Posted by jesse shayne on September 25, 2017 at 2:36 PM
This article was written by Becky Trudeau for IVN
Were you unhappy with your choice of candidates in the 2016 election cycle? Do you want to see a broader slate of candidates that are passionate about working to solve the big issues that really affect you and your family in 2018 and beyond? Candidates that aren’t controlled by special interest groups and big money, corporate donors? Then you need to support open primaries in Florida.
Even though primaries are financed by all taxpayers, they are 100% controlled by the Democratic and Republican Parties. Consequently, the message to voters is also controlled by the two parties.
Since all people tend to form their opinions through the lens of partially conceived notions based on a variety of factors with a community of like believers (friends, family, associates, media), we miss out on the benefit of opposing views. It’s extremely easy in this age of information to shut out views that make us uncomfortable, and it is only human nature.
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Posted by jesse shayne on September 19, 2017 at 11:45 AM
Last month, the California legislature did something unheard of — by Washington, D.C., standards. They came together across party lines to amend and extend sweeping cap and trade emissions legislation. Business, agriculture, labor and environmentalists all had a seat at the table.
By 2030, California’s population is expected to grow by five million people, yet our greenhouse gas emissions will shrink to 40 percent below 1990 levels. In this era of cynicism and gridlock, how is this possible?
The answer may surprise you. It’s not because California is a “blue” state. If that were the reason, New York would be leading the country in legislative innovation, not state house scandals and indictments. Seven years ago, Californians overhauled the political system so that voters have more choices and politicians are incentivized to cooperate and innovate, not grandstand and polemicize.
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Posted by jesse shayne on September 18, 2017 at 1:21 PM
This article was written by Laurent Belsie for the Christian Science Monitor
Search for Solutions: America’s political dysfunction stems from a duopoly structure that’s been amplified in recent decades, a new report argues. Some states may already be pointing toward solutions that better serve the public interest.
In 2015, shortly after selling her family’s food-products business, CEO Katherine Gehl had an epiphany: What if you analyzed the US political system as an industry? Suddenly, new answers appeared for questions, such as: Why are politics so partisan? Why can’t Washington get things done? Ms. Gehl teamed up with Harvard business professor Michael Porter, a consultant for her family business, to investigate the industry of politics. On Sept. 13, they released a report, “Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America.” Here are edited excerpts of their conversation with Monitor business writer Laurent Belsie.
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Posted by jesse shayne on September 18, 2017 at 10:55 AM
This article was written by Jeffrey Sparshott for the Wall Street Journal
The U.S. political system isn’t broken. It’s working exactly the way the two main parties designed it.
That’s the conclusion of a new Harvard Business School study. Authors Katherine Gehl, former president and CEO of Gehl Foods, and Michael Porter, a professor at the school, apply business theory to the U.S. political system and find an industry that works for Democratic and Republican organizations, big donors, pollsters, consultants, partisan think tanks, the media and lobbyists, but ignores most American citizens.
“By nearly every measure, the industry of politics, itself, is thriving,” Ms. Gehl and Mr. Porter said in the report. “There’s just one problem. The people whom the politics industry is supposed to serve have never been more dissatisfied.”
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Posted by jesse shayne on September 14, 2017 at 10:08 AM
This article was written by Tiani X. Coleman and Harry Kresky for the Huffington Post
According to Judge William J. Zloch, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, they can’t.
On August 25, 2017, Judge Zloch dismissed a significant lawsuit brought by activists fighting a grave injustice in the electoral system, the unfairness of the Democratic primary. This case, known as the “DNC lawsuit” was brought by supporters of Bernie Sanders who felt they had a cause of action against the Democratic National Committee (“DNC”) and its then Chairwoman Deborah Wasserman Shultz, for fraud and misrepresentation, for tilting the playing field against Bernie Sanders and in favor of Hillary Clinton, who won the nomination but then went on to lose the presidency to Donald Trump. The implications of Zloch’s dismissal are a big deal for the public at large, whether one is a Bernie fan or not. The issue is whether our country really stands for the proposition that all citizens should have equal voting rights.
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Posted by jesse shayne on September 08, 2017 at 10:57 AM
This article was written by Abraham Sanchez for New Mexico Politics
The height of political fragility will be on display again in June of 2018. Major political parties will parade around our state eagerly awaiting the outcome of their primary elections. While almost a quarter of the voters who bear the cost of this election are not allowed to vote in it, political parties will suggest this effectively decides who our candidates should be in the general election.
Again we’ve seen our New Mexico Legislature miss vital opportunities to change the way we conduct elections in our state. In this year’s session, important measures to remedy our broken elections were ignored and dismissed.
Opening closed primary elections to all New Mexico voters was rejected. Then, legislation to increase the amount of time people have to register to vote was discarded. We saw nothing come of attempts to change our legislative re-districting process. We have failed to take a serious look at the unreasonable requirements for independent and minor party candidates to run for office.
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Posted by jesse shayne on September 06, 2017 at 11:56 AM
This article was written by Chuck Witt for the Winchester Sun
It might be interesting to see how voters in Clark County define themselves.
Nationally, more voters claim to be Independents than either Democrat or Republican.
A 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 39 percent of those polled claimed to be Independent, while only 32 percent opted for Democrat and 23 percent for Republican labels.
(Obviously, that only adds up to 94 percent, so six percent either chose to not classify themselves or didn’t answer the question, and these percentages probably don’t hold true for Kentucky voters). Some information suggests that the percentage of Independents may be as high as 43 percent nationwide.
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Posted by jesse shayne on August 30, 2017 at 11:40 AM
This article was written by former Missouri State Senator Marvin A. Singleton for the Kansas City Star
The political system we have come to know and practice — outlined by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and giving one vote to each citizen — is in grave danger.
We have recently seen candidates for the presidency with historically high negatives. Neither major candidate was able to discuss major policies or their visions for the country. Instead, we saw personal attacks, accusations, misinformation and the general lack of a thoughtful approach to governing. “Trust me” is no longer a valid policy statement or position for any politician.
Regardless of how we got here, to ensure that our democracy moves forward and represents the will of the majority of Americans, change in the system must come — fundamental change in how we chose our candidates. We must give the majority of citizens input into the process.
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Posted by jesse shayne on August 28, 2017 at 4:46 PM
Party politics is killing America and Illinois. It is not enough to just elect different people into a bad system. We have to fundamentally change politics, and that starts with real open primaries.
The 2016 presidential election has opened the eyes of Americans who are more aware than ever of a rigged political system working against the voters.
Americans are fed up with a political party establishment more interested in their side “winning” than in what is best for the country.
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Posted by jesse shayne on August 16, 2017 at 12:28 PM
Listen to OP President John Opdycke discuss the growing movement for political reform with Jeff Brown, news anchor from CBS Radio Boston.
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