When you have millionaires at war with fundraisers in an election season, with just a little scratching, money starts to come out of the woodwork. WNYC's been covering a gaping loophole in New York's campaign finance regulations--Limited Liability Companies, or LLCs.

Almost sixteen years ago to the day, Republicans laid out their midterm platform in their Contract with America. It preceded a sweeping victory for the GOP in Washington, as they took control of the House of Representatives and Newt Gingrich took the Speaker's gavel.

Now, they are laying out a new vision in a Pledge to America (thanks for posting, Politico!). 

How much difference does 16 years make? What stands out to you in the two platforms? Give us your read - and tell us whether you're a Republican, Democrat, or Independent.

After addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday night, President Obama shifted gears from world concilator to fundraiser-in-chief, headlining an event that raised $1.4 million intended to help his party hold on to Congress.

Each week on It's A Free Country we bring you Wonk Wars. This week, we're asking policy experts to react to the statement "Public Employees Get Too Many Benefits". Here is what our research found the two candidates for Governor say about the issue.

-Steven Rattner, President Obama's former car czar and author of Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry in America on The Brian Lehrer Show.

Traveling through America, I cannot help but look at America in military metaphors, as a soldier who has served a tour of duty and cannot help but wonder if rotations to the field will continue indefinitely. The battles are economic, on one level. Jobs and the economy remain the top issues. Neighborhoods rocked by foreclosures are sometimes finding a new equilibrium - even if that equilibrium means learning to live with one or two abandoned houses on a once-full block. America has survived the dizzying economic crash of 2008, but we remain ready to fight for an American Dream that sometimes we can't even define.

Michael Bloomberg endorsed Andrew Cuomo for Governor today, saying "I know I'll have a partner in Albany."

In its first poll of likely general election voters, the Quinnipiac Poll found Republican nominee Carl Paladino narrowly trails Attorney General Andrew Cuomo 43-49 percent.

Here’s something (almost) nobody expected a week ago: Carl Paladino talking to CNN in Central Park.

The commercial real estate developer from Buffalo was asked by Soledad ...

The National Bureau of Economic Research may have declared the great recession over, but the road ahead is still quite rocky for the New York City budget.

-New York Times columnist Gail Collins on The Leonard Lopate Show.

-John, a caller from Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, on The Brian Lehrer Show

As Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert prepare to take Washington, we certainly should appreciate the satire, the cynicism even, as healthy for our democracy. After all, Stewart's viewers are engaged on some level. They are not completely disengaged from the political process. The same can be said of Glenn Beck's followers. And if Lady Gaga’s fans pick up the phone and call their senators, whatever their motivation, at least they are dialing into the process. The question is whether we are engaged enough.

Welcome to Wonk Wars, a weekly feature from It's A Free Country as part of the Brian Lehrer Show's 30 Issues in 30 Days. Early each week, we'll post one of those issues in the Wonk Wars sections of the website and invite two or more policy experts to start the discussion online, along with your input. Then, each Thursdays, the conversation continues on-air at the Brian Lehrer Show.

This Week's True/False: Public Employees Have Too Many Benefits

Candidates have been describing the problems facing New Yorkers and Americans, but they have not done a very good job of communicating how they will do something about these problems. Just like in a job interview New Yorkers now want candidates to demonstrate ability. It's time to focus and give some answers.

With six weeks left before voters go to the polls,  New York candidates are hitting the streets and the airwaves. Democrats are trying to hold onto their control of the state Senate. Last year, their narrow majority temporarily slipped away and gave the Republicans a fleeting new lease on life, for a while anyway. Eventually dissident Democrats came back to the fold, but  the chaos only complicated an already dysfunctional budget process.

Now, Democrats think they can tilt the Albany math in their favor with women challengers in a few key legislative races - and by capturing voters put off by Republican gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino.