It’s the first Tuesday in November, and voters in New Jersey, Virginia and cities across the country are headed to the polls. As the voting gets underway, we take a look back to this Tuesday one year ago, when Americans went to the polls and elected Barack Obama president.

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter offers his assessment of Obama's policy achievements and missteps since; and Takeaway contributor Patrik Henry Bass gives his take on how one year has changed things, as candidate-Obama became President-elect Obama.

• Business Takeout: The Supreme Court signaled they aren't too eager to intervene on excessive pay for Wall Street execs, but the Federal Reserve seems to be champing at the bit. Louise Story, finance reporter for our partners The New York Times, explains.
• Washington Takeout: Our own Todd Zwillich joins us to talk about the wrangling over climate change legislation on Capitol Hill.
• Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin looks at last night's Phillies win over the Yankees as both teams head back to New York for Game 6 of the World Series.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will remain in office for another term after his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of a scheduled runoff election. We talk with Tony Karon, senior editor at Time, for a look at what this means for the U.S. relationship with Karzai and the larger strategy for the war in Afghanistan.

Today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will address a joint session of Congress and meet with President Obama. It’s her first U.S. visit since her re-election for a second term as German leader. The speech ties in with upcoming festivities in Germany to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

But it will also focus on Germany’s contribution to the Afghan conflict – a highly controversial war back in Germany. To bring us the latest poll numbers and the feeling on the ground in Germany, we speak with Irwin "Bud" Collier, professor at the Free University in Berlin.

November is the time of year when most workers can elect to change their participation in the health care coverage offered by their employer. As health care costs continue to rise, it's a decision that's more important than ever before.

We talk with two small business owners, Marva Allen, co-owner of Hue Man Bookstore in Harlem; and Walt Rowen, owner of Susquehanna Glass in Columbia, Pa., about how their employees are getting squeezed by changes beyond their control in the plans that they offer. We also talk with Takeaway contributor Beth Kobliner for advice on what people should consider when getting a plan at work.

It's election day, and Atlanta may be on the verge of electing their first white mayor since 1969: Mary Norwood, a city council member for eight years. Georgia Public Broadcasting's Susanna Capelouto surveys the scene and the potential for making history and joins us from outside the polls. She also explains why turnout is expected to be as low as 30% today.  

Add this to your list of indicators that the recession isn't over yet: There are now more Americans on food stamps than at any time in history. According to a report in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 36 million Americans currently receive food stamps, and 50 percent of American children will have lived in households which receive government food assistance by time they turn 20.

We speak with Mark Rank, professor of social welfare at Washington University in St. Louis and one of the authors of the study. Also with us are Angel Seymore, a home health care aide from the Bronx who receives food stamps; and Joel Berg, executive director of New York City Coalition Against Hunger.

• Congress Takeout: Todd Zwillich talks about how House Democrats are hoping to vote on their version of a health care reform bill later this week, while Republicans launch a media campaign opposing it.
• Money Takeout: Credit reporting agencies are required by law to provide you a free report every year … but that hasn't stopped them from writing insanely catchy jingles to draw customers towards paid options. Louise Story, finance reporter for our partners The New York Times, joins us to discuss when "free" actually means "expensive," and what the FTC is trying to do about it.
• Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin recaps Monday Night Football, as the Atlanta Falcons faced the resurgent New Orleans Saints.

Poor study habits, too much TV or goofing off are usually cited as reasons students get bad grades. But the state of Texas has a different idea for why some students are underperforming – poor teaching – and state officials came up with a plan to look into it. Under a proposed new rating system, Texas schools that train teachers will be held accountable for their graduates' effectiveness on the jobs. That means bad grades may point to a bad teacher's teacher and not the student's bad habits.

We talk to education reporter Ericka Mellon, who reported on the program for The Houston Chronicle, and Dan Ariely, professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University.

Fresh from a presidential election marred by accusations of fraud, Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he’ll work to eradicate the corruption which has “tainted” his country and government. In his first comments since being declared the winner, Karzai also said his new government would ask those he called his “Taliban brothers” to take part in peace talks. The Taliban responded, calling Karzai a puppet and saying they would continue their fight. We talk with the BBC’s Ian Pannell, who is watching developments unfold in Kabul.

It is voting day across the country, but a surprising amount of national attention has been focused on a special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District. The NRCC, Newt Gingrich and others had originally supported moderate, pro-choice, pro-gay-marriage GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava in what should have been a safely Republican district. Then, after national figures like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh threw their words and broadcasts behind Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, Scozzafava dropped out and officially endorsed … the Democrat in the race, Bill Owens. Politics makes strange bedfellows, indeed … and that was before Limbaugh's hyperbolic accusations of Scozzafava's "bestiality" yesterday. We talk to North Country Public Radio reporter Brian Mann, live from a polling station.

If you go to any national park or protected wilderness in the U.S. today, you will find the friendly, heroic figure of the forest ranger: a uniformed caretaker of natural splendor, and watcher for forest fires. Oftentimes, these forest heroes go unnoticed, but in his new book, Timothy Egan writes about how forest rangers banded together, along with President Theodore Roosevelt, to control a blazing inferno.

We talk with Pulizer Prize–winning author Timothy Egan about his new book, "The Big Burn," on the huge forest fire back in 1910 that blazed through forests in Washington, Idaho and Montana.