A U.S. offensive in Afghanistan. Al Franken heads to the Senate. Mark Sanford keeps talking. And unemployment keeps rising. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Barack Obama came to Washington promising serious action on climate change. The climate bill that passed the House last Friday is hailed as an historic first step. We’ll look at what’s in it, what it’s up against, and whether it’s enough.

Iranian crackdown. Health care politics in high gear. And the South Carolina governor’s Argentine affair. Our weekly news roundtable unpacks the headlines.

Will health care reform really make it through the Washington gauntlet this time? We’ll take a close look at the politics playing out now, and the road ahead for reform.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, top economic and policy advisor to the 2008 McCain campaign, on Obama’s agenda — and the future of the GOP.

President Obama rolls out the biggest financial market regulation revamp since the Great Depression. Is it enough? Too much? We’ll dig in.

The president makes his case to the American Medical Association. We’ll ask what’s really coming with healthcare reform.

Big banks bolt TARP. CEOs get a pay czar. Iran goes to the polls. And a deadly shooting in Washington. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Dr. George Tiller was murdered for performing abortions. In the gunfire, the defense of abortion can get lost. Episcopal priest Katherine Ragsdale makes it loud and clear.

Obama in Egypt. GM in bankruptcy. And a French airliner goes down. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court. We’ll look at the pick, the confirmation battle ahead, and what it means for the Court.

Democrats defy Obama on Guantanamo. The president speaks. Detroit emissions get a haircut. Iran tests a missile. It’s the weekly news roundtable.

California votes down a tax hike and looks for a federal bailout. We’ll ask where this story ends.

We’ll hear the speech and the controversy over abortion, the president, and Catholicism.

Obama puts the brakes on photos of abuse. Health care and Wall Street get wake-up calls. An Afghan commander gets the boot. Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has become attacker-in-chief of President Barack Obama. We’ll look at Dick Cheney and his role, motives, and message out of office.

The New York Times’ David Leonhardt on the economy. The Washington Post’s Perry Bacon on politics. And Jack Beatty on it all.

When free market champion Richard Posner says capitalism has failed, you sit up and listen. And we will.

Credit card reform is hot on Capitol Hill. Consumers stand to get protections. But banks say it’s the wrong reform, at the wrong time. We’ll hear the debate.

Arlen Specter bails out, and the GOP’s fight over its own future goes red hot. We’ll hear from Christine Todd Whitman, the Club For Growth, and more.