Seniors in America have it tough. Instead of granting COLA (cost of living adjustments), the Republican-controlled Congress has been hard at work finding ways to slash Social Security and Medicare, the two programs which provide the majority of income and medical coverage to millions of retired Americans.

Calling all nonpartisan reform campaigns, projects, and organizations. Do you have a great idea, a new campaign, or an ongoing nonpartisan electoral reform project that deserves attention, endorsement, and funding?

The Boston Globe published an editorial Tuesday, saying the Massachusetts Legislature "would be wise to adopt ranked-choice voting, coupled with a robust voter education campaign, for statewide elections."

The Globe writes:

There are more registered independent voters in the state of Kansas than the total number of voters who participated in the August 7 closed primary elections.

There are 1.8 million registered voters in Kansas. Nearly a third of these voters could not participate in the primary elections, while about a quarter of total registered voters actually participated.

https://twitter.com/BACaskey/status/1026974737208094725

Dr. Tom Coburn, a former member of both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, joins host T.J. O’Hara on this edition of Deconstructed. He discusses the toxic political environment in Washington, D.C. and Congress’ continued resistance to assuming any degree of fiscal responsibility.

Independent candidate Dr. Ann Diamond garnered enough votes in Washington state's 12th legislative district, position 1 Tuesday to place in the top two and advance to the November election. Dr. Diamond could now make history as she would be the first independent elected to the state legislature if she wins in November.

Millions of voters are not just choosing to self-identify as independent of the two major parties, they are dumping their party registrations in droves.

In about half the states that register voters by party, independent voters outnumber at least one of the two major political parties. But here are 9 states where independents not only outnumber registered Republicans AND Democrats, they are also having a significant impact on political developments within the state.

Note: All registration numbers are the most up-to-date as of the time of this writing.

1. Conservatives think you're liberal, and liberals think you're conservative.

When you have discussions with your friends or people online about politics, you get accused by hyper-partisan conservatives of being a radical left winger, and later that same week a hyper-partisan liberal accuses you of being alt-right.

San Diego, CA. - The City Attorney's emergency petition to keep SoccerCity and SDSU West off the November ballot has been denied by the Fourth District Court Of Appeal.

Justices Patricia Benke, Richard Huffman, and Joan Irion  declined to rule on the issues raised by the City Attorney's office.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Facebook has asked large US banks to allow it access to detailed customer data. The social media giant claims the talks were aimed at offering new features with the information.