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For many advocates of marijuana legalization, 2014 was a banner year. With initiatives passing in Oregon, Alaska, and in Washington D.C., it seems that the United States may be just a few short years away from complete federal legalization. Now that advocates can point to the relative successes of marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado, the nation could see an increase in ballot measures in 2016. Here are the 5 states most likely to explore full legalization next: 1. California Th

We are all incredulous spectators to the dismal theatrics playing year after year in Washington D.C., sowing more are more mistrust and disgust in the minds of the American people. But where is the backlash? The public sector of this nation has become an abject failure (in sharp contrast with the private sector, which time and again bails out the global economy, when the rest of the world sputters or regresses). Do we need any proof? * Any day now our national debt will pass the $18 trillion t

WASHINGTON, D.C.— A federal official with the nation’s top auto safety regulator vowed at a House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the agency would consider every legal measure available against a Japanese auto parts supplier suspected of providing car manufacturers with faulty airbags that investigators have linked to the deaths of at least five people, four of them Americans. David Friedman, deputy administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, told lawmakers that

SAN DIEGO – Every two years, we are graced with the opportunity to either restart our Nation or reaffirm Jonathan Gruber’s hypothesis concerning our stupidity. Unfortunately, the Parties have conditioned our behavior to favor the latter. They have also been allowed to erect enormous economic barriers to ballot access that have turned our election cycles into auctions. Legitimate independent candidates with fresh ideas can’t afford the “buy in.” So, we’re stuck… or are we? What if I told you tha

At a time when fewer than 35 of 435 Congressional races are competitive, political spending in midterm elections has never been higher. The projected total for the 2014 elections was $3.67 billion. This includes spending from outside groups, candidates, and political parties -- funded by small and big donors alike -- according to a breakdown of spending by the Center for Responsive Politics. Source: Maryland PIRG and Demos Ten races alone ended up costing more than $40 million as a result of ou

With Thanksgiving upon us, it's time to reflect on the culinary embodiment of this American tradition -- the turkey. The turkey's ascendency to fame has its humble origins as far back as the First Thanksgiving in 1621. In 1789, when a group of congressman had a banquet in honor of a Thanksgiving celebration, they realized the chef had put no turkey on the table. Alexander Hamilton said, "No Citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day." However, it wouldn't be unt

Across the Americas, marijuana is entering the mainstream. Along with a Republican victory in the November elections, various marijuana laws passed around the country in referendum measures. Similarly, marijuana legislation has passed in elected bodies around Latin America in recent years. The nature of these laws, however, differ drastically. Here is a regional comparison to see the state of legalization and decriminalization around the Western hemisphere. In the most recent election, Oregon

While the news is focusing on the newly-elected Republican Congress wrangling with whether or not to overturn Washington, D.C.'s decriminalization of marijuana, the "War on Drugs" continues to be lost on all fronts.The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports heroin use is on a dramatic rise since 2007,  with numbers reaching all-time highs. The cause of the problem: cheap street heroin due to a large market supply. The sad reality, though, is that our War on Terror in Afghanistan is the sole

Registered nurses organized strikes across the country on Wednesday to protest care standards in the wake of the Ebola crisis, even as some hospitals wrangled with union members over their pensions, pay, and collective bargaining rights. National Nurses United, the Maryland-based union responsible for organizing the demonstrations, laid claim to 100,000 nurses joining protests over prevention and care standards nationwide.“The lack of concern for nurses and patients in a world where corporation

On Monday, November 11, FairVote filed an amicus brief with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in support of a lawsuit challenging the current primary system in New Jersey, which the EndPartisanship.org coalition argues gives the Republican and Democratic parties a monopoly over the political process while locking out 47 percent of the state's electorate. FairVote, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., is committed to supporting electoral systems that offer every voter fa