Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), unveiled his budget yesterday, proposing cuts of some $6.2 trillion over the next decade. Medicare and Medicaid will fundamentally change under Ryan's plan — with Medicare losing $389 billion, and $735 billion being cut from Medicaid. Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent details what parts of the budget will affect Americans the most. Theda Skocpol, professor of sociology and government at Harvard University, explains how Medicare and Medicaid will change under Ryan's plan.

The inauguration season for the nation’s newly elected governors will take place over the next few weeks. Republicans gained six governorships, which means they’ll hold 29 seats, while Democrats will hold 20.  (Lincoln Chafee, in Rhode Island, will be the only independent). The executive control these governors wield in state governments across the country will have a noticeable impact on the balance of power for both parties in the coming years.

Last night, Latinos carried Harry Reid to victory in Nevada, while more blacks voted for Republican candidates than ever before. Black Republicans made gains in the House, though in the Senate, there will no longer be a black presence. Andra Gillespie, assistant professor of political science at Emory University, and Theeda Skocpol look at how Latinos and blacks shaped yesterday's elections.

President Obama surely won votes during the 2008 election when he promised Americans that he would rebuild our standing in the international community through diplomacy, and much of Europe responded with open arms. But two years later, as Europeans watch the American spectacle that has become the 2010 elections, we look at the reaction abroad as Democrats lose major races for the House and Senate

Paddy O’Connell, host of our partner the BBC’s Broadcasting House, joins us from London. Theda Skocpol also weighs in.

Was this race effectively a "recall" on President Obama?  That depends on who turned out at the voting booths yesterday. John Zogby, president of the polling firm Zogby International, gives us a picture of who turned out to vote yesterday and what surprised him in this morning's results.

California's races can probably all be summarized with one word: "nasty." From the gubernatorial race in which Jerry Brown defeated Meg Whitman, and the Senate race in which incumbent Barbara Boxer won over Carly Fiorina, Patt Morrison, longtime columnist for The Los Angeles Times and host of “Patt Morrison” on KPCC 89.3, Southern California Public Radio, and Theda Skocpol, professor of political science at Harvard University, join us for a read on what happened in California's races.

A new CNN poll finds that 86 percent of Americans think that government is broken. This week, we kick off a series called "Frustration Nation," where we examine the gridlock in the capital and how politics has come to be so divisive in America. For the first installment, we put today's situation in a historical context.

Monday morning at 1 a.m., Senate Democrats scrambled over a major hurdle in their attempts to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill through Congress.  But in order to secure the 60 votes necessary to move forward, the proposed health care bill had to undergo a series of concessions and transformations that altered some of its original mainstays (no more public option, triggered or otherwise, and no Medicare expansion).  The compromise, some detractors say, may cost Democrats politically in the long run.

The Takeaway discusses the merits and shortcomings of a bill that aims to extend coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans with Theda Skocpol, professor of sociology and government at Harvard University.  Hanging over the discussion, a larger question looms: is there a problem with the mechanics of how a bill becomes a law?

On Saturday night, Democrats in the Senate secured the 60 votes necessary to introduce health care legislation to weeks of debate and amendment proposals. The vote signaled a further advance in the movement to overhaul America's ailing health care system and, by extension, its economy. But it seems that the process of fixing things has been going on for an awfully long time now. We discuss the history of big legislative efforts with Theda Skocpol, professor of government and sociology at Harvard University, and our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich.

President Obama is preparing his Wednesday address on health care reform to a joint session of Congress. Aides say the president is about to adopt a more vigorous role in the debate as lawmakers return from recess. We talk to Takeaway regular Julie Mason of the Washington Examiner and Theda Skocpol, professor of government and sociology at Harvard University and author of "Boomerang: Health Care Reform and the Turn against Government."

Today we're recapping what's happened this week in the debate over health care reform.  During a meeting last Saturday, President Obama asked the American people to lower the temperature a little at health care town halls. So-called "death panels," health care co-ops, Republican options, and former DNC chair Dr. Howard Dean were all part of the national conversation, which was topped off with the President’s one-on-one with conservative radio show host Michael Smerconish on Thursday.

For a look at where the debate heads next, we are joined by Jonathan Cohn. He is the Senior editor at The New Republic and author of Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis -- and the People Who Pay the Price. We are also joined by Theda Skocpol, professor of government and sociology at Harvard University, and author of Boomerang: Health Care Reform and the Turn against Government.