Elliott Negin

Director of News & Commentary, Union of Concerned Scientists

Despite the fact that ExxonMobil is still a significant contrarian funder, the flurry of media interest in the company's funding agenda sparked by UCS's exposé died down soon after its release and remains feeble to this day. What happened?

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Rabbi and Writer

The growing revelations from the Congressional hearings on Benghazi that the Obama State Department watered down public statements on the attack in order to cleanse them of any mention of Al Qaeda and terrorism is a travesty and shows a lack of moral will to give evil its proper name.

Geoffrey R. Stone

Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago

I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU, a strong proponent of press freedom and a staunch believer in both a robust First Amendment and a vibrant Fourth Amendment. But I also care about rational public discourse, and the furious condemnation of the Department of Justice in this situation is way over the top.

Bob Cesca

Political Writer, Host of The Bob & Chez Show

The congressional Republicans are outraged by the IRS story, but they haven't been able to scramble to the floor of the House quickly enough to target left-leaning groups.

Richard (RJ) Eskow

Writer; host, 'The Breakdown'; Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future

Simpson and Bowles and austerity's other sales people aren't really economic thinkers. They're paid to pitch a product. They didn't invent austerity any more than Alex Rodriguez invented Pepsi. But what they're peddling isn't a soft drink. It's a lot worse for you than that.

A.R. Bernard

Founder, senior pastor, and CEO, Christian Cultural Center

What happened to the party of Lincoln? To the party that abolished slavery and championed a woman's right to vote? To the party of Reagan who ended the Cold War and revitalized a moribund economy?

Daniel Ben-Horin

Founder and Chief Instigator, TechSoup Global

The drama plays out of whether or not Kenyatta and Ruto will appear in the Hague. The balance between repudiating colonialism and protecting human rights is infinitely tricky. We must get it right.

Andy Kroll

Staff writer, Mother Jones magazine

Simply tallying Adelson's wins and losses -- or the Koch brothers', or George Soros's, or any other mega-donors' -- misses the bigger point.

Robert Reich

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Beyond Outrage'

Six months into a second term and the Obama White House is on the defensive and floundering: Benghazi, the IRS's investigations of right-wing groups, the Justice Department's snooping into journalists' phone records, Obamacare behind schedule, the Administration's push for gun control ending in failure.

Peter Dreier

E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College

You've probably never of her, but Frances Kelsey may have saved your life. Sometimes it takes a scandal to get the public's attention, but it also helps to have a courageous figure who takes on big business to protect public health and safety.

Lester & Charlie

Political satirists

Not since New Coke have we as a nation seen a disaster that both sides of the aisle can agree on. America is now unanimously and officially outraged that the IRS would have the audacity to target political groups -- groups that publicly despise taxes and call for the end of the IRS.

Lincoln Mitchell

Harriman Institute, Columbia University

The news this week about the DOJ looking at the phone logs of journalists covering the White House, and of the IRS scrutinizing the tax returns of various right-wing groups, is bad for the Obama administration. They are also much more likely to stick than the Benghazi story.

John Glaser

Editor at Antiwar.com

Americans need to stop pointing the finger at the "bad guys" Washington is so keen to warn us about, and start paying attention to their own government's crimes.

Michael Zakaras

Writer and strategist who specializes in social entrepreneurship and public policy

In our efforts to solve difficult social problems in particular, we rely too heavily on reason and numbers and econometrics, and not often enough on empathy. And by empathy I don't just mean our emotions, and I certainly don't mean feeling sorry -- that's sympathy.

Eric Alterman

Distinguished Professor of English, Brooklyn College, City University of New York

If we take the word "Watergate" to mean what nearly everyone has understood it to mean for the past four decades, then it becomes rather difficult to justify even mentioning Watergate and Benghazi in the same sentence.

Myrna Pérez

Democracy Program Deputy Director, Brennan Center for Justice

Some states continue to push needless restrictions on the ability of citizens to participate in elections, and voters and their advocates must remain vigilant against any such efforts. Still, the trend is unmistakable: After years of backsliding, states are embracing free, fair, and accessible elections.

Jeffrey Laurenti

Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation

As pressures mount in Washington for a more aggressive American involvement on behalf of at least some rebel groups in Syria, President Obama has seemed intent on proving the Nobel committee was farsighted in awarding him its peace prize four years ago.