Search query: arizona

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

In round one yesterday of March Madness, the premier spectacle of American sports, 32 teams went to the free throw line 634 times and converted 438 of their charitable gifts (you are not reading this anywhere else). Sixty-nine percent ain't that good; but it ain't the bad, either. But you are reading this because winning teams from the free throw line outshot their opponents in 12 of yesterday's 16 games. In several games the difference was critical to the game's denouement. In the Princeton

This week meet the party whose mantra is “good ideas don’t have to be mandatory.” Host T.J. O’Hara is joined by the Libertarian National Committee Chair Nicholas Sarwark. The two discuss the Libertarian Party’s core principles; where the party stands in relation to Trump’s economic policies, healthcare, the Dakota Access Pipeline, the U.S. military, and immigrant vetting; and what’s next for the Libertarian Party. Nicholas Sarwark is a second generation Libertarian with a commitment to fightin

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

The Arizona State Legislature passed HB 2302 by a vote of 34-24 in February. The bill adds two statutes to the Arizona constitution making it illegal for presidential electors to vote against their party’s candidate. An elector would be automatically ineligible to serve should they choose to put conscience above party loyalty. Once the elector's intentions are revealed, the state party chair would appoint a person to replace him or her, who would then cast the electoral vote. For those followi

As of January 27, 2017, 15 states have introduced legislation to advance a national popular vote for president to reform the Electoral College, with more bills being introduced every week. Heading into 2017, 10 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact -- meaning that the compact is over 60% of the way to being activated, which would guarantee the presidency to the candidate who wins the national popular vote in all 50 states

Recently, Real Clear Politics extrapolated demographic trends to project which states are likely to gain or lose U.S. House seats in the reapportionment that will occur after the 2020 Census. Their forecast, shown below, has nine states losing one U.S. House seat and six states gaining seats. These are only projections, but given that we are now six years into the decade, many of the demographic shifts of the decade are already well advanced and difficult to reverse. Overall, we see a reduced n

In the wake of a undergraduate shortage in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), degrees in the liberal arts and humanities have come under fire, often deemed frivolous and unsuitable for a competitive and technologically inclined U.S. job market. Shortages in technical industries throughout the country have sparked action in Congress, where many conservative states have opted to reduce funding to the arts and sciences, favoring those who produce more STEM graduates.

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is now beating President-elect Donald Trump in the popular vote by more than 2 million votes. This is by far the biggest deficit in popular votes by a winning candidate in the history of the country. But the discrepancy between electoral and popular votes shouldn’t make us question the legitimacy of the election -- the Electoral College is the law of the land. In the words of president-elect Donald Trump, abolishing the Electoral College would make for a “

While the mainstream media focuses on Trump’s wall (or lack there of) the establishment has been quietly building them for decades. In virtually every state, the party that is in control has significant influence over the process that determines the boundaries of legislative districts. It is no secret that both parties have used this authority, in an increasing degree, to insulate themselves from competition, using a tactic known as partisan "gerrymandering" -- which packs voters from one part