Centrists Rising

Lawrence Lessig’s Anti-Corruption Act Doesn’t Strike the Root of Money in Politics

Solomon Kleinsmith — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:15:10 +0000

Although I’ve disagreed with some details of their work over the years, I’m generally a fan of the work that United Republic and Lawrence Lessig (among others) do on the issue of money in politics. They’ve certainly done our country a great service in bringing the issue more to the fore. Regardless of my lack [...]

Lawrence Lessig’s Anti-Corruption Act Doesn’t Strike the Root of Money in Politics appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Solomon Kleinsmith

Will Church and State Remain Separate?

Steve Krabbe — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:24:12 +0000

Over the past week, there has been much discussion about the separation of church and state. Last week, North Carolina saw a proposal to allow the state to declare an official religion. Yesterday, Forbes reported that one third of survey respondents wanted Christianity to become the official religion of their state and of the country [...]

Will Church and State Remain Separate? appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Drone On: to Drone or not to Drone, that is the ?

Scott — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:50:05 +0000

To Drone or not to Drone; that is the Question that The Atlantic is asking in their article this morning: Can Voters Fight Domestic Drones at the Ballot Box? To answer the question: I don’t know. There are so many issues here, so I’ll try to go through them, and we’ll see. Technology and Economics: [...]

Drone On: to Drone or not to Drone, that is the ? appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Scott

Gay Marriage Polls Show Huge Gains Since DOMA Passed

Solomon Kleinsmith — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:46:12 +0000

It’s been about fifteen years since the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was passed, blocking the federal benefits that come with marriage from same-sex couples, and says that one state doesn’t have to recognize a gay couple’s marriage from another state. Not only has a decade and a half passed, but an enormous amount has [...]

Gay Marriage Polls Show Huge Gains Since DOMA Passed appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Solomon Kleinsmith

SCOTUS, Prop 8, Gay Marriage, James Madison and Majority Rule

Dividist — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:06:59 +0000

Tuesday the Supreme Court considered the question of whether California’s Proposition 8 ban on same sex marriage was constitutional. Wednesday, in a separate case, they considered whether married gay couples are entitled to receive the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples. SCOTUSblog reads the tea leaves and reviews the legal arguments: “The case argued Tuesday — Hollingsworth [...]

SCOTUS, Prop 8, Gay Marriage, James Madison and Majority Rule appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Dividist

Rand Paul Dead on for Going After Obama and Dubya on Pot

Solomon Kleinsmith — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:32:04 +0000

Boy, Rand Paul is sure killing it lately. I disagree with quite a bit of what he believes, but the media seems to be eating whatever he says alive, and he has been dropping some bombs that really hit home. The latest bomb Rand Paul dropped mirrors something I’ve said for a long time about [...]

Rand Paul Dead on for Going After Obama and Dubya on Pot appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Solomon Kleinsmith

Senate and House Work Hard to Accomplish Nothing

Steve Krabbe — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 02:07:36 +0000

Finally, the Senate passes a budget, the first in four years. It barely passed too! And, it has no chance of passing the House of Representatives. Several Democrats crossed party lines to vote against it. Let’s not forget the House passed a budget last week too! That one was passed along party lines too. Oh, [...]

Senate and House Work Hard to Accomplish Nothing appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

On the Potential Ban of Assault Rifles

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:44:11 +0000

This article was originally posted on The Moderate Independent on January 10, 2013. When it comes to recent events concerning guns, some of the main points of discussion are assault rifles, large capacity magazines, and the far too many incidences of mass shootings. Also, we have three different aspects of these that affect gun control: [...]

On the Potential Ban of Assault Rifles appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

The Constitution and Gun Ownership

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:40:55 +0000

This article originally posted on The Moderate Independent on January 11, 2103. If you ask those who have the strongest feelings on gun control, there are only two views. Either you want to take everyone’s guns (by the force of a gun when necessary) or everyone should have a gun of any type they want at any [...]

The Constitution and Gun Ownership appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Mass Shootings, Guns, and Responsibility

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:38:06 +0000

This article originally posted on The Moderate Independent on January 14, 2013. It seems like each time I sit down to finish writing about the gun issue (at least for now), there is another incident. A few days ago, it was a teen with a shotgun in California shooting at classmates. Thankfully, there were teachers and staff [...]

Mass Shootings, Guns, and Responsibility appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Climate Change and Politics

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:31:09 +0000

This article was originally posted on The Moderate Independent on January 21,2013. Climate Change (formerly called Global Warming) is a topic that will not go away anytime soon, nor will the problem. It is going to be debated in the local, state, national, and world stages until it is solved or it is too late. There are three [...]

Climate Change and Politics appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Same-Sex Marriage and My Opinion

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:23:18 +0000

This article originally posted on The Moderate Independent on January 25, 2013. With the Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8 and DOMA soon, this deserves a repost: The last few days has seen many changes in the world when it comes to the issue of gay marriage. In Rhode Island yesterday (January 24, 2013), the [...]

Same-Sex Marriage and My Opinion appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Reform Party on the Sequester

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:10:51 +0000

This article originally posted on The Moderate Independent on March 4, 2013. On Saturday, March 2, 2013, the day after the sequester went into effect, I had the opportunity to talk to David Collison, the Chairman of the Reform Party National Committee. Among other things, we discussed the sequester, the $85 billion automatic cuts to federal spending [...]

Reform Party on the Sequester appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Rand Paul Filibuster: Right Message, Wrong Time

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:03:16 +0000

This article was originally posted on The Moderate Independent on March 6, 2013. It will be few times that I will go out of my way to agree with Rand Paul’s message. Today, Paul began a filibuster to block the vote to approve John Brennen as the Director of the CIA. His message is simple: Americans should [...]

Rand Paul Filibuster: Right Message, Wrong Time appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Social Issues and the Reform Party

Steve Krabbe — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:57:05 +0000

This article was originally posted on The Moderate Independent on March 8, 2013. When preparing for my interview with David Collison, Chairman of the Reform Party National Committee, I had one question that I felt was very important to ask, “Why does the Reform Party not take a stance on Social Issues?” The Reform Party webpage on Social [...]

Social Issues and the Reform Party appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Steve Krabbe

Budget from Paul Ryan Too Steep, Risks Economic Disruption

Solomon Kleinsmith — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:52:41 +0000

I’ll give the Paul Ryan budget one thing – unlike the Patty Murray budget plan, his plan does put the federal budget on a path toward being balanced… if you accept the economic growth assumptions (I don’t). The problem is that it does it entirely on the spending cut side, makes those cuts far to [...]

Budget from Paul Ryan Too Steep, Risks Economic Disruption appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Solomon Kleinsmith

Not taxes alone, nor cuts alone

Andrew Stewart — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:13:23 +0000

There must be a third way. And of course there is. These are a bit old now, but ThirdWay.org produced dual reports, each debunking the extreme positions of solving our fiscal problems through either spending cuts or tax increases alone. Necessary but Not Sufficient: Why Taxing the Wealthy Can’t Fix the Deficit Death by a Thousand [...]

Not taxes alone, nor cuts alone appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Andrew Stewart

No Labels’ Mark McKinnon: White House Closed for Us, but Rich Can Buy Meetings with Obama

Solomon Kleinsmith — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:53:42 +0000

Interesting tidbit from No Labels co-founder Mark McKinnon, writing at the British paper The Telegraph. He draws an interesting parallel between how Obama and company have decided to use the closure of White House tours as a way to illustrate the stupidity of the sequester cuts, effectively cutting regular people out of the White House. [...]

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Budget from Patty Murray is Bandaid on a Gaping Wound

Solomon Kleinsmith — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 15:35:21 +0000

The talking points coming from the left regarding Senate Budget Chair Patty Murray’s budget proposal sound good. Patty Murray and company would have you believe it’s balanced (it isn’t). They say that it’s fair, and well… that’s an entirely subjective term, and depends on who you’re talking about. They also say that it’s fiscally responsible, [...]

Budget from Patty Murray is Bandaid on a Gaping Wound appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Solomon Kleinsmith

No Labels’ No Budget, No Pay – Obama Edition: No Excuse for Late Budget

Solomon Kleinsmith — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:19:20 +0000

That’s an awful lot of no’s in the headline, isn’t it? It’s fitting, because ‘no, no, no, no…’, along with something amounting to my forehead meeting my palm, is just the sort of reaction I get when I hear people call president Obama a leader. Ideological disagreements and a few examples where he’s shown that [...]

No Labels’ No Budget, No Pay – Obama Edition: No Excuse for Late Budget appeared first on Centrists Rising - Centrist, Moderate & Independent Voters – This is YOUR Political Home - by Solomon Kleinsmith