Big Featured Discussions 1116 items | updated May 17 2013

Nationwide Insurance has decided the risks of fracking are too great to cover under their personal or commercial insurance policies. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting chemically treated water into underground wells to fracture shale and release oil or gas. Chemical companies say the process is safe, but health and environmental groups have claimed otherwise.

Who should be responsible for covering the risks from fracking? Should insurance companies protect people, or should oil companies cover any damages?

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Word is out that Mitt Romney is hoping to divert attention from his continued limited disclosure of tax returns and new information about his time at Bain Capital by announcing his nominee for vice president. A number of names have been floated, from Condoleeza Rice to Marco Rubio to Chris Christie, but it remains to be seen who Romney will pick to be his running mate.

Who do you think Romney will choose as his VP nominee?

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Mitt Romney has held up his business experience as a qualification for being president. He's claimed credit for creating jobs as a business owner. But now that new documents have surfaced which show he was active at Bain after 1999, he's ducking the issue.

Why is Mitt Romney avoiding taking responsibility for his time at Bain?

Democrats and Republicans alike have criticized the U.S. Olympic Committee for outfitting U.S. athletes in uniforms made in China. The uniforms were designed in the U.S. by Ralph Lauren but made in China. The USOC says the team is privately funded, but politicans have said the decision has a symbolic impact.

How important is made-in-America? Should Team USA get new uniforms made in the U.S.A.?

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Scranton, Pennsylvania has made headlines after the mayor cut the  pay of city workers -- including himself -- to minimum wage. The move came after Scranton's City Council refused to raise taxes in response to a budget shortfall. But city workers, who are suddenly finding themselves unable to pay their bills, are not happy and unions are fighting back.

In times of economic crisis, what should cities cut to balance budgets?

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President Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney have both made the news with recent vacations. But neither vacation sounds especially relaxing, as both packed their schedules with activities.

Our political leaders are not alone; studies have shown that Americans are especially bad at leisure. U.S. workers not only receive far less vacation time than workers in other countries, they're less likely to take that time. When Americans do take time off, they're also less likely to take a large chunk of time at once. Those in the U.S. also tend to fill their off-hours with commitments and activities, in what one New York Time's piece called the busy trap.

Why are Americans so bad at relaxing?

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The U.N. has released a report calling for a one percent tax on billionaires to fund international development. The U.N. has bemoaned the fact that many donor nations have not fulfilled pledges to donate 0.7 percent of their Gross National Product to help meet development goals.

In addition to the tax, the U.N. proposed other methods to fund international development, including taxing carbon emissions, air traffic and financial transactions.

Should billionaires pay a tax to fund international development? What methods should be used to help fund international development goals?

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Mitt Romney has been reluctant to disclose financial information and a recent Vanity Fair piece delved into the world of offshore finance to examine why. Romney's use of tax havens isn't unusual for Wall Street, but it is atypical for presidential candidates.

How do Romney's offshore holdings affect your view of him as a candidate? Do you think it will hurt his campaign?

Mitt Romney is rumored to be considering a female running mate. Adding a woman to the ticket to help woo female voters hasn't worked well for the GOP in the past (who can forget Sarah Palin's antics?) and some Republican strategists have suggested it isn't an option this time. But Ann Romney has said her husband is considering a female vice president.

Would adding a woman to the ticket help Mitt Romney win over female voters? Will this strategy backfire on the GOP again? Is considering a female VP just paying lip service to equality if Romney ultimately picks a male running mate?

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It's America's birthday! Whether you're taking some time for quiet reflection, celebrating with fireworks or just enjoying a day off of work, tell us what you're doing for the holiday.(And if you're at a loss for what to do, we have some ideas about how to celebrate.)

How do you plan on observing the Fourth of July?

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After years of speculation, journalist Anderson Cooper came out of the closet. In an email to Daily Beast writer Andrew Sullivan, Cooper explained his reasons for not making a public statement earlier, his desire to maintain privacy in his personal life and the principle behind coming out when there is still so much anti-gay rhetoric.

What responsibility do public figures have to come out of the closet?

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After months of fighting, Congress has passed legislation that will extend low student-loan interest rates for one year. If the legislation had not passed, student-loan interest would have doubled.

How will the extension of low interest rates affect you? Should Congress be doing more to help graduates burdened with increasing amounts of student-loan debt?

The Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act and declared the individual mandate is constitutional. It's good news for Democrats, who have held health care reform up as a success. But Republicans are already gearing up the spin machine and finding new ways to strike fear into voters and rally the conservative base. 

Recent polling found that most Americans support the provisions in the law, even though many object to the law itself. Both sides will undoubtedly be using heath care as a platform in the upcoming elections.

Who's the real winner in the health care decision?

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Now that Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been repealed, the Pentagon held it's first ever gay pride event, honoring LGBT service members. The event featured video message from President Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, as well as a panel discussion with gay service men and women. 

Is this a sign that the mlitary is becoming a truly welcoming place for LGBT individuals who want to serve their country?

Several Democrats have announced that they won't being attending the own party's national convention. The lawmakers all say they want to focus on issues in their home state, but pundits are saying these defections could be an early alarm bell for the Obama campaign.

So far, Reps. Mark Critz of Pennsylvania, Kathy Hochul and Bill Owens of New York, Nick Rahall of West Virginia, and Jim Matheson of Utah - have joined Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jon Tester of Montana, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri in deciding that they won’t attend this year’s Democratic National Convention.

Is this a sign that Obama's reelection campaign is in trouble? What, if anything, does it mean that Democratic members of Congress are skipping the DNC?

A majority of Americans are against President Obama's health care reforms, a recent poll found. Yet most Americans strongly support most of the provisions in the law. Some of the provisions that have popular support include allowing children to remain on their parents insurance until age 26 and banning insurers from denying coverage to patients with pre-existing conditions.

The GOP has done a great job in making these reforms sound scary to the average American.

How have they succeeded in making health care so frightening?

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The Rio 20 earth summit generated a lot of ideas, but not as much in the way of firm commitments. The summit represented an effort to work toward sustainable development, but it has come under criticsm from environmentalists for minimizing firm commitments to take action.

How can the ideas from the Rio 20 earth summit be put into practice? Are commitments needed for countries to change?

A new poll has found that Democratic voters are less engaged in the presidential race than their Republican counterparts. But it's not Romney that's driving engagement from his party. Conservative voters are fired up by their dislike of President Obama. And Romney is still trailing Obama in personality measure associated with a successful candidacy.

How can Obama engage voters?

The White House has granted executive privilege to Eric Holder over a controversial program gave Mexican drug cartels access to guns. A House panel investigating government conduct is moving to hold Holder in contempt of Congress. The investigation into Operation Fast and Furious was launched after a gun involved in the operation was used in the shooting of a U.S. border agent.

What is the motivation behind the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious? Was President Obama correct to invoke executive privilege for Eric Holder?

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