Runoffs get touted as a solution for vote splitting between similar candidates and overall better elections. Certainly, just about anything is better than the choose-one plurality voting that the US uses so extensively. But are runoffs really the great solution we make them out to be? (We already know that—like any voting method—runoffs can’t guarantee an absolute majority.)

Bernie Sanders supporters continue their fight against the Democratic National Committee, California lawmakers aren't addressing the real problem with presidential primaries, and an independent candidate emerges in Maine's gubernatorial race. All that and more this week in nonpartisan news.

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Fake news -- it’s a term we often hear about, but don’t often get the opportunity to see examples of just how slanted, biased, and fake the news has become.

Now comes the hard part. The house passing health care repeal and replace legislation is a significant short-term win for President Trump, but it won’t mean anything lest he can wrangle the Senate’s support. And that won’t be easy.

House Republicans are celebrating a major victory over the Affordable Care Act (colloquially known as Obamacare). The House voted 217-213 on a repeal and replace bill Thursday. However, not every Republican is smiling.

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U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was one of 20 Republicans to vote against the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Shortly after the vote, Massie explained his decision on Facebook:

Thursday the House will again attempt to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. Americans have been anxiously waiting in anticipation especially since the Freedom Caucus expressed support for the GOP’s new plan. The bill does indeed rescind some Obamacare taxes and regulations while putting other measures in place, but is it really what the country needs?

Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week.

Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities.

The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday.

At the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey said a number of curious things, but one comment in particular stood out. When asked about Russian influence in the U.S. election and the ability to combat a foreign actor’s misinformation campaign, the Director said, “We need to arm ourselves with good troll armies pushing back.”

Say what?

Evangelizers often run into resistance, and so I’ve noticed not everyone I talk to about the Centrist Project gets excited. “Sorry, but it’s a waste of time. Third parties can’t succeed in America. We’ve got a two-party system and these are the two parties we’ve got.” Or to put it differently, we’re stuck with the way things are.

But the lessons of American history aren’t quite as clear cut as the naysayers would have it.

After busting some myths about US education performance and its causes, we interview renowned SF Teacher of the Year Lana Corda to understand some of the challenges facing one of the toughest school districts in the country. We learn a lot about the on-the-ground details on some of the barriers to improving student performance.