Closed primaries disenfranchise independents. Open primaries give voters more control of the candidate selection process. That also increases the number of independent voters, forcing political parties to moderate their extreme positions.
via independentvoting.org

This is also about being able to make the investments we need to succeed and it’s about we, as a country, being willing to pay for those investments and closing our deficits.
Barack Obama, on the Buffet Rule 

PRESS RELEASE

"Over the past decade, consumer electronics have become a cornerstone to American living. If you're like most Americans, you probably own a cell phone, computer and at least one television. But the question no one's asking is: where do all the gadgets come from?"

The U.S. Census Bureau released their 2011 Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections report today, showing state revenue from taxes increased across the board last year.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly unemployment benefit applications jumped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 380,000.
The Associated Press, 4/12/2012

The task force report on the November 18th UC Davis pepper spray incident took some surprisingly strong swipes at the university’s chain of command, attacking decision-making and communications at the level of the police’s and the school’s leaders.

Tax season is upon us again. Here are a few tips to perhaps make things easier, plus a few things about the IRS that may surprise you.

File your federal taxes online for free with Internal Revenue Service e-file.

This nasty period of high unemployment that has plagued the U.S. economy since 2009 will not come to an end until policymakers begin to think more economically.

As a result of the viral video on electoral reform out of my briefing to the Occupy NYC working group on electoral reform, a number of stakeholders got in touch with me.  Others I have identified via searches for major civil society elements with defined electoral reform programs.