President Barack Obama often received criticism during his first term in office for neglecting Latin America. Between his attempts to draw down American military involvement in the Middle East and the domestic fight for the Affordable Care Act, many analysts believed that Obama failed to adequately address the myriad of issues that face U.S.-Latin American relations and therefore lost an opportunity to restart strong diplomatic relations with the region.

Polarization in American politics is high among both parties and voters. This fact is hard to deny and is supported by polls and analyses of legislative behavior. What is surprising is that some have argued that there are benefits to this phenomenon.

On Wednesday, May 14, The Centrist Project launched The Centrist Project Voice, a political action committee supporting centrist candidates, regardless of party affiliation, who are willing to put partisanship aside to focus on the issues most critical to Americans. According to the organization, it is the first PAC of its kind.

First, I will acknowledge my own bias. I believe that human activity is changing the earth’s climate at a dangerous rate. I believe that the scientific evidence on this point is overwhelming, that we have already seen clear and comprehensive proof of the thesis, and that it is very possible that we have already reached a point where some damage may be irreversible. This is the near-universal consensus of people who have spent their lives studying this issue, and, while I have not spent my life studying it, I stand with those who have.

Only 34 percent of Americans approve of the way President Obama is handling the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and Russia, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll.

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — Both houses of the California Legislature gathered Monday to conduct the swearing in ceremony of the 69th Speaker of the California State Assembly, Assemblywoman Toni Atkins (D- San Diego). Atkins made history as the first LGBT woman to be elected to serve as Speaker and is only the third woman to hold the leadership position in California's history. She was first elected to the Legislature in 2010 and has served as majority leader since 2012.

It is a midterm election year, which means voter turnout is likely to be lower than a presidential election year, but there is a chance Americans could see record-low turnouts nationwide as enthusiasm among voters has dropped sharply in the last two years. In fact, according to a recent survey, enthusiasm among American voters has dropped to a 20-year low.

Service generals and former acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox testified before a Senate panel in February that military members were ok with the proposed budget cuts to pay and benefits in favor of increasing training and outfitting expenditures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NbDOpx4g70

The Approval Voting Primary Act in Oregon has cleared a major hurdle which could allow Unified Primaries to be put before Oregon voters later this year. With the May 8 approval of the ballot title by the Oregon Supreme Court, the secretary of state will begin giving out the petition forms within the week. A total of 87,213 signatures from registered voters by July 3 will be necessary in order to get the measure on the ballot.