Almost Zero Competition in Our Political Parties, But New Bill Could Change That

Competition is the American way. In business, you hear the following saying: “If we don’t take care of the customer, somebody else will.”

As a nation, back to Teddy Roosevelt’s trust-busting and before, we’ve been well trained to distrust monopolies, or even situations where competition is limited to a handful of providers. We have about eight major airlines in the U.S., and that choice is often painful enough.

But would we ever let our airlines merge such that there were just two? How about our banks?

The Best Solution to Big Money's Influence in Politics is You

It’s an open secret that elections in the United States are as much affected by money as they are by votes. A mediocre candidate with healthy funding is nearly always more likely to win out over a strong candidate without the tools to get their message out.

During the Trump vs. Clinton race, over $4.4 billion was spent on television ads alone.

Water Wars: SD County Water Authority Takes MWD to State Supreme Court

“Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.”

It's not news for those of us who live here, San Diego is expensive.

From meals, to electricity, to water, America's Finest City residents pay through the nose for common services.

San Diego has some of the most expensive water in the country.

DNC Lawsuit Lawyers File Motion to Appeal Dismissal

The DNC lawsuit may not be over just yet.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against the DNC and Debbie Wasserman Schultz filed an intent to appeal Friday, less than a month after the lawsuit was tossed by a federal judge.

IVN Readers React: Should Congress Continue DACA?

The news story that dominated the early part of the week was President Trump's decision to rescind President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive action. The reaction to it was broadly felt across the Internet and on social media.

It is important to note that DACA is not dead yet. Congress has six months to act, something that IVN contributing editor Steve Peace says shouldn't be a problem, given its popularity.

15 Deaths, 400 Sick in Hepatitis A Outbreak in San Diego

According to a report with the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, a Hepatitis A outbreak has engulfed the East Village section of Downtown San Diego, an area that includes a large portion of the community's homeless population.

So far, according to the county report, the outbreak has sickened close to 400 people, caused 15 deaths and nearly 300 hospitalizations.

Stocks Are Booming, But Pay Checks Weak

Unemployment in the US has been under 6% since 2015. In 2017, it hit its lowest in 16 years, 4.2%, close to full employment.

People are not feeling it in their paychecks, however. Wage growth is "out of whack," according to Mitchell Hartman of Market Place Media, at 2%, .5% lower than the inflation rate.