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 …

55 days to Inauguration — Obama daughters will make their beds, do chores in the White House — President-elect speaks at 10:45 a.m. ET — Obama to Britain on April 2  —  Paul Volcker to head new White House body of economic wisefolks, the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board …

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 …

Joe Klein's extreme revisionism  —  Joe Klein, this week's Time Magazine, on George Bush's legacy: … Joe Klein, Face the Nation, May 4, 2003, with Bob Schieffer — 3 days after Bush's Mission Accomplished speech: … I'm glad that many people, including some journalists …

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.

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 …

So Who Picked Up the Tab?  —  More questions are being raised about the doubtful ethics of Representative Charles Rangel of New York, the chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.  The latest sniff of scandal — a breakfast meeting with a donor seeking tax protection …

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 …

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 …

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

NBC mulls new permanent anchor for venerable ‘Meet the Press’  —  Among those on the short list are NBC's David Gregory, Andrea Mitchell, Chuck Todd and PBS anchor Gwen Ifill.  —  Reporting from New York — NBC executives are closing in on a decision about who will take over “Meet the Press …

Obama's Foreign Policy: Buying in at the Bottom  —  In the spring of 1977, Menachem Begin was elected prime minister of Israel and surprised everyone by choosing as his foreign minister not someone from his own Likud Party, but a star of the opposing Labor Party, Moshe Dayan.