In Illinois' 15th Congressional District, a candidate once favoring term limits will be running again.

Human Freedom Index has downgraded the United States to the 20th most free country in the world. This puts America well behind its northern neighbor, Canada, which is ranked 6th. And even our mother country – the United Kingdom – far outranks us at 9th.

Between closed primaries, gerrymandering, and a campaign finance system run amuck, independents are the most unequal citizens in the U.S. In 2016, all of that could change.

Labor Day in 2015, to most Americans, is the unofficial end of Summer. Labor Day is nestled in nicely with other American-y holidays that grant permission for BBQs and cheap beer. However, these holidays are firmly rooted in historic dates (except for Cinco de Mayo), or in this case a movement that had a major impact in United States history.

With this in mind, let's take a look at why we get the first Monday of September off.

When it comes to predicting elections, Moody's Analytics comes about as close to the seers of the crystal ball as we can get. Accurately predicting every election since 1980, with a perfect scorecard in 2012 (including all electoral votes), the Moody's model is pretty hard to beat.

The Moody's model relies heavily on economic data, including real income, real housing, and gasoline prices, as well as political data on a state-by-state basis.

It is now easier for Californians to quickly search for contributions to candidates and ballot measures and contributions from individuals, businesses, and other campaign committees.

The Republican National Committee on Wednesday contacted a couple of campaigns about their willingness to sign a loyalty pledge, promising to support whoever the GOP nominee ends up being in 2016 and pledging not to run on a third-party or independent ticket. As indicated during the first Republican debate, all the candidates except one were willing to swear their unconditional loyalty to the party.

On Thursday, Al Jazeera released a preview of an interview with former NSA contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden, in which he addressed some of his more high-profile critics -- namely, U.S.

I have been writing for IVN since the summer of 2014. Though my academic background is in political science, I can confidently say I have learned more about American politics in this one year of researching and writing for you (the readers) than I have in my six years in higher education.

Over this time, I must confess, many of my beliefs have remained the same.

Dr. Ben Carson's recent surge in the polls is no doubt related to Americans' sentiments against establishment politicians.