Politico reports that Democratic incumbent Rep. Raul Ruiz (CD-36) raised $430,000 in the first quarter (Q1) of 2014 and has $1.5 million on hand. This gives him a major financial advantage over Assemblymember Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert), who is Ruiz's biggest opponent going into the June primary.

When one hears of genocide, most often the Holocaust comes to mind first. Some of us are old enough, though, to remember such atrocities in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda in the 1990s. The latter marked 20 years just recently. Each time we hear of such things, we always say, "never again." But each time it happens, we tend to turn a blind eye to it as if ignoring the situation will make it better or go away.

Alleged targeting by the Internal Revenue Service may still rile some conservative groups, but the real scandal could lie with a sophisticated phone scam that has bilked taxpayers out of a combined $1 million.

The agency’s internal watchdog group called the nationwide scheme “the largest… of its kind that we have ever seen,” with some 20,000 taxpayers reporting being duped this year into providing credit card payments to third-party groups over the phone.

Not to sound cliché, but it’s that time of year again. The Tax Man is coming to take a portion of your hard-earned money and put it toward improving the nation. Taxes are inextricably linked to the size of government and what the federal power brokers hope to accomplish in the following fiscal year.

Do you dread tax season? Do you think the taxes you pay are too high? Well, you are certainly not alone and there is a good chance the people you interact with on daily a basis agree with you. According to the latest Gallup poll, Americans are more likely to say low- and middle-income households pay too much in taxes. However, survey takers were also divided on the subject.

The debate over same-sex marriage has erupted again in the wake of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich being pressured to resign from his position over a 2008 donation to an anti-gay marriage group.

It seemed like history was repeating itself on April 2 at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas when once again a soldier-turned-gunman opened fire on his fellow soldiers, killing 3 and injuring 16 more before turning the gun on himself. The incident opened up mental and emotional wounds left by the first shooting incident in 2009, leaving survivors re-traumatized and the rest of America shocked, saddened, and full of questions.

A notoriously chaotic party turned into something much more dangerous last week when riots broke out on the streets of Isla Vista, home to students from Santa Barbara City College and the University of California, Santa Barbara. With an estimated 25,000 people in attendance, the annual party, known as “Deltopia,” devolved into violent unrest, leaving six police officers injured, 130 students from across the country arrested, and hundreds more victims of police-inflicted tear gas and rubber bullets.

Yes for Independent Maps is an ongoing effort in Illinois to add an amendment to the state constitution that would put the process of decennial redistricting into the hands of an independent board.

For those who have seen the new Captain America movie and follow current events closely, especially the growing concerns over civil liberties in the U.S., it is obvious that there are more than a few political overtones in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. According to investigative journalist Ben Swann, it is not simply a handful of libertarians trying to politicize the move, either, but intentional parallels to real life events used to structure the story of the film.