust at the toxicity — and then gleefully throw another log on the fire. Is there any way for the American people to intervene? Across the country, in inner cities, suburbs, and in rural area

The United States continues to fall short in fairly reflecting its diversity in elected offices. Our widespread use of a winner-take-all rule -- that is, one where the biggest group of voters can win 100% of representation -- presents a challenge to candidates who are not the preferred choice of a majority of voters. The problem of under-representation is less acute in the U.S. House than statewide races, but is still significant. With the upcoming launch of the Fair Representation Act, legisl

Much can be made from former Homeland Security Chief Jeh Johnson's House Intelligence Committee testimony on alleged Russian meddling as well as Illinois election officials' testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on the same subject. As it relates to Johnson's testimony, we are left with at least two very important questions: 1. Why was DHS not given access to the DNC servers after the hack into John Podesta and Hillary Clinton's emails? If in fact this was a case of Russian inter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvF1oahBnvs Video: U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) describes attack, ABC News A shooter -- identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkins -- armed with a rifle shot as many as 50 bullets into a crowd of U.S. Congress members and their staff on a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia Wednesday morning. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others were shot and wounded in the attack as the Republican congressional baseball team held its early-morning practice. Tw

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2013 that struck down pre-clearance requirements from the Voting Rights Act, Republican-controlled state legislatures jumped at the opportunity to impose restrictions on who could register and vote. Laws implemented in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Florida are said to have had major impacts on the outcome of the presidential election in those states. Republicans in Arizona, Texas, Kansas, as well as others continue to explore legislation clearly a

And it ain’t the cows. Enter Kris Kobach, the Republican Secretary of State known by election reformers for his unabashed attempt to re-instate straight ticket voting and forcing a Democrat to be listed on the ballot when a Republican is faced with a credible independent challenger. Keep in mind, he pursued these partisan protection schemes last election in his capacity as the umpire for fair elections in Kansas, otherwise known as the Secretary of State. Yet, there is no doubt Kobach was tryi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrbZx6ANvcE The focus of the mainstream media for the past several weeks has been on whether the Trump administration obstructed the pursuit of justice as it relates to the Russian Investigation. Specifically, whether the president told FBI Director James Comey to back off potential “collusion”or campaign connections to Russian officials. In his testimony, Comey said: "Again, I take the president's words. I know I was fired because of something about the way I

Ask people why they participate in a book club and you’ll likely hear the words "eye-opening," "engaging," and "worthwhile." Descriptors like those are especially apropos when book clubs seek to deepen citizens’ understanding of public issues. These days civic understanding is under the influence of partisanship and superficiality. An antidote is available when citizens read and discuss books together. A powerful example is an endeavor called "Politics for The People"(P4P). It’s a book club th

Mass voter confusion. Voter purges. Registration problems. These were all major problems associated with the 2016 New York presidential primary. State lawmakers have an opportunity to fix these issues, but are they? Are they listening to voters' complaints? It doesn't look like it. The New York State Senate passed a series of primary and election reform bills this week that the chamber says will "increase voter participation." One of the bills consolidates congressional and state primary dates

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a commission that will investigate possible voter fraud and voter suppression in the American election system. The executive order outlines the work of the commission and that it will study the laws, rules and policies that make up the voting experience in America, and where changes need to be made, changes will be made. It will also, for the first time, use the federal government’s voting registry to find vulnerabilities in the