Top Items:
Jaketapper / Political Punch:
Obama to Tap Berkeley Prof to Chair Council of Economic Advisers — From Jake Tapper and George Stephanopoulos: — ABC News has learned that President-elect Obama had tapped University of California -Berkeley economics professor Christina Romer to be the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers …
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Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Democrats' Stimulus Plan May Reach $700 Billion — Spending Package Could Rival Financial System Bailout — Facing an increasingly ominous economic outlook, President-elect Barack Obama and other Democrats are rapidly ratcheting up plans for a massive fiscal stimulus program that could total …
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Berkeley economist to head Obama economic council — President-elect Obama plans to name Christina Romer, an expert on tax cuts and recessions who is an economics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, to chair his Council of Economic Advisers, aides said.
Discussion:
Marginal Revolution
Paul Krugman:
Citigroup — Mark Thoma has the rundown of informed reactions. A bailout was necessary — but this bailout is an outrage: a lousy deal for the taxpayers, no accountability for management, and just to make things perfect, quite possibly inadequate, so that Citi will be back for more.
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Mark Thoma / Economist's View:
The Citigroup Bailout — It's bailout time. Let's start with Paul Kedrosky: … Yves Smith: … Calculated Risk has the Joint Statement by Treasury, Federal Reserve, and the FDIC on Citigroup, while James Kwak says the bailout is “Weak, Arbitrary, Incomprehensible.” I think he has it right:
Bloomberg:
Fed Pledges Top $7.4 Trillion to Ease Frozen Credit — Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. government is prepared to lend more than $7.4 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers, or half the value of everything produced in the nation last year, to rescue the financial system since the credit markets seized up 15 months ago.
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Daniel Libit / The Politico:
Sloppy Dems may spell Franken advantage — One of the closest elections in U.S. Senate history is hurtling towards a critical juncture in its ongoing recount this week, as the campaign of Democratic challenger Al Franken opens a new legal front in its battle to break a virtual tie with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
Discussion:
Political Machine, The Raw Story, Outside The Beltway, Wonkette, www.redstate.com, The Reaction, Braublog, Campaign Silo and Kevin Drum
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Michael Schneider / Variety:
Needed: Network bailout? — Bad economy slows ad sales — It's D-Day for the broadcast networks. — They've been living on borrowed time for the better part of two decades, thanks to advertisers willing to toss in more cash each year even as ratings slowly trended ever lower.
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Media Notes: An Interview With Outgoing White House Press Secretary Dana Perino — The network stars were gone, the seats half empty and the questioning low-key as Dana Perino held a White House briefing last week, her biggest announcement that the administration would try to ease air traffic for the holidays.
Discussion:
Think Progress
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Time Magazine: News At The Speed Of Two Tin Cans And A Piece Of String — digg it — Michael Scherer over at Swampland writes about what a swell idea it would be to have Mitt Romney, who has been demagoguing the auto industry crisis, as “auto czar.” (Mitt's dad was head of an auto maker …
William Kristol / New York Times:
Admit We Don't Know — “In my view it has to be between five and seven hundred billion dollars,” proclaimed Senator Charles Schumer Sunday on ABC's “This Week.” The “it” is the economic stimulus package the new Congress intends to send to the new president, Barack Obama, in January.
The Politico:
Obama skips church, heads to gym — President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors. — On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym.
Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
As President Bush's Term Comes to an End, Some Well-Known Offenders Seek Pardons — With a backlog of applications piled up at the Justice Department, high-profile criminals and their well-connected lawyers increasingly are appealing directly to President Bush for special consideration …
Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times:
Marines drafting plan to send more troops to Afghanistan — MISSION: A U.S. Marine meets with elders in Kunar province, in eastern Afghanistan. Marines are eager to join the fight against the Taliban, with some feeling a sense of unfinished business from 2001 when they were abruptly called off.
Conn Carroll / The Foundry:
Morning Bell: You, Too, Can Help ‘Save’ Millions of Jobs — In his weekly radio address, President-elect Barack Obama promised a national “Economic Recovery Plan that will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011.” One might think that would mean Obama had promised to create 2.5 million new jobs.