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If a group of people told you that elected officials, influential civic groups, the mainstream media, and independent polling organizations were all engaged in a systematic effort to effectively silence them by ensuring that the wider public was not exposed to their views and opinions, you might conclude that this was nothing but an elaborate conspiracy theory. Yet, this is the reality faced by third party and independent candidates for elected office all across the United States. In Pennsylva

As California undergoes implementation of the federal health care reform legislation over the next four years, the experiences and challenges Massachusetts has faced in its implementation of its own state-run health care reform can serve as a helpful guide. In 2006, Massachusetts passed it own state health reform law long before the federal law was even conceived. Since its inception, the number of uninsured has fallen by half – from 13 to 7 percent over all. More specifically, the uninsured ra

On July 1, the federal government and dozens of states set up temporary “high-risk” health insurance pools for people denied health insurance due to so-called pre-existing conditions. These pools were one of the major provisions included in federal health care reform signed into law early this year. However, this is only a temporary fix intended to provide health insurance to individuals without coverage until the law goes fully into effect in 2014, when insurance companies will no longer be ab

The two-party duopoly is a threat to the free exchange of ideas.  The establishment parties, in conjunction with a complicit corporate media, often exclude third party and independent voices and perspectives.  But, opportunities to challenge this deeply entrenched political system are beginning to increase, especially this year as anti-incumbent sentiment reaches historic levels. Jake Towne, an independent candidate for Congress in Pennslyvania's CD-15, announced late last week that he has been

Given the US public's deep dissatisfaction with the Democratic and Republican parties, numerous political commentators and prognosticators have suggested that the current political climate favors outsiders and the Independent. In the northeast, for instance, there are a number of promising independent candidates for governor.  Lincoln Chafee continues to lead the polls in Rhode Island's gubernatorial contest.  In Massachusetts, Tim Cahill's candidacy is likely to ensure a competitive three-pers

Celebrated author and local food advocate, Michael Pollan, recently observed that the growing awareness of food as sustenance for social and individual health (instead of simply being “fuel”) is reconnecting families, legitimizing our democratic way of life, and proscribing the demands of healthcare in an era when all three institutions stand on the brink. Food's relationship to the realm of politics is often overlooked, but the link is latent. As Pollan so eloquently expresses in his most re

Though it is almost universally accepted that the politics of the presidency make it virtually impervious to the efforts of independent and third party candidates, there is rarely ever any lack of speculation regarding their prospects.  This fact is symptomatic of the public's deep discontent with the Democratic-Republican political establishment and the gridlocked two-party system. Americans have not been shy in articulating this dissatisfaction to anyone who is willing to listen.  In a New Yo

In a joint hearing of California’s state Senate and Assembly health committees on Wednesday, health experts testified on the challenges ahead as California begins the process of implementing the federal health care reform law.   Under the new law, states will be required to set up a “marketplace” or health insurance “exchange” where people can buy health insurance coverage.  This “exchange” is to be set up by 2014 when all Americans will be required to have health insurance. Testifying on the

California is weighing in on a landmark Supreme Court case with far-reaching implications for agriculture the world over. The Attorney Generals of California, Oregon and Massachusetts have filed amicus briefs along with a coalition of scientists, organic and conventional farmers, food exporters, former government officials and legal scholars in support of the Center for Food Safety, an anti-GMO advocacy group opposing Monsanto. In Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, the American biotech giant –

30 years after his first landslide win, President Ronald Reagan remains an electrifying source of inspiration for many leading Republicans. Governor Mitt Romney often cited Reagan as a political hero, and a politician with the right idea. Reagan, a longtime California resident, Hollywood actor and California Governor, would eventually become the first and only Governor-turned American President from California. Today, under speculation that he is metaphorically suiting up for the 2012 president