Have you ever felt like your opinion doesn’t matter? That your elected official does not represent you or your district? That your ideas have no impact on public policy?

If you're among the bottom 90% of income earners in America, you may be justified in feeling this way, a new study led by Professors Martin Gilens (Princeton University) and Benjamin I. Page (Northwestern University) finds.

The study analyzed over 20 years worth of data to answer the following question: Does the government represent the people?

While media attention has surrounded the events in Baltimore, the Obama administration has taken part in the negotiations of a Trans-Pacific Partnership involving 12 countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam. The countries involved comprise around $27.7 trillion in gross domestic product (around 40% of the global GDP).

Being gay is a choice. But in today’s world, it can be difficult.

Over 60% of us scroll through Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr everyday. And in doing so, it is easy to spend considerable time comparing ourselves and our lives to the happy outtakes of others.

Then, when we look in the mirror, we don’t think our selfie looks as good as Shana’s pic on potato chip rock doing a hand-stand and the splits at the same time -- all while eating the vegetarian curry she whipped up in the morning.

I can’t even keep myself from eating a hotdog at the baseball game!

Pew Research Center survey of 34 countries revealed bad news for the state of democracy in the United States. When compared with countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. placed 31st in voter turnout, behind Slovenia. Turnout was calculated based on the estimated voting-age population from the 2012 general election.

Pew found:

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: