Big Featured Discussions 815 items | updated May 18 2012

The obesity epidemic in America continues, with experts predicting that 42 percent of the population will be obese by 2030. But how to fight the obesity epidemic is a question that remains unanswered. Processed food, agriculture subsidies, advertising and food deserts have all come under fire as possible causes and the extent to which government should get involved has been the subject of controversy. Yet some promising policy ideas are starting to emerge from the debate.

How can the U.S. defeat the obesity epidemic?

A conservative super PAC rejected a proposal to link President Obama to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, a proposal already rejected by the GOP.

Although they are unofficially aligned with campaigns, super PACs are independent and can launch negative attack ads even while candidates run a clean campaign.

Are super PACs resonsible for the negative tone in politics?

The FBI has opened a preliminary investigation into the $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase. It joins the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve, which are also looking into why the bank posted a multi-billion dollar loss on trades that were supposed to provide credit stability.

"If there's a lot of money to be made, and JPMorgan Chase has discovered a way to do it that kind of circumvents or uses some of the holes in the emerging Volcker Rule, then I can guarantee you that every other major bank on Wall Street is going to try and is trying to do exactly the same thing," University of California, Berkeley, professor Robert Reich warned Eliot Spitzer on "Viewpiont" on Monday night.

How can we fix Wall Street? Will fallout from JPMorgan Chase's $2 billion loss spur regulation?

Ron Paul announced his decision to stop actively campaigning in the GOP primary. He hasn't officially dropped from the race, but getting off the campaign trail is a step in that direction. But will Paul's supporters, who have been out in force during the campaign with some creative displays of support, do the same?

Now that Paul has stopped campaigning, what will his supporters do?

Ana Kasparian and Cara Santa Maria, science correspondent for The Huffington Post, look at the latest Mitt Romney controversy stemming from a Washington Post article about his bully behavior during prep-school, on "The Young Turks."

"When I read this article I got the sense that he was raised in this bubble. This bubble of wealth, luxury, being able to do whatever you want and never being held accountable for your actions," Kasparian says.

What, if anything, do stories about Romney being a bully in high school say about his fitness to be president?

On Thursday nights edition of "The Young Turks," Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told guest host Michael Shure that dangerous people are given access to guns "all in the name of an industry."

There's no argument that the gun industry is well funded. In 2010, gun rights lobbyists spent more than $5 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. While gun control lobbyists only spent $290,000.

"Make no mistake: the gun lobby and the politicians who do their bidding wanted George Zimmerman — a man with an arrest record and a history of violence — to be able to carry a load, hidden gun on the streets on Sanford, Florida that night," Gross said.  

Where do you stand on gun control? Is there any way to make gun control a national conversation?

Did you know that at least 26 Fortune 500 companies won't be paying any taxes this year?

In "The Big Dodge" we look at how corporations achieve a negative tax rate which allows them to not pay any taxes, and in some cases, get money from the government. And it's probably no coincidence that these corporations are also funneling lots of cash back into Washington in the form of campaign contributions.

What can be done to make sure corporations pay their fair share of taxes?

Coca-Cola has withdrawn its membership from the American Legislative Exchange Council, an ultra-conservative lobbying group that pushes laws at the state level.

ALEC has come under public scrutiny since the death of Trayvon Martin for their role in supporting Florida's "stand your ground" law. They are also involved in several controversial voter identification laws and progressive groups have been circulating petitions urging ALEC's corporate members to pull their financial support of the group.

"The Coca-Cola Company has elected to discontinue its membership with the American Legislative Exchange Council. Our involvement with ALEC was focused on efforts to oppose discriminatory food and beverage taxes, not on issues that have no direct bearing on our business," Coke spokeswoman Diana Garza Ciarlante said in statement on Wednesday.

Coke joins Pepsi, who quietly dropped their ALEC membership several months ago. Other corporate members of ALEC include AT&T, Bayer, ExxonMobil, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Koch Industries, Kraft Foods, Pfizer, State Farm Insurance, UPS and Wal-Mart Stores.

How is your opinion of these companies affected by their participation in ALEC? Should they follow Coke's example and drop their membership?

George Zimmerman, who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, may find protection under Florida's 2005 "stand your ground" law.

The law, which was strongly endorsed by the NRA, allows a person to use deadly force away from the home if they have reasonable fear an assailant will harm them. It also eliminates a person’s "duty to retreat" during a confrontation.

Since the law went into effect the number of justifiable homicides reported in Florida has skyrocketed.

Does Florida's "stand your ground" law take self-defense too far? 

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Maricopa (Ariz.) County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Thursday claiming his department showed a pattern of unlawful discrimination against Latinos.

Some of the more disturbing complaints in the report include a claim that officers mistreated a pregnant Latino woman during a routine traffic stop and that the department retaliated against judges, lawyers and community leaders who were perceived as enemies. (You can see the full lawsuit here.)

CBS News reports that the Justice department is currently investigating 17 major police and sheriff's departments for alleged civil-rights abuses -- including the Sanford, Fla., Police Department that failed to detain George Zimmerman after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin. 

What can be done to eliminate discrimination in law enforcement?

President Obama has finally given his personal support to same-sex marriage. This evolution of his views comes just one day after North Carolina's Amendment One, which changes the state's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage or domestic partnership, was passed by voters.

How will the President's endorsement change the conversation?

Mitt Romney is trying to take credit for the auto industry recovery.

"I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy, and finally when that was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet, so I’ll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry’s come back," Mitt Romney told ABC News' Cleveland affiliate WEWS on Monday.

Romney has suggested before that "managed bankruptcy" for the auto industry was his own idea, and argued in his controversial 2008 New York Times op-ed, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," that it would have resulted in a faster turnaround.

What do you think of Mitt Romney taking credit for the auto industry turnaround? What will Republicans try to take credit for next?

Greece, Germany and France all elected new leaders on Sunday as voters revolted against austerity measures as a solution for Europe's economic woes.

"Austerity can no longer be inevitable!" France's new president Francois Hollande shouted in his first speech after Nicolas Sarkozy conceded. Hollande is France's first socialist president in more than a decade and has already promised stimulus spending.

What can the U.S. learn from Europe's rejection of austerity?

The April jobs report didn't bring good news to people still looking for work.

Hiring slowed and workers continued to drop out of the labor force in April, according to the U.S. Labor Department's monthly jobs report. The economy only added 115, 000 jobs, down from March, and the portion of working age population in the labor force is at it's lowest level since 1981.

The only bright spot on the jobs front is that the private sector has recovered all of the jobs that were lost since President Obama took office in 2009 -- that's nearly 4.2 million jobs. But the economy remains weak because the public sector is still losing jobs. There are currently 607,000 fewer people working in the public sector than there were when Obama took office.

Have you or someone you know given up looking for work? What can be done to improve the job market?

ABC News reports that blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng "made a surprising and direct appeal to lawmakers on Capitol Hill to come to the United States."

Chen, a 40-year-old lawyer and outspoken activist, took refuge at the U.S. embassy in China after escaping more than a year and a half of house arrest. He originally said he wanted to stay in China — fearing his family's safety — and was released to a Chinese hospital. Chen has since changed his mind and asked Congress to make arrangements to allow him and his family to come to the U.S.

How can the U.S. promote human rights and a positive relationship with China?

During his Tuesday speech at the Bagram Air Force Base, President Barack Obama said the war in Afghanistan is ending.

But on Tuesday's edition of "The Young Turks," Cenk Uygur said, "No, it's not." Cenk explains that U.S. troops will be remaining in Afghanistan until 2024 and the military industrial complex will continue to make billions of dollars.

What do you think about U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan until 2024?

May Day protests were held around the world on Tuesday, drawing attention to workers rights, immigration reform and other progressive issues.

The Occupy movement joined the push in the U.S. this year, organizing a national day of protest and declaring, "NO WORK - NO SCHOOL - NO SHOPPING - NO BANKING - NO TRADING" on its Facebook page.

Will May Day protests make a difference? How can protests help solve the economic issues, such as forclosure and student loan debt, many Americans are facing?

The Occupy movement is organizing a national day of protest for May Day. Also known as International Worker's Day, May Day is already a progressive holiday overseas. Occupiers are calling for those in the U.S. to strike for a "day without the 99 percent."

Will you be participating in the strike or joining a protest this May Day?

(Photo: Getty Images)

The Obama campaign released a video on Friday that suggests Mitt Romney wouldn't have ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The video highlights Romney saying, in a 2007 interview, that Americans will not be markedly safer if bin Laden were killed and that "it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." In a debate just days later, Romney asserted that he would do whatever nessecary for find bin Laden.

The video comes a day after Vice President Joe Biden, in a speech bashing Romney on foreign policy, said: "On this gut issue, we know what President Obama did. We can't say for certain what Gov. Romney would have done."

The Obama campaign's foreign policy strategy is clear, how will Romney respond? Can Romney compete with Obama on foreign policy?