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WASHINGTON -- More than half of the nation's 400 richest citizens have contributed money to help elect President Barack Obama or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to the White House. These members of the Forbes 400, who boast a combined net worth of $1.7 trillion -- more than 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product -- have donated more to affect the outcome of the presidential race than ever before.

New York -- Voting rights experts at national public policy organization Demos will again pull out all the stops on Pre-Election and Election Day to ensure that every eligible voter is able to vote in this critical election year. To protect the fundamental freedom to vote, Demos works with advocates and policymakers around the country to foster an inclusive democracy, decrease bureaucratic barriers to voter registration and civic participation, and monitor the fair administration of elections. 

For the first time, the U.S. is no longer one of the top 10 prosperous countries, as ranked by the 2012 Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index. Legatum, a non-partisan, independent think tank based in the UK, uses eight metrics to determine their Prosperity Index that combine both hard data and survey results on how citizens feel. The eight metrics include: economy, entrepreneurship and ownership, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital.

Since Citizens United, new waves of “outside spending” have been fueled by dark money and unlimited fundraising from a small number of wealthy donors.

Today's job numbers show that the economy continues to creep in the right direction -- but also that job creation will remain a paramount challenge over the next few years. The problem is not just the millions of working-age adults who remain unemployed or under-employed.

The surprise Obama endorsement from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s is a good time to revisit one of Bloomberg’s ideas to combat climate change: the carbon tax.

It's a sign of our shadowy times that the latest regulatory "reform" bill hasn't been laughed out of Washington. Same goes for the latest bankers' complaint, this time about being asked to cover their own bets. And if you think it's bad now, wait and see what happens if Romney takes over.

Think "global catastrophe."

While bank-friendly politicians offer insipid legislation, the world economy is still at risk. And it could get worse.

Hurricane Sandy dealt a devastating blow to transit systems in the New York metro area and revealed, once again, just how fragile and antiquated many of these systems are. Sandy also pointed up the need for New York and other coastal cities to retrofit energy systems for an era of higher seas and fiercer storms, moving power stations to higher ground.

One positive outcome of the storm would be if it focused new attention on infrastructure needs -- and generated new political will to address them in ways that help stimulate the economy.

As the East Coast starts to recover from Hurricane Sandy, one begins to wonder whether this is the new norm? Going forward, will stronger, more intense storms continually batter the East Coast? Unfortunately, that seems likely to be the case without meaningful comprehensive action to combat climate change. Days of blackouts, massive economic losses, and increased fatalities could become business as usual as seas rise and hurricanes gain in intensity.