Dylan Ratigan, 9/27/11

Host, MSNBC's 'The Dylan Ratigan Show'; Author, soon to be released 'Greedy Bastards'

Money has bought our politics. Only we the people can take it back. But, how? I have asked a professional lobbyist and a series of Constitutional scholars. They tell me that it will require a large, unrelenting, organized group aligned around a Constitutional Amendment.

Conrad Black, 9/27/11

Historian, publisher, author

The press release announcing my resignation from Hollinger was on the wires the Monday morning after my decision. Murdoch's New York Post became the outlet for every fictional tale of my enemies and then some enthusiastically invented by the Post itself.

Christine Lagarde, 9/27/11

Managing Director, IMF

I feel strongly that the global community is beginning to respond to our shared plight. Why? Three reasons: a shared sense of urgency, a shared diagnosis of the problems, and a shared sense that the steps needed in the period ahead are now coming into focus.

Kal Penn, 9/27/11

Actor/Producer

Progress is possible with a leader who understands what's at stake. But progress is never easy, which is all the more reason to keep a focus on positivity and abandon cynicism.

Dan Collins, 9/27/11

New York Editor-At-Large of The Huffington Post

There's no adequate way to describe how humiliating this is for New Yorkers. It was bad enough that every election season, the big names dropped by the Big Apple only when they wanted to raise money. Now we're New York City, home of the Donald Trump pilgrimage.

Emma Ruby-Sachs, 9/27/11

Attorney

Yesterday, Southwest Airlines booted Leisha Hailey, a famous lesbian icon, off one of their planes. Their complaint: she was kissing her girlfriend on a "family" airline and then argued about being chastised for her kissing.

Carne Ross, 9/27/11

Founder, Independent Diplomat

The banking system is both a cause and an intrinsic part of our current economic and political crisis. Here are some suggestions for a manifesto for the Occupy Wall Street protests currently taking place.

Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott, 9/27/11

President Obama's "millionaire tax" has generated two sound-bite replies. Not only is he engaging in "class warfare," but he is indulging in sheer political posturing -- there simply isn't a lot of money to be raised by targeting the super-rich. Both charges are mistaken.

Bill Gates, 9/27/11

Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The numbers don't lie. Unemployment rates among Americans who never went to college are about double that of those who have a postsecondary education. And the need for highly-skilled workers is growing.

Robin Quivers, 9/26/11

Anchor, 'The Howard Stern Show'

I can't tell you how many times white women have told me they saw The Help and just loved it. In some ways, I think they're trying to tell me that thanks to the film, they now get it.

Rep. Brad Miller, 9/27/11

U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 13th Congressional District

In September 2008, the Federal Housing Finance Agency took over Fannie and Freddie and the Treasury Department agreed to cover their losses to keep them in business. But it has cost taxpayers $162 billion so far to cover Fannie's and Freddie's losses.

Barbara & Shannon Kelley, 9/27/11

Coauthors, Undecided

The message is clear: The stronger the woman, the less likely she is to get laid.

Robin Sax, 9/27/11

Attorney, Law Offices of Robin Sax, victim advocate, legal commentator

All of these million dollar questions make one ask, who is going to be on trial anyway -- Michael Jackson or Conrad Murray?

Peter Van Buren, 9/27/11

Former State Department Iraq PRT leader, occasional angry young man.

The State Department and its Bureau of Diplomatic Security never took responsibility for their part in the loss of all those cables. No one will ever be fired at State because of WikiLeaks -- except, at some point, possibly me.

Ian Fletcher, 9/27/11

Author, 'Free Trade Doesn't Work: What Should Replace It and Why'

Rick Perry cannot be held responsible for everything the Chinese firm Huawei does, or might do, all over the world. But equally, his intimate involvement with them doesn't exactly show good judgment for someone who aspires to be commander in chief of America's national security.

Maria Cardona, 9/27/11

Principal, Dewey Square Group (DSG)

Republicans had better the heed the advice of many of their strategists and elected officials who understand their ultimate fate can very well be in the hands of Latino voters in 2012.

Mark Shriver and Jennifer Garner, 9/26/11

Our country is engaged in a deep, delicate battle about how to slice up the federal budget. What may surprise some people is that early childhood education comes down to everything Americans are anxious about.

Jayshree Bajoria, 9/27/11

Senior Staff Writer, Council on Foreign Relations

A powerful and influential India is in U.S. national interests, and the two countries should collaborate more closely on all major global issues, says Robert D. Blackwill, co-chair of a new joint study report by the Council on Foreign Relations and Aspen Institute India.

Lincoln Mitchell, 9/27/11

Harriman Institute, Columbia University

The obvious questions that surrounded Perry were ignored by many Republicans desperate for a viable conservative. Strikingly, many are now seeking to repeat these events with an even less plausible candidate, Governor Chris Christie.

Hector Aristizabal, 9/27/11

Board member, Program for Torture Victims

I was held for three days and three nights without food or water, deprived of sleep and subjected to what some of your friends like to call "enhanced interrogation techniques" -- electricity, waterboarding-- that would leave no marks.

Marcus Samuelsson, 9/27/11

Chef; Author

Eric Boehlert, 9/27/11

Senior Fellow, Media Matters for America

Instead of the recent FEMA funding story being about how Republicans were embracing a radical new legislative initiative, and doing it the expense of disaster victims in need of government aid, the story was presented as more partisan sniping.

Rep. Keith Ellison, 9/27/11

Co-Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus

Instead of supporting legislation to solve the jobs crisis, right-wing pundits and politicians are encouraging this gloom by claiming America is in "decline." These critics are cynical and wrong.

Jessica Pearce Rotondi, 9/27/11

Associate Editor, Huffington Post Women

If it drains you in too many ways to count, is a higher paying job really more valuable to you? Can we assign a dollar value to the restorative powers of a vacation with friends, or the satisfaction you feel from having time to pursue interests outside of the office?