Search query: washington

In the wake of the Republican tax reform bill, which has been hailed by supporters as the most significant revision to the federal tax code in 30 years, many Democratic states and city governments are looking for ways to work around the effects of GOP tax reform. As it turns out, the Republican-crafted tax reform law just so happens to penalize many taxpayers in states and cities that typically vote Democrat. Interestingly enough, this has led lawmakers in some of these state and local governme

The countdown to 2018 has finished and Washington has snapped its head in the direction of another countdown: the mid-term elections in November. In just eleven months, the balance of power can be easily swayed in Congress, which means this year is setting up to be two things: dramatic and expensive. Very Expensive. So, grab some popcorn and your calculator because big money is pouring in to district races from all over the country, and it’s set to make history. In order to flip the Republica

In the last week of 2017, the Washington Post published an article highlighting perhaps the biggest winner from the the new GOP tax plan: accountants. The bill’s passage on partisan lines, along with the rhetoric that’s followed, is yet another indication that the two parties and their enablers in the media are more interested in staying in power than being honest with the American people or truly doing what’s best. Many Americans have been debating this topic and as has sadly become the norm,

American voters who have remained in the two-party system are more partisan than ever before and they're saying so in public opinion polls every year: "Surveys over time have used a 100-point thermometer scale to rate how voters feel toward each other, from cold to warm. Democrats and Republicans have been giving lower and lower scores — more cold shoulder — to the opposite party. By 2008, the average rating for members of the other party was barely above 30. That’s significantly worse than how

Say what you want about 2017, it wasn't the slow and boring year in politics many politicos would have otherwise expected from an odd year -- a year that falls between presidential and midterm elections. For independents and the reform community, there were significant events that happened in 2017 -- game-changing even -- from ongoing lawsuits against the Commission on Presidential Debates to the DNC lawsuit to the growing movement for electoral reform. IVN was here to report on them all. Here

Ron Paul believes President Donald Trump could be opening himself up to a challenge in the 2020 Republican primary, especially if "things are really much worse" than they appear to be. “The big opening for us is the fact that this system is coming apart. We’re on the verge of something like what happened in ‘89 when the Soviet system just collapsed. I’m just hoping our system comes apart as gracefully as the Soviet system,” Paul said in an interview with The Washington Examiner. If it happened

For many, 2017 was another tumultuous year in US politics, defined once more by the hyper-partisan divide on Capitol Hill and rhetoric in the media. As a result of the continued toxic political environment, millions of Americans are not only dissatisfied with the two-party duopoly, but want more choices in elections and are looking to political leaders who are willing to put voters and country before their party, and challenge partisan group think when it doesn't align with their principles. I

Whatever your views on the tax bill, Roy Moore vs. Doug Jones or the Trump presidency, the last few weeks should trouble you if you love our country. Partisan pundits from each of the two warring factions have declared victory or stunning, breathless defeat, depending on the outcome for their team. These three recent flash points demonstrate for me yet again the dangerous and unhealthy times we are in. Each of these represents clearly the deep divides that drive our politics right now. It worr

Keeping staffers under criminal investigation employed and rigging a primary election process to the favor of the party-anointed candidate is certainly enough to make the list of "worst ethics violators." The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) released its list of "top 5 ethics violators of 2017." At the top of the list, second only to the unnamed members of Congress linked to the fresher and ongoing sexual harassment scandal, is US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.). "In

T.J. O’Hara is joined by Brian Baird, former Democratic U.S. representative and co-founder of Washington Independents. The two discuss the partisanship and dysfunction in state legislatures and Congress, the Centrist Project and its approach, as well as the principles and goals of the organization he co-founded with former GOP Chair Chris Vance to elect independents. “There was a time when you could work across the aisle with reasonable people on boths sides and get things done. And that has go