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It seems that in every cycle there is debate about which states should hold the first presidential primary elections. Some state always seems to try to jump ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. Since 1972, the Iowa Caucuses have been first in the nation and New Hampshire has been the first "primary" since 1920. There, of course, have been states that have attempted to circumvent Iowa and New Hampshire, claiming that they don't truly represent America as they are small states with seemingly narrow

While speaking to the nation Tuesday, President Barack Obama covered a variety of topics including, healthcare, foreign policy, the economy, and even national security. However what was most interesting was what he decided to leave out: Republicans and Democrats were mentioned multiple times during the president's hour-long speech. Yet, 42 percent of Americans refuse to identify with either major party. Non-affiliated voters can be dismissed as 'low-information voters' or 'unengaged,' but they

A bipartisan team of California lawmakers is pushing a bill through California's legislature that would prevent any state-related entity from  disclosing information on citizens to federal agents without a warrant. State Senators Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Joel Anderson (R-San Diego) introduced Senate Bill 828, also called the Fourth Amendment Protection Act, on Monday. Specifically, the bill would prohibit "an employee of the state... a corporation... or a political subdivision of the state fr

Meanwhile, back in Kansas. . . . Assuming that the looming government shutdown leaves the federal court system more or less intact, the court in my home state of Kansas will soon be hearing yet another case about the teaching of evolution in public schools. Which can only mean one thing: the completely phony battle between evolution and “intelligent design” is about to become the next major battle in the national fight over the Common Core. I say that this is a “phony battle” because, well, it

... and why does this matter for government accounting? The financial crisis in recent years challenged many widely-held assumptions, including an assumption of innocence for ‘cash and cash equivalents.’   The fearful crowd lost confidence generally, and rationally, given the leverage in the system, resulting in a widespread run on the bank.  But we aren’t in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.  This isn’t Jimmy Stewart’s banking system. The complexity and breadth of ‘cash’ instruments has blossomed with

One-hundred and twelve legislative bodies have come and gone. We are now in the midst of our 113th Congress. And since our inception, only 27 of these assemblies have consisted of a sixty percent majority in both the House and the Senate; a partisan monopoly on government legislation that eventually became known as the filibuster proof majority. With a sixty percent lead in Congress, whichever party is in control would, theoretically, be impervious to roadblocks. But is an entire nation of peop

President Obama signs healthcare reform in 2010 // Credit: Reid.senate.gov Can a state unilaterally suspend the operation of ObamaCare within its borders? Of course not. That measure would violate the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. We fought a Civil War over that question. What if two states banded together to suspend the operation of ObamaCare within their common territory? Can they do that? The answer remains the same. No. But let's try this. Let's have those two states - and others

Credit: Planned Parenthood Advocates of WI Americans remain divided over their views on abortion. The Gallup survey recently reported that about 45 percent of Americans identify as pro-choice and 48 percent regard themselves as pro-life. States across the country reflect this polarization depending on who holds control of the governorship and the state legislature. Wisconsin is the most recent state to enter these debates and moved this past week towards further restrictions on abortion rights

credit: U.S. Navy The National Science Teachers Association shot back at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education research think tank, after the organization gave a lackluster grade to the newly developed Next Generation Science Standards. The standards, which were created to update science education nationwide, were given a “C” for their effectiveness as compared to other individual state science curriculum. The Fordham Institute noted in their evaluation of NGSS that while the new stand

The integration of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or drones in US Airspace, planned for 2015, would have a significant impact on the country's economy. Among all states, California would be the state to benefit the most from such integration. The New Yorker released an interactive map of the United States according to how much economic impact the integration of UAS would have on each state. The data used for the map was provided by the Association for Unmanned Vehicles System International (AUVS