:: "Deep Throat" dies at 95.
"Deep Throat" was the man who brought down the Nixon presidency, and he died yesterday from congestive heart failure. RIP, Mr. Felt.
“SAN FRANCISCO - W. Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" 30 years after he helped reporters to unravel the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, has died. He was 95.
The shadowy central figure in one of the most gripping political dramas of the 20th century, Felt insisted his alter ego be kept secret when he leaked damaging information about Republican President Richard Nixon and his aides to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.” 
MSNBC
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:: Blagojevich whines "I did nothing wrong. I will fight this to my last breath."
Personally, while I am all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, as in "innocent until proven guilty", Blagojevich was caught on tape, scheming to sell a US Senate seat to the highest bidder. He made a mockery of our system of government, and betrayed all Americans, not just those in Illinois.
In my opinion, if he had any decency, he would step down, and take his just punishment without causing further problems for either the people of Illinois, or his party.
“A defiant Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich said Friday that he will continue to fight federal corruption charges.
“I’m here to tell you right off the bat that I am not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Mr. Blagojevich said, during his first statement since federal prosecutors unveiled a 76-page criminal complaint against him.
“I will fight this thing every step of the way. I will fight, I will fight, I will fight, till I take my very last breath. I have done nothing wrong.” he said.
Mr. Blagojevich is accused of, among other things, trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder.
He quoted several lines from the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling and did not take any questions from reporters.” NYT
View the video, or read the transcript.
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:: Lieberman goes after Bush.
Ooooh.....Lieberman finally decided to shape up, albeit belatedly, and probably only temporarily.
“In a letter to the Office of Personnel Management, the Connecticut Independent demanded information about the outgoing president's "eleventh-hour transfers of political appointees to career government positions."” HUFFPO
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:: Bush blasted by Republicans over auto bailout.
And why not so much over the wall street bailout, which used $700 billion+ of taxpayer money?
“Republican leaders across the board have let loose on President Bush’s auto industry bailout in what may be some of the toughest GOP criticism of the Bush presidency.
John McCain is leading the way, saying it is “unacceptable that we would leave the American taxpayer with a tab of tens of billions of dollars while failing to receive any serious concessions from the industry.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House GOP leader John Boehner and a cast of other angry fiscal conservatives have also rained criticism on the president. Bush may only have a month left in office, but Republican leaders who went along with the Wall Street bailout are finally making a clean break with their president on economic policy.” POLITICO
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:: Obama announced his final cabinet picks today, and voiced his great concern over the economy.
President-elect Obama formally announced his choice for Secretary of Transportation, Rep. Ray LaHood [R-IL], as well as Rep. Hilda Solis [D-CA], the daughter of immigrants, for Secretary of Labor. He also announced Ron Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, as U.S. Trade Representative and Karen Mills to head up the Small Business Administration.
Additionally, he spoke of his concern about the economy.
“Barack Obama, addressing the press for the fifth straight day, offered perhaps his gloomiest assessment yet on the current economic situation. Relaying how the talks with his economic teams have revealed a landscape far more challenging than previously imagined, he insisted that "a significant amount" of government spending was needed "on the front end."
“What is striking in the conversations that we have had with economists from the left and the right over the past several months is how the economic forecasts have deteriorated, and the conclusion has been with credit freezing up, with businesses laying off workers, with a continued weakness in the housing market, and escalating foreclosures, that unless you have a bold approach, you could see the economy continuing to decline at a pretty rapid clip. That is not acceptable to me,” he told reporters. “I don't think it is acceptable to the American people.”” HUFFPO
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:: Bush announces 17.5 billion TARP loan for GM and Chrysler.
President Bush announced an auto bridge loan package this morning, for GM and Chrysler. Nothing online yet that I could find in search. Will expand on this as I am able.
Update - 9:38am: Sen. Stabenow (D-MI) said that the package is tough and fair.
CNBC and Bloomberg News on conditions of the auto loans:
-The loan to the automakers is intended to keep them afloat through February
- Automakers must show positive net present value by March 31 -- this is an element of what has been called an "orderly bankruptcy" plan -- or loans must be repaid
- Companies must accept executive compensation limits
- Labor costs much be competitive with those of foreign automakers working in the US [IPD NOTE: this condition is non-binding]
- There will be no "car czar," but the deal will be overseen by a presidential designee, in this case Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
- Government officials will watch the companies' financial statements and can veto any transaction in excess of $100 million
- The deal can be renegotiated by the Obama administration once Obama is in office, prompting commentators to call it a "Bridge to Obama" loan
Update - 9:42am: from the Huffington Post:
“President Bush said that chapter 11 "is unlikely to work at this time." He later added that the short-term loans are designed to either allow the auto companies to prove that they can become viable or to prepare themselves legally and organizationally for an orderly chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The deal became urgent as GM and Chrysler appeared to be headed for serious trouble, idling plants and selling off prized property -- like the GM heritage collection.
The aid package being spearheaded by the White House would demand that both automakers restructure by seeking new concessions from unions and creditors, two people briefed on the talks said.
Both GM and Chrysler have been forced to idle plants and lay off thousands of workers across North America as they try to shore up cash and have warned they could face bankruptcy without federal assistance.”
The slide show Goldman used to pitch Abacus is pretty damning. It starts with so many pages of fine-print "disclaimers" and "risk factors" that it seems like a Viagra ad ("call your doctor if ..."). There's a lot in there about well-respected (but at best gullible) ACA, this firm that Goldman claimed was picking the bonds. About half of the 66 slides sing ACA's praises, but there's no mention of Paulson. There are long descriptions of ACA's capabilities, their "internal" and "external data sources," and their "defensive trading" designed to "minimize real market value exposure."
“On the night before Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th President, his inaugural committee will host a series of dinners honoring public servants it deems champions of bipartisanship. To be 
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United Auto Workers union is welcoming the Bush administration's vow to prevent the possible failure of any U.S. automakers in the next few weeks.
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