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The partisan battles in North Carolina are extending their reach into the court system. Over the past year, the Republican controlled legislature, aided by a Republican governor, Pat McCrory, enacted a host of controversial legislation that banned gay marriage and put in place new abortion restrictions. Then last week, they passed new voting laws which MSNBC called "a truly abominable piece of anti-democratic legislation." The bill was purportedly to prevent fraud, although fraud has not been a

In 2012, Arizona took up an initiative, Proposition 121, to change the electoral system in the state to a nonpartisan, top-two primary system similar to California and Washington state. Currently, Arizona has a semi-closed primary system where voters must choose between the Republican or Democratic Party in order to participate in the primary process. While the initiative failed to garner voter approval, support for the major political parties continues to fall in the state. Currently, the numb

Credit: roarofthefour via flickr.com In 2012, 'dark money' accounted for over $300 million spent out of the total $6 billion according to Open Secrets. 'Dark money' refers to spending in an election where the donors behind the money are anonymous often with the aid of 501(c)(4) and (c)(6)'s. From $5.2 million in 2006, spending from these types of organizations more than doubled following the Supreme Court's decision in FEC v. Citizens United. Dark money has already played a role in California,

ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com Student debt may not be the only problem for millennials; they also must battle to stay upbeat about their jobs. According to a recent Gallup report, college educated employees appear less engaged in the workplace than those with a high school diploma or less. About 66 percent of people who either did not graduate high school or only received a high school diploma are engaged at work, Gallup reports. That number drops to 54 percent for people who have some coll

Janet Napolitano (Left) // Credit: Dept. Homeland Security via Barry Bahler Janet Napolitano was officially appointed as the 20st President of the University of California education system Thursday. She is the first female President of the UC system. Napolitano previously served as the Secretary of Homeland Security in the Obama Administration. She now heads to the largest  public education system in the world. The distinct career transition from safety to academia has raised more than a few e

Credit: Autoblog.com Driverless cars are quickly becoming a reality thanks to Google's recent investments in the technology. It seems that driverless cars can only improve life for everyone involved, but, financially, driverless cars raise a few questions. In fact, the perceived loss of jobs from driverless vehicles has led some to believe the switch to them could be widely rejected, with their ire stemming from the simple fact that many jobs will become obsolete. A number of people believe d

tlegend / shutterstock.com With the NSA stockpiling browser data and advertising agencies targeting specific potential customers, there seems to be no end to what can be done with the massive amount of information available at the click of a mouse. Another application of the data available to "them" has been made clear over the past month in the case of Chevron and Ecuador. After a decade of litigation against the oil giant involving an $18.2 billion accusation of "massive environmental conta

The landmark immigration reform, Bill S. 744 recently passed through the Senate 68-32 during the afternoon of June 27. It includes reforms which focus on border security, economic opportunity, and immigration modernization act, according to the US Senate’s website. But questions on the upper house’s ability to fairly legislate an issue in regard to its relevance in each selective state may have come up. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, California, the state with the highest numb

Credit: 401(K) 2012 via Flickr President Obama recently announced his two nominees for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) -- Ann Ravel and Lee E. Goodman. Ravel, a Democrat, is the chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). She has most notably spearheaded an investigation into an Arizona nonprofit group that spent 11 million dollars opposing Prop 30. She's also received criticism for attempting to regulate political blogs and websites in California. Goodman, a Rep

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