memeorandum: Will Obama's Congress Be Too Friendly? (Alan Ehrenhalt/New York Times)

11:05 AM ET, November 10, 2008

Top Items:

Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Identify Bank Loans — Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Discussion: naked capitalism, Don Surber and Romenesko

Washington Post:

Sometimes Continuity Trumps Change — Three Bush Appointees in Crucial Positions Likely to Remain Under Obama — As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to fill top positions for his incoming government, he faces a stubborn reality: Some of the key individuals he will rely upon to tackle …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Think Progress and Buck Naked Politics

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Throws New Lifeline to AIG, Scrapping Original Rescue Deal — The U.S. government reached a deal Sunday night to scrap its original $123 billion bailout of American International Group Inc. and replace it with a new $150 billion package, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Opinionator, Portfolio, naked capitalism, OpenMarket.org and Economist's View

Booman Tribune:
I'd Treat DC as a Crime Scene

Discussion: The Sideshow

Yves Smith / naked capitalism:
AIG: The Looting Continues (Banana Republic Watch)

Discussion: Bloomberg, Portfolio, European Tribune and Economist's View

New York Times:
A.I.G. May Get More in Bailout

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast, DealBook, The Big Picture and Matthew Yglesias

Washington Post:

Under Obama, Web Would Be the Way — CHICAGO — Armed with millions of e-mail addresses and a political operation that harnessed the Internet like no campaign before it, Barack Obama will enter the White House with the opportunity to create the first truly “wired” presidency.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Nation, TIME.com, PoliticalBase.com Blog and PoliGazette

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Obama Weighs Quick Undoing of Bush Policy — CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama is poised to move swiftly to reverse actions that President Bush took using executive authority, and his transition team is reviewing limits on stem cell research and the expansion of oil and gas drilling …

Discussion: Townhall.com, TIME.com and David Frum

Edward Luce / Financial Times: Obama set to push ‘big bang’ reform package

Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:
Aide: Middle-Class Tax Cut a Priority

Discussion: Commentary and Political Radar

CBS News:
The Transition: Speed Is Of The Essence

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TIME.com and Hot Air

William Kristol / New York Times:

G.O.P. Dog Days? — Just before midnight on Nov. 4, I wasn't that worried. — Sure, the election results had been bad — but they weren't devastating. Obama wasn't winning the popular vote by double-digit margins, as some polls had suggested he might. Republican losses in the Senate …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Political Machine, Pajamas Media, PoliGazette, TIME.com, Open Left, ATTACKERMAN, MSNBC, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Colin McEnroe and The E&P Pub

Amit R. Paley / Washington Post:

A Quiet Windfall For U.S. Banks — With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy — The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry.

Discussion: Emptywheel, The Big Picture, AMERICAblog News, Prairie Weather, Kevin Drum, Matthew Yglesias, The Agonist and BlondeSense

Hilzoy / Washington Monthly:

Excuse Me? — Here's a disturbing story: … The WSJ covered this a few weeks back (h/t publius.) — Here's the relevant section of the Internal Revenue Code. It provides that “The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section and section 383”.

Discussion: Willem Buiter's Maverecon, American Street, Washington Post and At-Largely

Scott Rasmussen / Wall Street Journal:

The Polls Show That Reaganism Is Not Dead — Barack Obama won the White House by campaigning against an unpopular incumbent in a time of economic anxiety and lingering foreign policy concerns. He offered voters an upbeat message, praised the nation as a land of opportunity …

Discussion: Commentary, Betsy's Page and Moonbattery

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
A Visit Both Historic and Perhaps Awkward

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Sister Toldjah, Spin Cycle, Law Blog, Raleigh News & Observer, Time, The Caucus, Outside The Beltway, TIME.com, Fox News and Jules Crittenden

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Franklin Delano Obama? — Suddenly, everything old is New Deal again. Reagan is out; F.D.R. is in. Still, how much guidance does the Roosevelt era really offer for today's world? — The answer is, a lot. But Barack Obama should learn from F.D.R.'s failures as well as from his achievements …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Reason, Guardian, Matthew Yglesias, Prometheus 6 and Daily Kos

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

Jamie Gorelick — As he prepares to take office, President-elect Barack Obama is relying on a small team of advisers who will lead his transition operation and help choose the members of a new Obama administration. Following is part of a series of profiles of potential members of the administration.

Discussion: beldar.blogs.com, Patterico's Pontifications, QandO, Hot Air, At-Largely, Althouse, PoliGazette, Cold Fury, Pajamas Media, Daily Pundit, www.redstate.com, Clayton Cramer's BLOG and damnum absque injuria

Chris Frates / The Politico:
Who would serve as attorney general?

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, TIME.com and MyDD

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

Biden's new role: Good cop — A few days before the election, a Democratic strategist privately worried that a Vice-President Joe Biden was destined for a White House career of dissatisfaction and idle-hands mischief. — “You can't just have a guy like him at loose ends, he'd go crazy,” …

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Van Hollen to Stay as Chair of House Democrats' Campaign Arm

Discussion: TPM Election Central, DownWithTyranny!, TIME.com, Swing State Project, MyDD and The Crypt's Blogs

Associated Press:

Obama planning US trials for Guantanamo detainees — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - President-elect Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ATTACKERMAN, The Washington Independent, TIME.com and JammieWearingFool

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Obama and Bush: A Contrast in Popularity — Transition marked by sharp divergence in leaders' ratings — USA - Election 2008 - Favorability - Government and Politics - Presidential Job Approval - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — Monday's White House meeting between …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Brendan Nyhan and AMERICAblog News

Monte Whaley / Denver Post:

Race in 4th is over, but not ill will — After a bitter campaign, the GOP's Marilyn Musgrave has yet to congratulate Democrat Betsy Markey or concede. — Bitterness generated by the bruising battle between Betsy Markey and Marilyn Musgrave apparently lingers days after voters decided the winner of the 4th Congressional District.