Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.― John Steinbeck, American author

There is an incredible amount of truth in Steinback's statement, both in our history and our politics today.

Throughout American history, the belief in a better tomorrow, the American Dream, has been an essential part of our collective thought processes and even cultural ideologies.

During a national conference call on Wednesday, Jacqueline Salit, president of IndependentVoting.org, interviewed U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), on the reintroduction of the 'Open Our Democracy Act' (HR 2655).

In June, Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, made waves in the world of political punditry when he suggested in a letter to the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee that the party should sanction more primary debates, and that some of those debates should even include Republican candidates for the presidency.

The big story this week was how Donald Trump, aka The Donald, pulled ahead of the crowded Republican field by taking the lead in the latest poll. POLITICO's headline read: Donald Trump leads GOP field in latest poll.

Democracy functions best when the most people participate. And if you accept that standard, our democracy is not functioning well.

This is the basis for two voting rights efforts, one at the state level (AB 1461, the “California New Motor Voter Act”) and one directed at the city of San Diego (removing the 50 percent + 1 primary election winner rule), that are attempting to improve the health of our democracy.

But will either of these efforts help cure voter apathy?

On Wednesday, the quarterly presidential campaign filing reports were made available to the public. Voters can now access this quarter's records, and get a look at who or what is bankrolling the 2016 campaigns and how those campaigns are spending that money.

President Obama may have been a bit too skeptical of the diplomatic process last week when he said the odds were lower than 50/50 that a deal would be reached, with a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) being reached in Vienna on July 14.

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- California legislators introduced a bill last March that will automatically register citizens to vote when they obtain or renew their driver's license. The new law follows in Oregon's footsteps with the hopes to increase California's record-low voter turnout of 42.2 percent.

When it comes to what is wrong with Congress, some blame a campaign finance system run amuck, others point to unsustainable spending, some call out the high incumbency rate, and for others, partisan politics receives a great deal of fault.

You're busy with things I assume. But, being a human with an Internet connection, you have probably come across posts or videos about something having to do with a deal between the United States and Iran over nuclear weapons. Like everything else in modern media, this historic agreement has been accompanied with an array of different opinions and "takes." But which opinion is the right one to deploy at this Saturday's BBQ?

Lucky for you, the good people at Vox have really good graphic videos that explain rather complex things in under 5 minutes. Here, take a look: