If incumbents are running scared, what does that mean for the phenomenon of the incumbency effect?

How will healthcare reform affect the economy? This week on The Breakdown, Christopher Hayes talks to Ezra Klein to correct the misperceptions.

In 2002, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, at the behest of the CIA and in conjunction with the White House, drafted a memo on acceptable standards of interrogation. Now the authors have been cleared of wrongdoing.

Could the Senate start getting things done, if only legislators didn’t have to face filibuster threats? This week on The Breakdown: the history of the filibuster, and how to get rid of it.

Almost one year after the stimulus bill was signed into law, Christopher Hayes, with special guest Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute, assess its successes, failures and unknown future.

What effect will the reduction in troops in Iraq that Obama has promised have on defense spending?

The Obama Administration has announced a plan to reduce the budget deficit through a three-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending. What are possible long-term effects?

In the wake of the surprising loss in Massachusetts on Tuesday, the future of healthcare reform has become uncertain. The Nation‘s DC Editor Christopher Hayes and special guest Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post explore the legislative options for next steps.

Even if healthcare reform passes in 2010, many of its programs will only go into effect in two or three years. Why? Christopher Hayes says it’s all an accounting trick.

Global warming is not just controversial, it’s also pretty confusing. As world leaders debate in Copenhagen, politicians in Congress are pushing different plans to deal with climate change. Christopher Hayes breaks down the difference between cap and trade and a carbon tax.