The American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative non-profit, is making headlines for their decision to disband its "Public Safety and Elections Task Force." The Task Force was a major policy group responsible for lobbying voter ID and "stand your ground" laws throughout the country. Who is this group and why does their decision matter? For the answer, we speak with Adam Sorensen, associate editor at TIME Magazine. 

It’s a tough time to be a moderate Democrat in the halls of Congress. Only 24 so-called blue dog Democrats remain in Congress, and as the November elections near, several of them are looking at tough re-election campaigns. An unpopular president sharing the ticket, major redistricting, and tough conservative opponents may make the blue dog extinct. Robert “Bud” Cramer is a long-time blue dog Democrat. He's formerly the Congressman for Alabama’s 5th Congressional District, and is now the Chairman of Wexler Walker Public Policy Associates.

There has been a lot of bad news from Afghanistan in the past few months: the killing of civilians by a U.S. soldier, the Koran burnings, this week's attacks in Kabul, and the killing of American soldiers by their Afghan counterparts. These events are all adding to calls in the U.S. for troops to come home. NATO – whose defense and foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels – says the war is still on track, that Afghans will soon be able to take the lead in their country's security. But as Quentin Sommerville from our partner the BBC reports, such hopes may be optimistic.

Eight years ago, Dan Rather broadcast an explosive report on the Air National Guard service of President George W. Bush. It was supposed to be the legendary newsman’s finest hour. Instead, it blew up in his face, tarnishing his career forever and casting a dark cloud of doubt and suspicion over his reporting — and that of every other journalist on the case. This month, as Rather returns with a new memoir, Joe Hagan finally gets to the bottom of the greatest untold story in modern Texas politics, with exclusive, never-before-seen details that shed fresh light on who was right, who was wrong, and what really happened.

President Obama announced a crackdown on manipulation and speculation in the oil markets, calling for more government oversight of the oil markets, including increased funding and staffing for the Commodities Future Trading Commission and an increase in civil and criminal penalties for market manipulators. Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, looks at Obama’s speech, oil speculation, and energy pricing.

The Northwest has long been a major source of exports. Timber and paper once dominated the Northwest market; these days, it's all about coal. Demand for coal has dropped in the United States, but the clamor for coal in Asia's growing markets has American companies lobbying for controversial coal terminals along the train tracks in Washington and Oregon to transport coal mined in Montana. Explaining this coal controversy is Ashley Ahearn, an environmental reporter for KUOW in Seattle, and a contributor to their "Coal in the Northwest" series.

As they look towards the general elections, it's clear that President Obama and GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney both face very specific problems. Romney’s problem is one of personality: no candidate in the modern polling era with personal favorability ratings as low as his has ever won the presidency. Obama doesn't have a popularity problem, but he does face some trouble with the economy: no incumbent president has ever won re-election with unemployment rates as high as they are likely to be in November. Carroll Doherty, associate director for Pew Research Center, and Kenneth C. Davis, author of "Don't Know Much About History," explain what is behind these numbers.

From Oprah to Piers Morgan, the world loves a good talk show. And if the multiple seasons of Celebrity Apprentice have taught us anything, audiences also love reality TV shows featuring pseudo celebrities. Yesterday, a program premiered that’s a tiny bit of both. Entitled "The World Today," the new talk show is hosted by Julian Assange, the man most famous for founding WikiLeaks. Alessandra Stanley, television critic for The New York Times, watched the first episode of "The World Today." She shares her thoughts on whether Assange might be the next Ellen, or just another candidate for Celebrity Big Brother.

Chances are you use email. If you’re like 88 percent of Americans, you also own a cell phone. And if you’re among the well-connected 46 percent, you check your email ON your cell phone. All of this can make us feel more connected. But it can also make us less connected to those who are sitting right next to us. And it can be addictive. What to do?

Citigroup shareholders have voted down the bank's $15 million pay package for its chief executive, Vikram Pandit. It's the first time that stock owners have united in opposition to outsized compensation at a major bank. Is this a new era of bank backlash? Eleanor Bloxham is the CEO of The Value Alliance, a board advisory firm, and Peter Morici is a macroeconomist and professor of international business at the University of Maryland. He is also the author of several books, including "Antitrust in the Global Trading System."

The Los Angeles Times has published graphic photos showing U.S. military personnel posing with the dead bodies of Afghan insurgents. The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan wasted little time condemning the actions in the pictures, saying in a statement that "the incident depicted in the LA Times' photographs represents a serious error in judgment by several soldiers who have acted out of ignorance and unfamiliarity with U.S. Army values." Joining us is Peter Galbraith, former UN Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan.

Steven Lee Myers, diplomatic correspondent in Washington for our partner The New York Times, gives us a new look at the U.S.' role in the scandal surrounding Chinese Communist Party chief Bo Xilai and his role in the death of British businessman Neil Heywood.

In a column that quickly got him fired from his post at National Review, John Derbyshire offered some parental advice that he gives his own children when teaching them about the African-American community. This advice, he says, "may save their lives." One point he argues is that the "mean intelligence of blacks is much lower than for whites.” Much has been written about the falsity of his claims and the racist undertones of his overall argument. But derbyshire is correct in writing that there are "no black Fields Medal winners." Jonathan Farley is a professor of mathematics and recipient of the Harvard Foundation's Scientist of the Year medal in 2004. He explains why no African-Americans have yet to receive the prestigious Fields Medal.