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The holidays are over and it’s back to reality. Of course, part of that reality — for better or worse — if that the politicians have made their way back to Washington, DC. To be clear, I am not suggesting that the politicians’ reality is the same as ours. That’s a big part of the problem. First, it should be noted that most of the significant items on the agenda for Congress as they return to “work” are items that they failed to deal with LAST year. You will recall that, after knowing for mon

Say what you want about 2017, it wasn't the slow and boring year in politics many politicos would have otherwise expected from an odd year -- a year that falls between presidential and midterm elections. For independents and the reform community, there were significant events that happened in 2017 -- game-changing even -- from ongoing lawsuits against the Commission on Presidential Debates to the DNC lawsuit to the growing movement for electoral reform. IVN was here to report on them all. Here

Keeping staffers under criminal investigation employed and rigging a primary election process to the favor of the party-anointed candidate is certainly enough to make the list of "worst ethics violators." The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) released its list of "top 5 ethics violators of 2017." At the top of the list, second only to the unnamed members of Congress linked to the fresher and ongoing sexual harassment scandal, is US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). "In

Unbeknownst to most, Nebraska records some of the coldest temperatures in the United States. The reason it beats out most northern states is because it’s so flat the cold winds blow uninterrupted. Bob Krist is hoping the winds of change, political change, will blow uninterrupted as well. As America turns away from the two major parties, Bob Krist believes the time is right for him to leave behind the party which has frustrated him for years and run as an Independent candidate for Governor, hopi

In 2004, then Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld sent a memorandum to his Under Secretary in which he expressed concerns regarding recent allegations of sexual assault on service members deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. Soon after, the Department of Defense established the Care for Victims of Sexual Assault Task Force. This Task Force came up with a series of recommendations leading to the creation of a single point of accountability for sexual assault, the Joint Task Force for Sexual Assault

This week, T.J. O’Hara is joined by Lenny Mendonca on the IVN podcast, A Civil Assessment. Lenny Mendonca is a Senior Partner Emeritus from the Washington D.C. and San Francisco offices of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. He is a Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and co-chair of California Forward. He is also an advisor to several entrepreneurs. Over the course of his career he helped dozens of government, corporate, and nonprofit clients solve their

At a time when so many Americans are so deeply divided on a bevy of issues, it can be difficult to come to a consensus on anything. However, I do believe that one area where we may all find consensus is that we are in the midst of major inflection point for the future of our country. This is not new, as every country much take inventory as time goes on. However, the United States is currently posed with a far greater question, that is, what kind of country do we want to be? If you were to scan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-MVCRN3MX0 Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee blasted Republican US Sen. Bob Corker and other GOP lawmakers who are refusing to get behind their own party's tax reform plan during an appearance on Fox & Friends Tuesday. He said that while some lawmakers say they are trying to get to "yes," they are really trying to "gum up the works" by suggesting that the current efforts behind tax reform are not going to work and grow the economy. He was then prompted to

Rod Blum is a rarity in Congress – a member who actually wants a competitive district and a real challenge every Election Day. Blum, a Republican, believes this makes him a better congressman. He says that it requires him to listen to – and represent – the feelings of Democrats and independents as well as his fellow Republicans. In an op-ed in The Hill this fall, Blum wrote that he is “honored to represent a competitive district drawn by a nonpartisan redistricting commission.” That requires h

During a time of deep political dysfunction in the United States, it is easy to assume that American democracy has gone off the rails, perhaps for good. But if Americans can look past the slow-motion travesty unfolding in Washington, DC, they will find that it is still within their power to effect meaningful change. BERKELEY – It has been one year since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, and America’s democratic institutions are clearly under strain. A mere 20% of American