Search query: iowa

Dr. Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, and a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, recently had some sobering words for the two major political parties in the United States. On a Washington Post podcast, Dean said, "The most reliable demographic of our voters are the young people across the board, across racial and ethnic lines," but added that this is a major problem for the DNC, because: "These people are not Democrats." Dean went on to explain: "Th

These are the best of times—and the worst of times—for independents striving to disrupt and transform our broken politics. The Best of Times Though it can be obscured in the dust and smoke of moment-by-moment partisan rancor and wrangling, tangible progress is apparent in vital areas: 1. Poll after poll shows rising, record numbers of citizens declaring themselves as Independent. Given the extensive privileges in law and custom accorded to the Republicans and Democrats, this is no small cha

Voting in America is not easy. You first have to register. You have to find your polling place. In most states, you have to take time before, during, or after work to get to your polling place. You have to wait in line, sometimes for hours. In some states, you even have to prove you are who you say you are. And then, after all that, in the vote for president at least, if you don’t happen to vote for the candidate who happens to win in your state, your vote is worth nothing. It counts for nothi

How Can Citizens Redress their Grievances of an Unfair Election Process?According to Judge William J. Zloch, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, they can’t.On August 25, 2017, Judge Zloch dismissed a significant lawsuit brought by activists fighting a grave injustice in the electoral system, the unfairness of the Democratic primary.This case, known as the “DNC lawsuit” was brought by supporters of Bernie Sanders who felt they had a cause of action against the Democra

Don’t blink or you might miss it. While much of our attention, and that of Congress, is appropriately focused on hurricane recovery, the United States Senate this week is quietly taking up the National Defense Authorization Act that will set the Pentagon’s budget and programs for next year. There are some major issues in play, and those of us who are concerned about spending, foreign military interventions, surveillance, and transgender rights need to be paying attention. Waging Wars without

Unemployment in the US has been under 6% since 2015. In 2017, it hit its lowest in 16 years, 4.2%, close to full employment. People are not feeling it in their paychecks, however. Wage growth is "out of whack," according to Mitchell Hartman of Market Place Media, at 2%, .5% lower than the inflation rate. In an era of rising socialist sentiments, a burning question is -- why aren't jobs working for the people? Experts claim that uncertainty and low productivity are to blame, but productivity h

If you were born after 1968, you’ve never seen a third-party presidential candidate receive a single electoral vote. Even in 2016’s “lesser-of-two-evils” contest, third-party candidates combined to earn roughly five percent of the vote, the same number Ross Perot achieved on his own in 1992. Our system is becoming increasingly stratified. Presidential election numbers make good illustrations, but they don’t define our political system. Independents and third-party members have been fighting t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfjWIpnfjgQ As voters, we’ll be asked to ignore the dereliction of duty demonstrated by our elected leaders; threatened with horrible outcomes if a federal budget isn’t passed and the debt ceiling isn’t increased; then, suffer through the traditional blame game, where the two major parties take turns distorting the truth and casting aspersions at each other in an attempt to gain a political advantage in next year’s midterm elections. As I’ve said in the past, pe

Halfway through watching the president’s rally in Phoenix Tuesday night, I had the almost uncontrollable urge to jump on social media and blast off a post expressing my anger. Blaming the mainstream media, democrat’s, disloyal Republican senators and left-wing protesters for legislative failures and bad press doesn’t sit well with me. But, since I am the author of the book: Polarized! The Case for Civility in the Time of Trump-- An experiment in civil discourse on Facebook--restraint won the ni

Editor’s note: This article originally published on Kate Harveston's blog "Only Slightly Biased" on August 17, 2017, and has been modified slightly for publication on IVN. Feminism has arguably become culturally and socially “trendy” in recent years. If you go to a women’s clothing store nowadays, chances are you’re going to see feminist slogans on some of the t-shirts. TV shows and movies are making sure they have strong female leads to attract female viewers and online discussion. But how muc