Last night, Katrina vanden Heuvel squared off against Reason.com’s Nick Gillespie on CNN’s Parker Spitzer. When Spitzer asked about the possibility of compromise in Washington, vanden Heuvel said that even Tea Partiers "support [strengthening] Social Security benefits" and referred to a transpartisan alliance between libertarian Ron Paul and progressive Barney Frank to suggest that there is potential for compromise in Washington.

However, the conversation soon turned into a heated debate about Wall Street, big business, health care and government spending—aptly highlighting issues that those on the right and  left have trouble finding consensus on. Vanden Heuvel and Gillespie disagreed about whether there is uncertainty on Wall Street and in the big business community—with vanden Heuvel arguing that "they are sitting on $2 trillion in investments and they’re not investing in rebuilding this country" and with Gillespie saying that companies are cautious about hiring because of uncertainty "about tax rates come January 1."

—Joanna Chiu