After much debate, division, and uncertainty, the U.S. House, Senate, and President Obama all agreed to pass legislation to allow the Highway Trust Fund to continue operating in the short term. However, this new bill of $10.8 billion does not actually put more money into the highway fund.

1. Op-ed in The Salt Lake Tribune says 2014 will be a year for independent voters in Utah.

"Primary elections are pivotal in the democratic process and are often the most competitive. But in Utah, independents are compelled to affiliate with a party or accept an abridged ballot.

Before we get into this topic, imagine you are asked to listen to a simple, short story and then asked to answer 4 questions on it. Consider, first, the story:

A little girl named Mary goes to the beach with her mother and brother. They drive there in a red car. At the beach they swim, eat some ice cream, play in the sand have sandwiches for lunch.

Now the questions (try to answer them without looking back at the story. Honor system. No cheating.):

1. What color was the car?

2. Did they have fish and chips for lunch?

The current era, dubiously named “the New Gilded Age” by more than a few journalists, is characterized not only by extreme inequality of wealth, and therefore power, but also the concentration of power in a very small class of people. The idea of an American oligarchy used to be accepted only in small dissident circles, but it has now entered the mainstream.

An adage of former president Richard Nixon was to run to the right in primaries and move to the center in the general election. One of the more-discussed potential 2016 presidential candidates, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), has taken an approach that might be running the axiom in reverse.

With the 2016 presidential election still two years away, many commentators are already deeming Hillary Clinton the anointed Democratic candidate.

1. Republicans and Democrats are calling on Obama to take action against Russia after Malaysia Flight 17 was shot down over the Ukraine.

"The Obama administration’s U.N.

“With Liberty and Justice for All” -- the phrase should be familiar. The idea is a recurring theme in our pledge, our constitution, and our judicial system. But do Americans truly feel they live in a nation that provides liberty and justice for all? A yearly poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports examines how Americans view their country.

Three articles have appeared in the past week from three different sources that draw three different but interrelated pictures about Millennials and their politics. Gallup released a report showing Millennials are the generation most likely to identify as independent. Almost half of all Millennials surveyed initially identified as independent.

1. Opinion piece in the Montgomery Advertiser advocates adopting a nonpartisan, top-two open primary system in Alabama.

"Even more importantly, however, this eliminates the unfair choices that some voters have to make under the current system.