How McCain Wins  —  John McCain is on course to lose the presidential election to Barack Obama.  Can he turn it around, and surge to victory?  —  He has a chance.  But only if he overrules those of his aides who are trapped by conventional wisdom, huddled in a defensive crouch and overcome by ideological timidity.

O'S DANGEROUS PALS  —  BARACK'S ‘ORGANIZER’ BUDS PUSHED FOR BAD MORTGAGES  —  WHAT exactly does a “community organizer” do?  Barack Obama's rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question.  Here's a big part of the answer: Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit.

Citigroup Nears a Deal for Wachovia  —  Citigroup is near a deal for Wachovia, a move that that would concentrate power within the nation's banking industry in the hands of a few giant lenders, The New York Times's Eric Dash and Andrew Ross Sorkin reported Monday morning.

Boehner calls bill a “crap sandwich” — but he'll vote for it  —  In a closed-door session with House Republicans, Minority Leader John A. Boehner just called the financial rescue deal a “crap sandwich” - then said he'll vote for it when it comes to the floor Monday.

The 3 A.M. Call  —  It's 3 a.m., a few months into 2009, and the phone in the White House rings.  Several big hedge funds are about to fail, says the voice on the line, and there's likely to be chaos when the market opens.  Whom do you trust to take that call?  —  I'm not being melodramatic.

Poll on the economy: Americans gloomier, for now  —  As people on Wall Street and Main Street hold their breath to see if a federal bailout of the nation's financial institutions will work, Americans are starting to speak — not whisper — the word “depression.”

‘Substantive’ Press Is Taken for a Spin  —  OXFORD, Miss. — David Axelrod was surrounded by a pack of camera-toting, mike-wielding, pushing-and-shoving media types, one of whom asked whether his man Barack Obama had been “too nice” in the just-completed debate with John McCain.

Romney: McCain camp should have provided more access to Palin  —  Former Gov. Mitt Romney at the RNC: RNC Photo  —  Former Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday that the McCain campaign's reluctance to make vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin available to the press has been a strategic error.

The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning ...a message from Michael Moore  —  Let me cut to the chase.  The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this.  Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken.

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008  —  CBO has just issued its analysis of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as released tonight by the House Committee on Financial Services.  Among other provisions, the legislation would create a Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

Treasury Would Emerge With Vast New Power  —  During its weeklong deliberations, Congress made many changes to the Bush administration's original proposal to bail out the financial industry, but one overarching aspect of the initial plan that remains is the vast discretion it gives to the Treasury secretary.

33 Pastors Flout Tax Law With Political Sermons  —  Defying a federal law that prohibits U.S. clergy from endorsing political candidates from the pulpit, an evangelical Christian minister told his congregation Sunday that voting for Sen. Barack Obama would be evidence of “severe moral schizophrenia.”

Doubt Arises in Account of an Attack in China  —  A foreign tourist took photographs of an attack on paramilitary officers in Kashgar, China.  One of the photographs showed uniformed men wielding machetes and attacking other uniformed men.  Chinese officials, however, have said that two Uighur men used machetes in the attack.

Elon Musk's Falcon 1 launches successfully  —  Fourth time's the charm  —  Multimillionaire tech visionary Elon Musk has finally achieved a long-sought goal on the fourth attempt, as his privately-funded SpaceX Falcon 1 is now circling the Earth.  The rocket, launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific …