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Liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont publicly declared his presidential candidacy Tuesday with a demand for what he labeled the nation's billionaire class: "Your greed has got to end." ... Sanders, a self-declared socialist, reiterated his key issues -- income inequality, economic uncertainty, campaign finance reform and climate change -- and outlined what he called a "simple and straightforward progressive agenda" to deal with them. ... He also proposed going beyond the Affordable Care Act to a Medicare-for-all system, as well as free public colleges and universal preschool. (Memoli, 5/26)

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont began drawing implicit contrasts with Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, as he played the liberal purist in throwing down policy gauntlet after gauntlet – a $15 minimum wage, $1 trillion for public works jobs, a “Medicare-for-all” system of universal health care — in his first campaign rally since declaring his candidacy last month. (Healy, 5/26)

The self-described democratic socialist has championed many of the positions liberals are pushing for, like raising the minimum wage, free college tuition and universal access to health care. He also is a staunch opponent of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that fellow progressives like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren oppose, but Clinton has not yet taken a firm position on. (Rafferty, 5/26)

The senator laid out his liberal agenda, including ideas like raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, implementing a Medicare-for-all health care system, investing $1 trillion in infrastructure, make tuition in public universities free, combating climate change, and rolling back the impact of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. (Condon, 5/26)

Former Gov. Jeb Bush opened up last week about his mother-in-law’s affliction with Alzheimer’s disease and, on Tuesday, shed some light on what he thinks should be done to fight the illness. In an email exchange with Maria Shriver, the journalist, activist and author, Mr. Bush wrote that he has been getting a lot of feedback since revealing that his family has firsthand experience with the disease. As for how he would address Alzheimer’s disease, which according to the Centers for Disease Control afflicts five million Americans, Mr. Bush called for more research funding and a faster drug approval process. (Rappeport, 5/26)

Fitzgerald noted that the possible Republican presidential candidate had expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. “Is that a sustainable model long-term?” the GOP activist asked. Kasich first noted that his application of Medicaid expansion to prisoners and the mentally ill actually would save his state money in the long run. ... But in the end, Kasich sounded a note that Georgia Republicans have heard only rarely. “My (other) choice in that decision was to ignore some of the most vulnerable people in our population,” the governor said. “I’ve been criticized for this decision. Do you think it bothers me? It doesn’t.” (Galloway, 5/26)

Former senator Rick Santorum is poised to once again seek the Republican presidential nomination. The former senator and House member is set to announce his decision about a 2016 bid at an event in Butler County, Pa., near his boyhood home, late Wednesday afternoon. He would join a growing GOP field that is likely to include more than a dozen candidates. (Allen, 5/27)

Three-term Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick said on Tuesday she will seek to oust powerful Republican John McCain from his U.S. Senate seat in 2016. ... Under the campaign slogan “Putting Arizona First,” she ticked off a list of issues that she has pursued, including improving education, protecting farms and ranches, caring for veterans, fighting for Social Security and Medicare, and paying down the national debt. (5/26)