Just before Thanksgiving, I received a call out of the blue from a friend of Oz Griebel, a well-known and very respected business leader in Connecticut, and a Republican. He began by telling me that Mr. Griebel is exploring a run for governor, and that I was on his short list.

“Short list for what,” I asked. “You know I am a Democrat, right? And, I believe strongly in gun violence prevention, social justice reform, and protecting our most vulnerable” among other issues.

“I didn’t change, the system changed. This system is terribly broken.”

That’s what Colorado State Senator Cheri Jahn wrote in her announcement on Friday, declaring that she’s left the Democratic Party and will serve the remainder of her term as an independent.

“The unaffiliated voters in my district and statewide deserve representation.”

This is a really big deal.

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.

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.

Every day, 122 young undocumented immigrants who were raised in this country and are known as Dreamers, are losing their legal protection, their livelihood, and their liberty because Congress has failed to act.

Over the last four months, Congress has had the opportunity to pass a Dreamer bill that provides permanent protection, but Congress has delayed taking action, making one excuse after another.

Their delay has put thousands of Dreamers in jeopardy.

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.

A largely ignored development at year-end 2017 was the story that the Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein’s campaign is under senate investigation for collusion with Russia.  

Dr. Stein was the Green Party’s presidential nominee in 2016 and was on the general election ballot in 47 states.  She received more votes than Donald Trump’s margin of victory in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.  Those states accounted for a combined 46 electoral votes and together would have swung the election to Hillary Clinton.  

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:

PIERRE, S.D. – On December 29th, the South Dakota Voter Protection and Anti-Corruption Amendment was certified as Amendment W for the November 2018 ballot by Secretary of State Shantel Krebs. This is a victory for the anti-corruption movement and South Dakotans who are fighting back, after the repeal of the South Dakota Anti-Corruption Act earlier this year.

Maine legislators first delayed and set a popular ballot initiative -- ranked choice voting -- up for repeal because they didn't like what voters wanted. Now, new measures from the secretary of state threaten the citizens' initiative process itself.