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In 2010, voters approved Proposition 14. This measure fundamentally changed California’s partisan primaries conducted under rules determined by private political parties into a nonpartisan system in which the purpose of the primary became a public one in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election. This change has empowered millions of California voters with a meaningful opportunity to affect the outcome of elections in California. Nonpartisan voters ar

On Friday, February 6, the Cook Political Report published an article on the impact the nonpartisan, top-two primary and independent redistricting have had on voter turnout. The author, Amy Walter, points out that with both reforms in place, voter turnout has not increased, and has in fact been on the decline. An article by Mark Barabak of the LA Times draws the same conclusion. These articles, however, assess California's primary without reference to the much bleaker situation occurring nation

Amidst a nationwide outbreak of measles, Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R) made headlines this week for his controversial defense of a parent's right to choose whether or not to vaccinate their child. What’s gone relatively unnoticed by the mainstream media, however, is his most recent effort to audit the Federal Reserve. Introduced last week, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2015 would allow the Government Accountability Office to audit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sy

Privacy has been a major concern for the American public in the last several years, primarily because of leaked or released information about government projects involving collecting information about civilian activity. Concerns about the government keeping records of movements, Internet searches, and even conversations have prompted some states to pass legislation to enhance personal privacy protections. On January 26, new information regarding a program called the License Plate Recognition In

For the past two weeks, movie goers have flocked to the film American Sniper, the story of an American hero gunned down by a fellow veteran stricken with PTSD. But new information has revealed that, while the gunman had serious mental health problems, PTSD was not among them. However, major media outlets continue to beat the PTSD drum, adding to the stigma associated with PTSD and mental illness, to the detriment of America's veterans and mental health care at large. Clint Eastwood’s latest w

California State Assemblymember David Hadley (R-South Bay) took office as the representative of Assembly District 66 after one of the most competitive Assembly races in California. After narrowly placing first in the 2014 top-two primary, Hadley unseated incumbent Democrat Al Muratsuchi by just 706 votes. The loss of Muratsuchi's seat was one of a handful of Democratically-controlled seats that led to the loss of a supermajority in the Legislature. The cost of health care will continue to be a

In Saudi Arabia this week, doctors advised that the next phase of the punishment of liberal blogger Raif Badawi be postponed until he has healed from the first. Badawi has been sentenced to ten years in prison, and 1,000 lashes, for openly advocating secularism on his blog “Free Saudi Liberals.” Badawi has received only 50 of those lashes so far, and it has already put his life in danger.Meanwhile, back in the United States, pundits and politicians regularly label the elected president a crimin

Vote Hemp, a major grassroots hemp advocacy group, on Thursday announced the introduction of complementary bills in the U.S. House and Senate, S. 134 and H.R. 525, titled the " Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015," with support on both sides of the political aisle. The Act would remove federal restrictions on the cultivation of industrial hemp, the non-drug oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis. “With bi-partisan support in the Senate and House, we are eager to see 2015 be the year Congress

Two weeks ago, I took an immense amount of criticism in the comments section on both the IVN page and Facebook site for the article, 3 Reasons Why Lower Gas Prices Are Not A Good Thing. Representing many of the comments was a highly liked one from Facebook: It effects the rich negatively, but enriches the middle and lower classes. Was that ad paid for by the Russians? In fairness, I'm not totally sure that many got past the title before they commented, because the article plainly stated that

I have been surprised this week by how many of my friends and acquaintances are actually Islamic studies experts. Since the Charlie Hebdo shootings, I have talked -- online or in person -- with more than two dozen people who (by their own report) have "studied Islam carefully and know that it is a religion that can never be anything but violent." Many of these people have told me that I need to start reading books so I can stop being so wrong when I suggest that the religion of more than 1.2 bi