The Independence Project

  A 50/50 Senate: Thoughts of an Independent Will there be compromise? Following the results of the stunning Georgia Senate runoff elections, we were presented with a very unique time in our politics that is rarely replicated; a situation in which the Senate is split 50/50. After 6 years of Republican majority rule in the Senate, the Democratic Party will assume majority control of Congress's upper chamber on January 20th, when President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are inaugurated. Vice President-elect Harris will be capable of casting tie-breaking votes in the chamber to assume a majority, which will lead to a changing of the guard. This has resounding implications for the incoming President, as it was thought previously that Democrats had failed in their attempt to retake the upper chamber, and that President-elect Biden would need to significantly compromise with the Republican majority to effectuate legislation, approve cabinet appointments, judicial ...

Did You Know? The First Edition of 2021 What is the Nuclear Option? A question we have received many times over, why does it require sixty votes in the Senate to pass legislation? We're here to provide a simple answer: it doesn't. But without the Nuclear Option being triggered, it does. Contrary to popular belief, the Senate has the technical capabilities under the Constitution to pass votes with a simple majority - rather than the sixty votes that most people believe it takes to pass. This is because of a 'nuclear deterrent' that was put in place by amending the 22nd (XXII) rule of the Senate which was established in 1806. This created a process called cloture, which allowed for ending debate on a bill and actually voting on it. The actual votes it takes to pass a bill is simply 51, but in order to invoke that cloture and proceed to a proper floor vote, it requires 60 or two thirds of all senators. In our recent history, this had been modified and removed in certain ci...

  The Capitol Attacks: Thoughts of an Independent Published by Contributor - Zach January 6th, 2021 is a day that will live in infamy, for it was the first time in two-hundred years that the U.S. Capitol was stormed and occupied by non-government entities. I never thought that this was something I'd say - but it is the reality of the situation we have found ourselves in. The current temperature of our political discourse is at an all-time high. We have turned up the temperature to the boiling points of violence and toxic raging anger. At the top of this, we have allowed for a culture of disinformation to permeate our discussions and processes of thought in an effort to invoke our emotions. This cannot remain or we will be unable to function as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The incitement of this violence was over an election many had believed to be stolen - led astray by conflicting news reports and conspiracy theorists. It sowed distrust in our dem...

  Thoughts of a Progressive Independent Published by Contributor - Zach As a child, my life was thrown into a world of the political spectrums viewed by two opposing ideologies. My father's side of the family was Democratic, my mother's side of the family was Republican. This led to inevitable clashes whenever the topic of politics arose in discussion. It also led to triggering my curiosities - fueled by the desire to understand why my family argued, and why each side lived their life different from the other in both how they treated others and how they progressed in life.  My father's side was most representative of how my parents, my brother, and I grew up. We lived in poverty, with both of my parents disabled. Living paycheck-to-paycheck on the monthly, we were forced to frequent food pantries and make concessions wherever we could in an effort to ensure that the lights stayed on. A result of this was that my parents felt they could more strongly align with the Democrati...

  12/20/2020 - On This Day: A Historic Expansion And we're back! For our second weekly look at On This Day; a showcase into key historical moments in our nation. Our goal with each of these blog posts is to help educate you on various foundational pieces of history throughout the United States of America with a sole focus on the historical facts. For this week, we'll be taking a look at the Louisiana Purchase . which was signaled as completed on December 20th, 1803. The Louisiana Purchase was considered a monumental expansion of the United States. The acquisition contained the now former French District of Louisiana which spanned 828,000 square miles. As such, the territorial size of the US nearly doubled, and the purchase included the lands that now contain areas of Wyoming, Montana, North/South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana , and the entire States of Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The deal was brokered between then President Thomas J...

  12/13/2020 (2) - On This Day: A Concession This will be the first, albeit brief post in a series of On This Day blogs in which we'll examine key moments in American history that occurred on the day of posting but years in the past. Given the current contested electoral prospects of 2020, it would deem prudent to dial the clock back twenty years to what is roughly considered one of the closest elections in American history. On December 13, 2000; then Vice-President Al Gore formally conceded to then Governor of Texas George W. Bush in a bitter fight over the Presidency. While it was originally thought that Vice-President Gore would be the clear victor in the battle to lead the nation, further vote tallies showed an increasingly tightening race between both he and Governor Bush. This critical battle reached a precipice when it landed on the decisions made by the voters of Florida; the contest intensified by the need for a hard recount due to the slim margin of less than 600 votes be...