Hello my fellow independent voters and friends, and thank you for reading another one of my articles that just might get you escorted off the premises for making an earnest attempt at some critical reflection and independent thought about a complicated subject!

Note: The author of this article is Emily Matthews. Emily has worked in a vast array of jobs in the political arena and strives to find common ground across party lines.

As the one year anniversary of the 2016 presidential election passes into history, an election people will continue to analyze, critique, and study for generations to come, I, a responsible voter, reflect on what was one of the most exhausting yet meaningful years of my life.

Last weekend’s brief shutdown of our federal government pointed to the hyper-partisanship and paralysis that plagues our federal government.

“Why,” wonder many people, “can’t these people just stop arguing and start doing the people’s work?”

Ironically, just this week the National Association of Non-Partisan Reformers (NANR) announced its launch. It’s a group of individuals and election reform organizations dedicated to increasing electoral competition and voter choice.

With the second annual Women's March taking place this past weekend, feminists nationwide came forward to resist the Trump administration's actions against women.

However, one obvious change that would impact many women's lives for the better was often ignored: the move to a single-payer health care system.

For San Diego sports fans, 2018 couldn't come fast enough.

After losing their NFL team in 2017 to a city to the north, news that one of the city's most beloved sports icons will enter the MLB hall of fame was a salve on an open wound.

Trevor Hoffman spent 16 years with the Padres, his signature entrance to the iconic rock of AC/DC's "Hell's Bells," a tone setting moment for fans. Hoffman finished his MLB career with 601 saves, which was a record when he retired and he's still second to just the great Mariano Rivera.

On Monday, Donald Trump imposed a 30 percent tariff on imported solar panel technology, mostly targeted at Chinese solar panel manufacturers whose prices have become dramatically more competitive in recent years.

This means whatever a foreign company's price is for solar panel parts, the U.S. will make American businesses and households pay 30% more – and it will go right to the U.S. Treasury.