Our weekly roundup of key money and politics reporting. This week: Behind the scenes of a $45.2 billion telecom merger, wealthy brothers aiming big in politics and more.

Author and legal scholar Ian Haney López says Mitt Romney's infamous statement played into existing racial biases and was "the narrative that his audience wants to hear."

In this video clip, Ian Haney López recalls how "the great communicator" used racial tensions to sway middle-class white Americans to vote for policies not in their self-interest.

Five years into the Obama administration, “Thou Shalt Not” has become “Thou Shalt.”

We need to take collective ownership of our fight for a cleaner, more equitable planet before it's too late.

Even as most Americans have figured out that they do not like the tea party, its clout has grown in Washington and state capitals, writes Theda Skocpol.

Bill recommends investigative journalist Julia Angwin's new book, Dragnet Nation, and reflects on the striking similarities between some classic dystopian novels and America today.

One teacher's perspective on today's data-driven education system.

And Mother Jones reporter Dana Liebelson has been tracking the trend.

A new article in Harper's Magazine is a blistering critique of Democrats and the left.