Search query: virginia

Rule number one in effective communication is to establish the relevancy of the topic to the audience. Why should they care? How does it affect their quality of life? Truthful accounting might do just that. For one measure of the states’ quality of life, we turn to the recent work done by Ballotpedia, a “collaborative encyclopedia designed to connect people to politics.” The site focuses on providing a comprehensive and non-partisan analysis of numerous candidates and political efforts. The Lu

credit: University of Georgia If states are to rebuild and retool their economies, they must establish innovative and cost-effective solutions to increase student access to public colleges and universities, according to a recent report. Researchers at the nonpartisan think tank, the American Enterprise Institute, released a study titled, “Taking Charge: A State Level Agenda For Higher Education.” In it, the organization argues that governors and state legislatures must leverage the two-year an

Two weeks after key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, the American Civil Liberties Union announced it would pursue a lawsuit against Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia, challenging their bans on same-sex marriage. "The ACLU has been a leader on this front since bringing our first marriage lawsuit in 1970 and we've been deeply involved in opening marriage up to same-sex couples in each of the 13 states plus the District of Columbia that now

credit: thv11.com The 2014 midterm election is more than a year away. Nevertheless, congressional incumbents have been busy gearing up for the ever-longer campaign season. The fundraising deadline for Q2 was June 30 and fundraising powerhouses like Paul Ryan and Lindsey Grahm have continued to post seven figures. Paul Ryan - Wisconsin According to Federal Elections Commission filings, Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) was able to raise $1.1 million in the span of three months. Ryan's camp n

Now for the slippery slope arguments—those rationally indefensible, but emotionally satisfying predictions of what "something" is going to lead to. The “somethings,” of course, are the two recent Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage. The “what they are going to lead to-s” are getting more interesting by the hour. The following five potential world-ending catastrophes have all been culled from statements of politicians and pundits over the last few weeks. From what I can tell, they represen

Now for the slippery slope arguments—those rationally indefensible, but emotionally satisfying predictions of what "something" is going to lead to. The “somethings,” of course, are the two recent Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage. The “what they are going to lead to-s” are getting more interesting by the hour. The following five potential world-ending catastrophes have all been culled from statements of politicians and pundits over the last few weeks. From what I can tell, they represen

constantcontact.com The largest organization of independent voters in the country, New York City-based IndependentVoting.org, hosted a national conference call with over 150 attendees Tuesday, June 25, in which the organization's president, Jacqueline Salit, explained a new campaign designed to assist the Presidential Commission on Election Administration in identifying and redressing perceived shortcomings. The “nonpartisan” Presidential Commission on Election Administration was established t

Credit: rawstory.com According to research done by StateIntegrity.org, states with unregulated campaign contributions have a higher risk of corruption in political financing. A state's overall risk is based on laws in place and the potential for corruption. Four states (Missouri, Oregon, Utah, and Virginia) do not have laws limiting campaign contributions, and consequently registered poor scores on the study's scale for potential corruption. Because actualized corruption is not possible to ac

So California’s Proposition 8 is gone. A coalition of liberal and conservative justices decided today that they did not have to decide the question they had just decided because the party that they authorized to stand up for Proposition 8 lacked the standing to stand there. At the same time, a very different Supreme Court majority, split along traditional liberal-conservative-Kennedy lines, invalidated the Federal Defense of Marriage Act—not, as some people anticipated, on narrow procedural grou

credit: Votecitizens.org Gerrymandering has become a prevalent hurdle to meaningful political participation across the country (with few exceptions, including California*). The duopoly at their finest: if you can’t win by playing fair—CHEAT. The third most important electoral reform—thy name is gerrymandering. Attention Democrats and Republicans these are Independents exhibiting open derision to your sleazy ways. Before we go on let’s review the first two important electoral reforms. The first