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.

Soldier's mother “ecstatic” about Obama's bracelet  —  MILWAUKEE - The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was “ecstatic” during Friday's debate when Senator Barack Obama mentioned the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son.  —  Tracy Jopek of Merrill told …

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).

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.

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.

AP Investigation: Palin got zoning aid, gifts  —  WASILLA, Alaska (AP) — Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Tom Brokaw's bizarre idea of what fairness required.  —  Steve Schmidt and David Axelrod were on “Meet the Press” this morning, and they spewed talking points and evaded the questions asked by Tom Brokaw.  Here's the best example of that: … Translation: The Wall Street Journal is absolutely right!

Rescue bill unveiled  —  Lawmakers release plan to enact historic bailout of nation's financial system.  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The federal government would put up as much as $700 billion in a far-reaching plan to rescue the nation's troubled financial system, according to a bill unveiled by lawmakers on Sunday.

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.

McCain tells ‘Dispatch’ that bailout is emergency measure ‘to stop bleeding’  —  Republican nominee says Paulson, Bernanke convinced him plan needed  —  Along with Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John McCain has embraced a $700 billion bailout of the nation's troubled financial industry.

Obama slightly widens lead after debate, poll finds  —  Registered voters who watched the first presidential debate preferred Obama over McCain, 49% to 44%, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey shows.  —  WASHINGTON — The much-anticipated first presidential debate between John …

Palin treads carefully between fundamentalist beliefs and public policy  —  Her faith views are strong and sometimes controversial.  Her aides say she seeks to share but not impose her faith; her critics say she has ‘a fine-tuned sense of how far to push.’  —  ANCHORAGE — Soon after Sarah Palin …

Mayor ‘just curious’ if Obama is antichrist  —  FORT MILL, S.C. — Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk says he was “just curious” when he forwarded a chain e-mail suggesting Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the biblical antichrist.  “I was just curious if there was any validity to it …

Is Purchasing $700 billion of Toxic Assets the Best Way to Recapitalize the Financial System?  No!  It is Rather a Disgrace and Rip-Off Benefitting only the Shareholders and Unsecured Creditors of Banks  —  Delicious Digg Facebook reddit Technorati  —  Nouriel Roubini

Opening Step on Long Road  —  The government's planned financial bailout is a significant if costly step intended to avert economic calamity, but it may not be the last one, according to economists and finance experts.  —  The rescue plan would use taxpayer money — $350 billion initially …

And now the Great Depression  —  The Paulson Plan, whatever its final form, will not end the crisis quickly.  Unemployment will rise but will the most serious credit crisis since the Great Depression bring about a new depression?  Here one of the world's leading economic historians identifies the relevant Great-Depression lessons.