Let’s take a look at the numbers…

Number of independents increased by 3.4%, or 254,310 voters 

Number of Democratic registration decreased by 5.4%, or 825,708 voters 

Number of Republicans decreased by 3.1%, or 378,835

Full Politico Report 

12 Ways to Make Congress Work

…instead of plugging in the headphones, entering an Internet-induced fugue state and quietly giving in to hopelessness, they used the Internet to find one another and take to the streets to insist on fairness and (in the Arab world) freedom.
WE ARE THE PERSON OF THE YEAR (via pimpradio)

Having long been ignored by the mainstream media, Ron Paul's campaign for the Republican party's presidential nomination appears to be surging in Iowa, just three weeks ahead of the state's 2012 caucuses on January 3rd.  Indeed, some polls are now placing the Texas Congressman in a statistical tie with the race's most recent front-runner, former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

A highly contentious initiative blocking unions from making political contributions via automatic payroll deductions will be on the ballot in November 2012. In what promises to be a turbulent, divisive election year, this proposition will bring out the heavy artillery, as both sides will unquestionably raise and spend millions trying to defeat or pass it.

In yet another showdown between the Obama Administration and the states, which are already challenging President Obama's signature health care legislation in the nation's highest court, the Supreme Court announced Monday that it would also be taking on Arizona's controversial and tough immigration law, passed in 2010.