A recent trend in the naming of legislation is to include the purported benefits in the title, hence, the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”—aka Obamacare. Unfortunately, experience has shown that legislation titles tend to be diametrically opposed to reality, as in the “paperwork reduction act”.

Some of the largest known reserves of natural gas are located in the United States; our country alone has an estimated 2,400 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. Fracking, the process of injecting gallons of water, sand and chemicals underground at a great pressure in order to extract gas and oil from shale rock formations, allows companies to obtain hard-to-reach resources.

Dear IVN Readers,

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Month 2, July 2013

In my campaign for Governor of Massachusetts, it’s been interesting to learn how many people think voters in our state are almost all Democrats. They’re nearly always surprised to learn that, in fact, a majority – almost 53 percent of voters – are “unenrolled” – independent voters who choose not to be tied to either Democrats or Republicans.

When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie decided to hold the New Jersey special election apart from the previously scheduled November election, he received widespread criticism. Voters and pundits alike blasted the governor for the extra $12 million the election would cost and the potential shortages in equipment and personnel which could create a logistical nightmare for the state in back to back elections.

Governor Jerry Brown and Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Brown are in hot water with the Supreme Court. The system appears to be 9,600 inmates over the legally determined cap. They have until year's end to make the deadline. How will the state realign inmate numbers with constitutional standards without endangering the public?