Jared Bernstein, 02/23/12

Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Let's take a well-deserved break from manufacturing and tax policy, and cheer things up with a post on threats to the current recovery.

Marlo Thomas, 02/23/12

Award-winning actress, author, and activist

What is fresh about this year's movies is the range of choices the actresses had. I was struck by the fact that this year's crop of women have moved into areas previously inhabited by male actors -- and, wow, were they good.

Robert L. Borosage, 02/23/12

President, Institute for America's Future

We have a debate between the right -- Republicans like Mitt Romney who would cut corporate taxes and ask them to pay less -- and a business-friendly, centrist president who won't call on corporations to pay more. "Fair share?" -- not so much.

Menachem Rosensaft, 02/23/12

Professor of law and son of Holocaust survivors

No one says that Buchanan is not bright and personable. He is, however, a bigot so far outside the American political mainstream that he should never have been given legitimacy by MSNBC in the first place.

Michael Roth, 02/23/12

President, Wesleyan University

As the Supreme Court considers Fisher vs. the University of Texas, it is crucial that the justices continue to allow universities to consider race and ethnicity within a holistic admissions process that aims to create a student body that maximizes learning.

Jeff Jarvis, 02/23/12

Author, 'Public Parts' and 'What Would Google Do?'

It is time for technology companies especially to adopt radical transparency of how they operate so they can't find themselves in gotcha moments when the hysterical "discover" something they've been doing all along.

Cara Santa Maria, 02/22/12

Science correspondent, Huffington Post; editor, Talk Nerdy to Me

Despite the freezing temperatures, snow can actually offer crucial ingredients for survival.

Scott Stenholm, 02/23/12

Staffer, HBO’s 'Real Time with Bill Maher' & Contributing Writer for The Daily Beast

When Rick Santorum chooses to not embrace the good that science can do for all of 'God's children', he may make for a more attractive conservative candidate for his base, but a good Christian he is not.

Andrew Brandt, 02/23/12

President, The National Football Post

My continuing belief is that the Colts and Manning will part. The Colts know Andrew Luck is their future; moving on with him is a reasonable and understandable business decision. Organizations need to evolve.

Ami Fields-Meyer, 02/23/12

High school senior, founder/writer, TBTPolitics.com

Few of us have a strong-willed desire not to learn. The problem? The modern classroom -- an environment that requires us to be present -- is simply no longer conducive to being present.

Victor Stenger, 02/23/12

Physicist, PhD, bestselling author

The best lesson learned from the CERN affair is that scientists making what they think is a major discovery should hesitate before going public.

Robert Scheer, 02/23/12

Editor, Truthdig.com; Author, 'The Great American Stickup'

Here we go again. With the economy showing faint signs of life and their positions on the social issues alienating most moderates, the leading Republican candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, have returned to the elixir of warmongering to once again sway the gullible masses.

Ellen DeGeneres, 02/23/12

Animatrice, 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'

If I've said it once, I've said it 18 times, Meryl Streep is brilliant as Margaret Thatcher. I said it would earn her an Oscar nomination and it did. I can't believe how unbelievably believable she was.

Clarence Lusane, 02/23/12

Professor, American University

While there are hundreds of memorials, plaques, and other means that present a false narrative of American history, there are too few that genuinely tell the more complicated and often harsh reality that many faced as U.S. democracy unfolded.

Saad Khan, 02/23/12

Freelance Journalist from Islamabad

Afghan refugees have become an excellent bargaining chip for Pakistan.

Barbara Hannah Grufferman, 02/23/12

Writer; Speaker; Author, 'The Best of Everything After 50'

Is it okay to just let every woman choose for herself? What if she has chosen, but others continue to refer to her by a different and unwanted title?

Eva Longoria, 02/23/12

Actress, Founder of the Eva Longoria Foundation

Throughout our country, Latinos live in and contribute to an increasingly diverse America. And for women especially, balancing the demands of intertwined cultures can be challenging. In recognition of this, I am creating the Eva Longoria Foundation.

Vlad Chituc, 02/23/12

Student, Yale Univeristy

It bothers me when other atheists are too quick to do away with the beauty religion cultivates, as if it were necessary to toss the beauty out right along with the cosmology. I think we make a mistake when we fail to distinguish the form from the content of religion.

David McMillan, 02/23/12

Writer, filmmaker, and social media professional

Apart from reminding us that racism is still alive and well in the Obama Era, these Gainesville girls also remind us just how easy it is to commit reputation self-sabotage in the Social Media Era.

Meredith Bodgas, 02/23/12

Blogger, MeritalBliss.com

I didn't change my last name when I married my husband Paul. Learn from these mistakes and never utter these words to women still proudly sporting their maiden names.

Robert Walker, 02/23/12

President, Population Institute

If legislatures were requiring colorectal exams for no good medical reason, banning Viagra, outlawing condoms and vasectomies, you better believe that men would be doing more than waiting for a Gallup pollster to ring them up.

Sec. Hilda Solis, 02/23/12

U.S. Secretary of Labor

As Latinos are the fastest growing minority in the U.S., it's critical that we invest in the institutions that are building up this skilled workforce in America.

Jess Coleman, 02/23/12

Student, New York City Lab School

Following the Catholic Church's declaration of war on contraception, the Republican-controlled House decided to delve deeper into the issue of women's health. Fair enough. But where were the women?

Stanley Weiss, 02/23/12

Founding Chairman, Business Executives for National Security

President Obama's latest budget includes $27.2 million in aid for Myanmar, with a focus on "strengthening civil society." The best way to accomplish that would be to reestablish the International Military Education and Training program.