Libertarians often get blamed for being on the extremes; true to philosophy and guarded against practical compromise. When it comes to libertarian politics, no one articulates a libertarian message more consistently and as widely as Ron Paul.

Another petition on the White House Petitions Page has made headlines, this time concerning the NSA surveillance leaks. On Sunday, a petition was created calling on President Obama to pardon Edward Snowden, the man who claims to be responsible for the leaks.

The petition:

California Common Sense (CACS) provided an infographic (below) that illustrates the differences between Senate Bill 69 and Governor Brown's education funding proposals. The two will be the competing plans to bring money to K-12 schools.

SB 69 relies on higher revenue projections that were provided by the Legislative Analyst Office (LAO). Gov. Brown's plan relies on the more modest estimates from the Department of Finance.

Could we maybe stop pretending that this is an easy question?

Now that we know that the NSA is analyzing telephone and Internet metadata, searching for patterns that might indicate terrorist activity, we are launching into one of those great debates that healthy democracies have to engage in once in a while to remain healthy democracies. Good for us. But let’s make sure that it is a real debate that recognizes the strengths and weaknesses the arguments and the profound complexity of the issues.

Image credit: Journalism.org

The Pew Research Center released a study Monday examining the current landscape of nonprofit news organizations. The study polled 172 digital nonprofits that were started between 1987 and 2012, analyzing everything from staffing requirements to funding models.

As a Congressional Research Service report (CRS Report RL32612) characterized the process, the President of the United States is elected “…under a complex arrangement of constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and political party practices known as the electoral college system.”

It's official. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now on Twitter, tweeting from the Twitter handle @HillaryClinton.

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/344132945122054144

Governor Chris Christie announced that New Jersey will hold special elections in October to fill the seat left vacant after the death of Senator Frank Lautenberg. The cost of this decision has already become controversial, including the $12 million spent on a partisan primary, nobody will vote in.