Simon Johnson, 03/19/12

MIT professor; Co-author, '13 Bankers' and 'White House Burning'; Columnist on fiscal affairs

With the so-called JOBS bill, Congress is about to abandon much of the 1930s-era securities legislation that both served investors well and helped make the U.S. one of the best places in the world to raise capital. We find ourselves again on a bipartisan route to disaster.

Richard Branson, 03/19/12

Founder, Virgin Group

Throughout Europe and Latin America, and in many U.S. states, a similar debate is playing out: Can and should the drug war be replaced with drug regulation that supports individuals with health issues and focuses law enforcement on serious criminals?

Rev. Al Sharpton, 03/19/12

President, National Action Network

A young teenager walking home, armed only with candy and a drink, should never lose his/her life because someone in a gated community feels 'threatened.'

Beth Broderick, 03/19/12

Actress, founding member of MOMENTUM

For women, reproductive health care is total health care. Without it I might not be alive to write this article and that is why I am seeing red in Texas.

Roger Hickey, 03/19/12

Co-Director, Campaign for America's Future

On Tuesday House Republicans, led by Budget Committee chair Paul Ryan, will unveil a suicide pact, in the form of a new budget that ignores the clear views of the majority of Americans.

Michelangelo Signorile, 03/19/12

Editor-at-large, HuffPost Gay Voices; host, 'The Michelangelo Signorile Show' on Sirius XM's OutQ

No jury that thought long and hard about the case could have returned with any other verdict. It is not the jury's job to think about sentencing or punishment. It is it's job to follow the law.

Cara Santa Maria, 03/16/12

Science correspondent, Huffington Post; editor, Talk Nerdy to Me

From intelligent alien life to our stellar origins, how to think outside of the three-dimensional box to what baffles one of the great thinkers of our time, this was a conversation I won't soon forget.

Bernard-Henri Lévy, 03/19/12

French philosopher and writer

French children, Jewish and French or, if one prefers, sovereignly French but guilty of having been born Jewish, were coldly gunned down, in broad daylight, on the territory of the Republic.

Keli Goff, 03/19/12

Author, Commentator and Contributing Editor, TheLoop21.com

If you really care about the health of girls and seeing girls make healthy choices, buy some Girl Scout cookies. You never know. You may just end up purchasing a box from your future member of Congress or your future president.

Bruce Ackerman, 03/19/12

Professor of law and political science, Yale; Author 'The Decline and Fall of the American Republic'

Where is Richard Nixon when we really need him? The time is ripe for rearranging the diplomatic chess board -- but this time, Western leaders must entice Tehran, not Beijing, into a new relationship.

Rick Sanchez, 03/19/12

Journalist, reporter, news anchor

The fact is, were it not for free coverage from the big, bad media, Santorum would have been out of the race a long time ago

Robert Kuttner, 03/18/12

Co-founder and co-editor, 'The American Prospect'

This is supposed to be a period of bitter bipartisan deadlock, in which Republicans and Democrats can agree on nothing. But when it comes to trade deals that serve corporate but not the national interest, bipartisanship is all too alive and well.

Diane Ravitch, 03/18/12

Historian, NYU professor

We will have to learn to hold two ideas at the same time: We must both reduce poverty and improve our schools. We cannot fix our schools without strengthening the teaching profession and addressing the social conditions that shape their outcomes.

Sydney Levin, 03/19/12

Senior homepage editor, AOL.com.

Are Freudian slips deeply personal puzzles to be solved, or do they simply come down to sound and meaning?

Dan Glickman, 03/19/12

Executive Director Congressional Programs, Aspen Institute; Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center.

Will Super PACs, representing those huge sums of money, paralyze the ability of Members of Congress to even propose a vote for a controversial position?

Mark Hyman, MD, 03/19/12

Practicing physician

The Japanese have been eating a powerful weight loss food for centuries. So did our ancient ancestors who got ten times more of this critical substance than modern Americans.

Rabbi Laura Geller, 03/19/12

Senior Rabbi, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills

The Talmud tells us: "We were redeemed from Egypt because of the righteousness of the women of that generation." In the spirit of Women's History Month, here is my list of 10 of the most important Jewish women who changed history.

Steven Cohen, 03/19/12

Executive Director, Columbia University's Earth Institute

Running for president as if America is a 1950's sitcom is slightly delusional. You may win a Republican primary or two by running against gay marriage and contraception, but there are no national elections to be won in that political space.

Dennis A. Henigan, 03/19/12

Vice President, Brady Campaign; Author, 'Lethal Logic'

The full facts about this incident are still emerging. But one thing seems clear. If George Zimmerman had not been carrying a gun, it is likely Trayvon Martin would be alive today.

Edwin Black, 03/19/12

International investigative author

A newly-propounded Executive Order renews and updates the president's power to take control of all civil energy supplies, including oil and natural gas, control and restrict all civil transportation, and even provides the option to re-enable a draft.

Jean Carnahan, 03/19/12

Writer, speaker and political activist

Erma was there for women in the sixties, picking up where Dr. Spock left off, giving stay-at-home moms a chance to laugh off the tribulations of diaper rash, carpooling and mouthy kids. A few years ago, I thought: "What would Erma be writing about had she lived to be my age?'

Leo W. Gerard, 03/19/12

International President, United Steelworkers

As fuel prices rise, companies like Sunoco and ConocoPhillips are closing the very facilities essential for producing fuels. It raises the question: why would corporations do that?

Pitz Quattrone, 03/19/12

Didgeridoo performer/educator

As a young adult I was headed for life-threatening trouble, but remarkably a wonderful woman agreed to marry me. We had a great kid, but I was still without direction, working dead-end jobs and feeling something important was missing. Then the didge found me.

Sue Thomason, 03/19/12

Magazine editor, author, body image campaigner and disordered eating expert

Appearance is important to us but when we think of beauty - especially our own beauty - it's always focused on physical flaws we're convinced other people can not only see but that they will accept or reject us for. But beauty is not really about teeth or body fat ratio or hair or skin colour, it's about something intangible.