It's turning into a hot climate summer in two ways, only one of which you can measure with a thermometer.

Amidst the deepening drought, the summer's fourth heat wave, and the continued western fires, there's something else breaking out: a siege of citizen uprisings at key points around the country all designed to keep coal in the hole, oil in the soil, gas... underground

Restrictive voter ID laws now in effect in ten states are putting the right to vote of at least half a million eligible voters at risk, a new report from the Brennan Center shows.

“The Declaration of Independence says that all men are created equal, but new voter ID laws are preventing eligible Americans from participating in our democracy,” said Keesha Gaskins, Senior Counsel at the Brennan Center and co-author of the new report,

This week, a series of showdowns is expected in the House over the Pentagon budget, when House members vote on amendments to the Defense Appropriations Bill to cut the overall level of military spending, end or limit the war in Afghanistan, and draw down troops permanently stationed in Europe.

As the ravages of mountaintop removal coal mining–including the re-emerging scandal of reckless black lung policies on strip miners–continue to mount despite the shift of coal production to the heartland and western Power River Basin–President Obama has an election-year opportunity to declare an armistice in the polarized Appalachian coalfields, 

The Senate has failed to advance legislation that would require independent groups to disclose the names of contributors who give more than $10,000 for use in political campaigns.

The measure, known as the DISCLOSE Act, died in a 51 to 44 vote on a procedural motion. It needed 60 votes to move forward.

The 1 percent have no shame. At a Hamptons fundraiser, donors proclaim their VIP cred and mourn that the masses get to vote. At the Supreme Court, justices reject Montana’s century-old election regulation with nary a hearing. And in Congress, the same Republicans who hailed Citizens United race to erase its promise of disclosure. These can be discouraging times for those who still believe in “one person, one vote.”