Iran; Big Bank Payback, Reregulation; Healthcare

There's a big turnout for elections in Iran; will it change anything? Can a former PM with the hardest of hard-line governments have persuaded the youth vote that he's really a reformer? Will the poor folks out-vote the middle class? We don't know the results but that doesn't stop us from talking about the Iranian elections! Are banks really ready to pay back their TARP money or are they just trying to postpone inevitable reform and re-regulation? Is it inevitable or will it be wink-wink, nudge, nudge DC-style reform, where things just get shifted around and we end up with a new mess down the road? Also, will a public plan healthcare option become a reality, or will partisan compromises strip any plan of any real change for the uninsured?

Banner image: An Iranian woman casts her vote in Tehran, in today's election. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is running against conservative reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Photo: Majid/Getty Images