I'm Joe Pickering Jr, representing Mainers for Open Elections, a new corporation. We support LD 78. Maine Voters should vote in any election without the label "unaffiliated voter." We the people should own our election system. Political parties have the right of Free Association but NO right to FEE association. Taxpayers shouldn't fund any private organization's primaries. Public funds should only be used for open elections. Mainers deserve choices. Please support LD 78.

Governor Brown has taken critically important action to potentially boost water supply and provide better flood protection in California. He signed Senate Bill 758, The Atmospheric Rivers Research, Mitigation and Climate Forecasting Act, and set aside funds in the current state budget to implement this bill.  His action will accelerate what may be the lowest cost, nearest term, and most likely to succeed effort to increase surface water supply and improve flood protection in our state.

Many independent-minded voters turned to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential election for his populist, anti-establishment message. To them, he represented the kind of statesman who was willing to put people over party interests.

Now, these same voters may have a new politician to get behind, one that doesn't always toe the party line, and is willing to challenge the partisan elite that is out of touch with the American people: U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).

As much of the country waits to see what will happen to the Affordable Care Act, two lawmakers in California decided to wage a preemptive strike by introducing SB 562 which would “establish a comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage program and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state.”

In the pilot episode of IVN's newest podcast, A Civil Assessment, T.J. O'Hara takes a look at electoral reform around the country.

In the fall of 2014, Joe and his dog Charlie set out to chip away at the ever increasing barriers between liberals and conservatives, simply by starting a conversation. Joe had a hunch that we have more in common than we think. The problem is we don't engage in civil discussions with one another.

You wake up to a world divided into two realities. One reality where things are, and another reality where things aren't. In one reality, the influx of migrants and refugees into Sweden has led to a rise in crime. In the other reality, this rise in migrant crime never happened and the Swedish government and media dispute any claims otherwise. These disparate states of reality remain in perpetual conflict with each other and yet co-exist at the same time. This paradox could only exist here in the Twilight Zone.

In years of Obama's presidency, and in the first 2 weeks of Trump's, people have asked me how to convince others to disown their favored president.

On February 7, 2017, the second day of the biannual Nevada legislative session, State Senator James Settelmeyer (R-Minden) introduced Senate Bill (SB) 103. This bill, if passed and signed by the governor, would replace the state’s closed primary system with a non-partisan, blanket top-two primary. The bill is currently awaiting a hearing in the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee. Whether it gets one is up to the committee chair.

#BoycottBudwiser. #DeleteUber. #BoycottNetflix. #BoycottStarbucks. #BOYCOTT.

These are just a few of the latest hashtag campaigns aimed at boycotting businesses in retaliation for uncouth political entanglements. The Twitter protests, all of which have formed in the last few months, stem from social media circles on the political left and right.

As “Hashtag Armies” on both sides of the political spectrum grow stronger, no one’s willing to stop and ask, is anything really being accomplished?