MN-Senate: Counting Chaos!  —  The Minnesota Senate race could end up being decided by a few dozen votes.  (Photo — Reuters/Eric Miller)  —  As the manual recount in the Minnesota Senate race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken nears its conclusion, the identity of the winner is growing increasingly unclear.

Ros-Lehtinen hangs up on Obama.  Twice.  —  Is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a little paranoid?  —  Maybe.  —  On Wednesday, the Republican congresswoman got a call from President-elect Barack Obama, didn't believe it was him, and hung up on him.  Twice.  —  According to Ros-Lehtinen's flack Alex Cruz …

Eric Holder's Politics  —  His years at Clinton Justice don't inspire confidence.  —  One of the media narratives about the Bush Administration has been its “politicization” of the Justice Department.  We've always thought most of that was woven out of whole cloth.

U.A.W. Makes Concessions in Bid to Help Automakers  —  WASHINGTON — The United Automobile Workers union said Wednesday that it would make major concessions in its contracts with the three Detroit auto companies to help them lobby Congress for $34 billion in federal aid.

Treasury Weighs Action on Mortgage Rates  —  Intervention Would Aim to Buoy the Housing Market by Forcing Down the Cost of Loans  —  The Treasury Department is strongly considering a plan to intervene directly in the mortgage industry to dramatically force down rates and stimulate …

Matthews advised to quit MSNBC  —  Chris Matthews is dead serious about running for the Senate in Pennsylvania - and shopping for a house in the state and privately discussing quitting MSNBC as proof of his intense interest, according to NBC colleagues, political operatives and friends.

We need to stop using the bailouts to rebuild gigantic financial institutions.  —  Last month, as the financial crisis and the government rescue plan dominated headlines, almost everyone overlooked a news item that could have enormous long-term impact: GE Capital announced the acquisition …

IDF preparing options for Iran strike  —  The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned.  —  While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel …

Medicine for the Job Market  —  A CENTRAL feature of Barack Obama's presidential campaign was an aggressive plan to expand health insurance coverage by subsidizing low-income Americans and preventing discrimination against the ill. In recent weeks, Senators Max Baucus and Ted Kennedy …

Obama campaign manager to write book  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Barack Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, is writing a book about the historic election victory and has retained Washington attorney Robert Barnett, Obama's literary representative, to shop the proposal to publishers.

Poll: Calif. gay marriage ban driven by religion  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.

One Singular Sensation  —  Ed Rendell can't believe that he's being asked about the fact that he said that Barack Obama's nominee for head of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, has “no life.”  —  “We're facing the greatest crisis since the Depression, and you want to talk about this?” he complained.

NO TRANSITION FROM NONESENSE  —  Congressional Quarterly bemoans Obama's broken promise of a bipartisan cabinet since he's only appointed one Republican to one of the top three positions in government — State, Defense and Treasury ...  I guess maybe it's a slow news period and there's not much to write about.

As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions  —  STERKSEL, the Netherlands — The cows and pigs dotting these flat green plains in the southern Netherlands create a bucolic landscape.  But looked at through the lens of greenhouse gas accounting, they are living smokestacks, spewing methane emissions into the air.