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 …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, Ben Smith's Blogs, Shakesville, Liberal Values and Grasping Reality …
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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
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.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Moderate Voice, Below The Beltway, Washington Post, Reason, Tech Ticker, Donklephant, www.redstate.com, Vox Popoli, Sister Toldjah and Moonbattery
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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:
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:
www.redstate.com, Political Machine, Outside The Beltway, The Raw Story, Wonkette, The Reaction, Braublog, Campaign Silo and Kevin Drum
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ABCNEWS:
Whistleblower: U.S. Snooped on Tony Blair, Iraqi President — Former Intercept Operator Tells ABC News He Saw Blair File, Heard “Pillow Talk” of Iraqi Leader — A former communications intercept operator says U.S. intelligence snooped on the private lives of two of America's most important allies …
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.
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
What a Time It Was — Last night, some friends and I were listening to “Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend” and the little-known fact that The Mr. T Experience's Dr. Frank was a big-time liberal hawk warblogger back in the day came up. Even better, unlike most classic blogs, his archives are still 100 percent intact.
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.
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.
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Early transition? Obama takes the lead in economic crisis — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama took center stage in the economic crisis for the third day running Sunday as he dispatched aides to pitch his rapidly expanding stimulus plan on TV and announced plans to introduce his economic team Monday.
Philip Brasher / Des Moines Register:
Vilsack ends ag secretary speculation — Washington, D.C. - Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack on Sunday said that he won't be the next agriculture secretary, ending speculation that an Iowan would snag the post important to a large swath of the state's economy. — In an e-mail, Vilsack …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Melody Barnes to Run Domestic Policy Council — My ThinkProgress colleagues are reporting that Melody Barnes, who was at CAP before I got on board, will head the Domestic Policy Council in the Obama White House. The DPC is in charge of interagency coordination and policy formation …
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 …
Robert F. Worth / New York Times:
As Taboos Ease, Saudi Girl Group Dares to Rock — JIDDA, Saudi Arabia — They cannot perform in public. They cannot pose for album cover photographs. Even their jam sessions are secret, for fear of offending the religious authorities in this ultraconservative kingdom.
Discussion:
Jezebel