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With all the news on impeachment updates, a news story that flew under the radar this week was the latest decision by the Supreme Court to punt on a gerrymandering case out of Ohio. Reuters reports: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a challenge to Republican-drawn congressional districts in Ohio that Democrats said were drawn to unlawfully diminish their political clout, a move that follows a major ruling by the justices in June that foreclosed such lawsuits. The court’s action in t

With all the news on impeachment updates, a news story that flew under the radar this week was the latest decision by the Supreme Court to punt on a gerrymandering case out of Ohio.

Referencing events in El Paso and Dayton a week ago, the editors of The Lives of Guns, commented via Politico, “The two mass shootings this weekend have inflamed a gun-control debate that never seems to go away and never seems to get resolved.” This, of course, came only days after an incident at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Salinas, CA. I have long agreed with Forbes contributor Louis Woodhill, who said we have two parties:an evil party (the Democrats) and a stupid party (the Republicans), wh

The Supreme Court’s decision to punt on partisan gerrymandering (RUCHO ET AL. v. COMMON CAUSE ET AL.) was discouraging for many in the electoral reform movement, but really should not have come as a surprise. The recent Court has given broad latitude to the Constitution’s granting to state legislatures control of state election law. And with this ruling, the Court made clear that the majority believes partisan gerrymandering - no matter how exclusionary, unfair, or anti-democratic - is a politic

Independent and third party candidates more often than conventional candidates clearly identify America’s core challenges, pains and crises. They sometimes present well-considered solutions, though they may not know enough about the legislative and executive branches of government to implement those solutions. Still, here are seven reasons why independent presidential debates and forums will save America in 2020. 1. Integrity Whether driven by public service or personal ego, every single Demo

A Roadmap to A Better Democracy By: Wes Messamore Reform activists from around the country gathered in the Country Music Capital of the World –– Nashville, Tennessee –– over the last weekend in March to celebrate an absolute tidal wave of policy victories in 2018; listen to inspirational speeches; share and learn the nuts and bolts of policy reform; and even to air fierce differences of opinion over the best way to reform elections in America and over other areas of public policy. How they buz

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is leaning strongly toward running for president in 2020 as a third-party candidate -- the wisest course for him. But if he does, he should make systemic political reform part of his agenda. That’s because, out of sight of most of the media, there’s a growing movement around the country actively working to “unrig” a system that now works for the Republican and Democratic Parties, their donors and affiliated special interests, rather than the American people. The movement

“Bringing manufacturing back to America, creating high wage jobs, was one of our campaign promises and themes” Donald Trump proclaimed to a room full of reporters in early 2017, less than one month after being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Trump’s focus on manufacturing jobs dates back to some of the earliest days of his campaign, and served as the rationale for pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and renegotiating NAFTA. It also was the reason he lobbied Foxconn

Washington, D.C. - Ohio will be the first state in the nation to use blockchain technology for tax payments. Businesses will be able to pay 23 types of taxes via bitcoin. But if blockchain is secure enough for a government to collect money from companies, why hasn't it been given the green light for widespread use in securing our votes? West Virginia used a new blockchain pilot program to allow military men and women, as well as their families, to cast their votes in the midterm elections usin

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The biggest story in the 2018 election cycle was not what color of wave we saw. It was not President Donald Trump using the Ecuadorian immigrant caravan as a campaign issue. It was not the Democrats’ focus on the president’s behavior while holding the Oval Office. The biggest story in 2018 was the voter revolt against the political status quo. Political and election reform had its most groundbreaking year in half a century, and most media outlets didn’t pay attention. From