Volcker Tapped for Advisory Role  —  Ex-Fed Chief to Lead New Economic Panel of Outside Experts Who Will Brief Obama  —  President-elect Barack Obama will appoint former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker on Wednesday to be the chairman of a new White House advisory board tasked with helping …

Obama on Auto Execs' Private Jets: ‘A Little Tone Deaf’  —  Excerpts from Barbara Walters' Exclusive Interview: President-Elect Reveals He Is Negotiating to Keep His Blackberry  —  The following are excerpts from Barbara Walters' interview with President-Elect Barack Obama, conducted Tuesday in Chicago.

State justice confirms he yelled “Tyrant!” at Mukasey before AG collapsed  —  Richard Sanders, a justice on the Washington State Supreme Court, has never been one to shy from controversy or blunt language.  And last week, as he sat at a Federalist Society dinner and listened …

Why churches fear gay marriage  —  For author Richard Rodriguez, no one is talking about the real issues behind Proposition 8.  —  While conservative churches are busy trying to whip up another round of culture wars over same-sex marriage, Rodriguez says the real reason for their panic lies elsewhere …

Obama's Picks  —  According to the latest news reports, President-elect Obama will nominate a national security team next week that is stunning in its moderation.  The headliners-Bob Gates staying at Defense, Hillary Clinton becoming Secretary of State, retired General Jim Jones taking …

Freedom Fighter in Life Becomes Potent Symbol in Death  —  One of the first scenes in “Milk” is of a pick-up in a New York subway station.  It's 1970, and an insurance executive in a suit and tie catches sight of a beautiful, scruffy younger man — the phrase “angel-headed hipster” comes to mind — and banters with him on the stairs.

Fed Aid Sets Off a Rush to Refinance  —  The Federal Reserve's attempt to stabilize the housing market set off a chain reaction across the U.S. on Tuesday, dropping interest rates and quickly spurring a burst of refinancing activity by borrowers eager to lower their mortgage costs.

MINNESOTA SENATE RECOUNT, UPDATE VIII  —  The Franken campaign and its allies such as Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman are now focusing on rejected absentee ballots.  In today's Star Tribune Kevin Duchschere shows that Ritchie is improvising …

Dr. Dobson: 'We Won't Be Silenced'  —  Washington Post columnist says the Republican Party must ditch God in order to survive.  —  So, Kathleen Parker has determined that getting rid of social conservatives and shelving the values they fight for is the solution to what ails the Republican Party ("Giving Up on God," Nov. 19).

“Unlikely” Or Lesbian?  —  Every now and again, someone gets the fame they deserve.  Rachel Maddow is photographed by Roger Erickson for the Out 100 this year, the magazine's tally of the 100 gay people who made the biggest impact in America in 2008.  From Julia Baird's profile in Newsweek:

State of New Jersey Is Insolvent  —  The state of New Jersey is insolvent.  Bankrupt might be a better word.  New Jersey is $60 billion in the hole on pension funding and the Governor is planning on skipping payments in a “pension payment holiday” until 2012 so as to not increase property taxes.

Obama Chief of Staff Hopes to Exploit the Economic Crisis to Expand the Growth of Government:  —  In earlier posts (e.g. - here and here) I have emphasized the risk that the combination of economic crisis and unified Democratic control of Congress and the White House would lead to a vast expansion of government.

German Auto Industry Facing the Abyss  —  More than 1.5 million workers in Germany depend on the automobile industry for their jobs.  But that industry is now facing one of its worst crises ever.  Respected giants BMW and Mercedes are particularly exposed as sales plummet.

Beware Rumsfeld's Snow Job  —  The former defense secretary's revisionist op-ed.  —  Donald Rumsfeld is writing his memoirs, and if his op-ed in the Nov. 23 New York Times is any preview, it should be a classic of self-serving revisionism.  —  On the surface, the former defense secretary's piece seems …

Start With Syria  —  A Middle East Deal Obama Could Build On  —  President-elect Barack Obama will be bombarded with recommendations about how to approach Arab-Israeli peacemaking.  One piece of advice he should not take is to make Israeli-Palestinian peace his top priority.  There's no deal there.

Obama team denies it will delay 'Don't Ask' repeal  —  Gay service members see need to build support  —  A member of Barack Obama's transition team is denying media reports that the president-elect has decided to delay efforts to repeal “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” until 2010.

Lieberman: Obama ‘about perfect’ in Cabinet picks  —  HARTFORD, Conn. - Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman took another step Tuesday toward mending his relationship with Democrats, saying that Barack Obama's actions since winning the presidency have been “just about perfect.”

For Biden, No Portfolio but the Role of a Counselor  —  WASHINGTON — The day before Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s birthday last week, Barack Obama surprised him after lunch with candlelighted cupcakes.  Within hours, the photograph of the president-elect and his running mate, smiling over the dessert, was on the evening news.

Americans' Food Stamp Use Nears All-Time High  —  Fueled by rising unemployment and food prices, the number of Americans on food stamps is poised to exceed 30 million for the first time this month, surpassing the historic high set in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

Rangel paid Clinton lawyer six figures for ethics probe help  —  Veteran Harlem congressman Charlie Rangel speaks at the Harriet Tubman Memorial Dedication on Nov. 13.  He has released a statement saying he paid a lawyer known for fixing messes for Bill Clinton.