Any time we read about Chris Christie's weight loss exploits, it is always tied to his presumed attempt at the 2016 presidential race. After shedding over 85 pounds, he would not even come close to Taft's 300 pound stature -- yet American's are still intrigued by his health issues as a possible major contender in national politics.

As citizens, we should be aware of all bills in the "House Bill Hopper."  It's really not that difficult; in fact, it takes but a few minutes to do so in order to form our own views.

Well, it shouldn't be difficult, but many people still rely on cable news outlets -- colloquially known as the mainstream media -- to stay informed of current events. Unfortunately, these news sources rarely report on important pieces of legislation unless there is controversy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU

"Net neutrality. The only two words that promise more boredom in the English language are, 'featuring Sting.'"

In a probing and preliminary survey conducted by Harper in February 2013, a mere one percent of likely Democratic primary voters declared their preference for Tom Wolf, who had yet to officially announce his candidacy for governor of the Keystone State. A Quinnipiac poll a month later found that a full 85 percent of Pennsylvanians had not heard enough of Tom Wolf to determine whether they viewed him favorably or unfavorably.

As the Edward Snowden interview with Brian Williams concluded, Snowden stated that he is comfortable with his actions of divulging the NSA’s information gathering program. After watching the interview, my thoughts were much the same: I am content with Snowden’s actions.

A March 7 Pew Research article found that 50 percent of Millennials consider themselves independent. When compared to the 39 percent of Gen Xers, 37 percent of Boomers, and 32 percent of Silents who say the same, a trend becomes clear: as generations come and go, the number of independents continues to increase. Will Millennials be the generation to finally end partisanship?

For some, the answer is a definite yes.

California voters went to the polls on Tuesday, June 3, to decide which top two candidates would advance to the general election in several races. Initial results show a promising trend for candidates supporting individual voter rights.

California's nonpartisan, top-two open primary allows all voters and candidates to participate on a single ballot, protecting the right all voters have to equal access to elections. Across the state, candidates who have declared their support for nonpartisan primaries have secured a spot on the November ballot.

The race to represent Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District in Congress was crowded, at least for one party. Iowa held statewide primary elections on Tuesday and registered Republicans had a slew of candidates from which to choose, which splintered the vote and prevented a nominee from being crowned. The nominee will be chosen at a convention on June 21.

It is quite well known by now that there is two-party dominance in the United States because of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) -- or plurality -- electoral system. Third parties can have an unintended “spoiler effect” on contests by stealing votes from the ideologically similar -- but more viable -- candidate.

For instance, in Virginia’s 2013 gubernatorial election, Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis siphoned nearly 150,000 votes from Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s total, which was enough to give Democrat Terry McAuliffe a 55,000 vote edge, and the governor’s seat.

On Tuesday’s closed primary elections in New Jersey, where unaffiliated voters were locked out of the process, party affiliates turned up in low numbers to elect their candidates. As a result, no surprises emerged from the electoral results.