CALIFORNIA -- InsideBayArea.com's blog, Political Blotter, reported Tuesday that a Koch-backed group has entered the already PAC-filled special election for California Senate District 7 between Assemblymember Susan Bonilla (D-Concord) and Orinda Mayor Steve Glazer (D), a race that pits same-party candidates against

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson came out swinging at the Obama administration during his May 4 candidacy announcement in Detroit. Speaking to a crowd of supporters, Carson attacked the Obama administration's economic and unemployment numbers as made up and inconsistent with reality:

Jill Stein, the Green Party's presidential candidate from 2012 and exploratory candidate for 2016, says the Greens "are the only game in town." She affirms that Greens are fire-walled from corporate money, hold core American values, and can unite a fractured electorate around a struggle for democracy and justice.

Vox reported recently on a new Gallup poll that says most Americans now prefer to spread wealth throughout our economy by mostly taxing the rich. What's more intriguing is that the change in attitude has increased significantly in the past four or five years. Don't believe me? Look at this graph:

5 de Mayo, the great American holiday.

It is definitely a Mexican holiday, but one of little importance to them. It is not celebrated as it is here, in the United States. It might be celebrated more in Puebla, Mexico, where the famous battle took place, but it’s not about margaritas and the commercialized way it’s celebrated here. It is worth taking a deeper look and reflect on what Cinco de Mayo truly means for the United States.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee launched his 2016 presidential bid on Tuesday in Hope, Arkansas, the hometown he shares with former President Bill Clinton. Huckabee kicked off his campaign by appealing to social conservatives, exclaiming that the United States has fallen off the moral path.

The Hill reports:

In an op-ed piece for The Week, Peter Weber found comparing Bernie Sanders to Ron Paul more appropriate than comparing Sanders to any other presidential candidate from a previous election. However, is this a fair and accurate comparison?

petition in which members of PEN are disassociating themselves from the decision of the PEN American Center to honor the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, with the Freedom of Expression Courage Award.

The past few weeks have been full of social media faux pas, embarrassing countless politicians and organizations and costing at least one person her job. Politicians, especially national level ones, have paid speech writers who keep them on topic, concise, and above a certain amount of scrutiny in their messages. So, why do politicians have so many problems with social media?

Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) introduced a bill Wednesday that proposes moderate changes to the way teachers are evaluated and would provide the training necessary to help teachers who need improvement. However, her Democratic colleagues in the education committee made it clear that they were not going to let the bill advance out of committee.