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President Obama promised to take action on issues ranging from minimum wage to the environment during his recent State of the Union address. Some Republicans are protesting this, as they have protested his previous executive orders, with Paul Ryan going so far as to say that the president is becoming "lawless." But, are these claims justified? Perhaps not. Obama has issued fewer executive orders than other contemporary presidents, according to the Brookings Institute, a nonprofit public poli

On January 16, Gene Berardelli wrote an article for IVN titled, "Hard evidence supports the need for Voter ID laws." While this is a common argument among proponents of voter ID, the existence of hard evidence necessitating the need for voter ID is a questionable proposition at best. In big letters, Mr. Berardelli’s article screams, “Voter Fraud is Real.” Voter fraud is real –– much like getting struck by lightning is, or winning the Powerball Lottery, or getting killed by a falling icicle, or

Alaska Far away from the mainland United States, Alaska is a conservative, red state, but with a libertarian, live-and-let-live hue and a history of openness toward marijuana. In order to get marijuana legalization on the ballot in Alaska this year, the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana in Alaska submitted more than 45,000 signatures to election officials on January 8. With only 30,000 verified signatures necessary to put their initiative on the ballot, Alaska voters will probably have the oppor

Editor's Note: This is a book review and the opinions expressed herein are the author's. "No Labels stands for something vitally important— and utterly commonsense. It stands for the basic principle that if we want to move forward as a country, we need leaders who are willing to sit down with anyone— conservative, liberal, or anyone in between— so long as they are willing to work to achieve shared success for America." - U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, "No Labels: A Shared Vision for a Stronger Ameri

Ask yourself this question; if a merchant I do business with had a major security breach involving my credit card data, would they tell me? The answer is probably no. At least, not right away. Late last year, Target stores experienced a major security breach resulting in the loss or compromise of as many as 110 million customer credit card numbers. According to the KrebsOnSecurity.com website, these credit card numbers have flooded the black market and are selling in huge batches of as many as

In 2012, California’s 31st Congressional District was the site of one of the most competitive congressional races in the country and it is expected to be so again in 2014. The incumbent, U.S. Representative Gary Miller (R), has served in Congress since 1998, but has represented three different districts. He started in the 41st District, which then became the 42nd District following the 2000 Census. In 2010, the Census again displaced Miller -- this time to the 31st District. Until 2012, Miller

UPDATE: Representative Mike McIntyre (D-NC 7) announced his retirement today, January 8. Consequently, the district will most likely be won by the GOP. It should be noted that, assuming the GOP win the 7th district, the North Carolina delegation to the House of Representatives will consist of ten Republicans and three Democrats. North Carolina’s seventh congressional district is considered one of the most competitive districts in the United States, but that wasn’t always the case. Congressman

When I read articles about what is happening in Washington DC, I almost always come away thinking that Americans deserve a better government than we have. But when I read the comments under these same articles, I realize that we have exactly the government we deserve. It would be hard to imagine a government more dysfunctional and divided than the comments section of the Washington Post. I say this as someone who believes that spirited public debate is one of the most important things that the c

Jim Jenkins, an independent candidate, is running to fill an open U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska. The seat is being vacated by Senator Mike Johanns (R) who has decided not to run for re-election when his term is finished. The Republican primary will likely be a heated battle with a significant amount of outside money being spent and political conventional wisdom says that in a state as "red" as Nebraska, the victor of the Republican primary will be the odds-on favorite to join Senator Deb Fischer

Last week, both Illinois and Hawaii passed same-sex marriage making them the 15th and 16th states to do so. Overall, 2013 has been quite a year for the LGBT community. These last two states just seem to put the icing on the proverbial cake. It all comes on the heals of the 2012 election where voters in three states (Maine, Maryland, and Washington) approved same-sex marriage and rejected a ban on it in the state of Minnesota. So, what has transpired during the year? Rhode Island, Delaware, Mi