Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody  —  Updated at 9:08 a.m.: Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to the FBI.  They were transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago, where they remained at 9 a.m.

For Bush's staff, upbeat talking points on his tenure  —  Administration officials get a memo from the White House suggesting what to say about the last eight years: President Bush upheld ‘the honor and the dignity of his office,’ for one.  —  Reporting from Washington …

Cracks appear in Obama foreign policy team … WASHINGTON (AP) - The first sign of cracks in President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy team of rivals emerged on Monday as his choices for secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations visited the State Department.

Poll: 79% approve of way Obama is handling transition  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — With six weeks before taking office, President-elect Barack Obama is having one heck of a honeymoon, a new national poll suggests.  —  Nearly eight in 10 Americans questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

Breitbart's big, red Hollywood  —  After playing supporting roles to big names in media and politics, Andrew Breitbart is poised to become the protagonist in his own story.  —  The publisher of the online news aggregator Breitbart.com helped launch and run two of today's most influential media …

Boehner: Future of GOP is Cao  —  One week ago, most Republicans had never heard of Anh “Joseph” Cao.  Those who were aware he was challenging Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) thought he had almost no chance of winning.  Not a single Republican in the state's congressional delegation donated to his campaign.

Illinois Governor Supports Workers Occupying Closed Chicago Factory  —  Workers occupying a Chicago factory that closed abruptly last week gained a significant political ally Monday in their fight to receive back benefits, when Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) ordered state agencies …

U.S. Could Take Stakes in Big 3  —  Bailout Plan Gives Government Warrants in Exchange for Loans; Passage Uncertain  —  WASHINGTON — Congress and the White House inched toward a financial rescue of the Big Three auto makers, negotiating legislation that would give the U.S. government …

Kennedy Is Said to Be Politicking for His Niece  —  While Caroline Kennedy is maintaining her public silence about whether she wishes to succeed Senator Hillary Clinton, her uncle, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, has been working behind the scenes on her behalf, according to Democratic aides.

The media's disingenuous failure to state the obvious.  —  The obvious is sometimes the most difficult thing to discern, and few things are more amusing than the efforts of our journals of record to keep “open” minds about the self-evident, and thus to create mysteries when the real task of reportage is to dispel them.

Where Are the New Jobs for Women?  —  BARACK OBAMA has announced a plan to stimulate the economy by creating 2.5 million jobs over the next two years.  He intends to use the opportunity to make good on two campaign promises — to invest in road and bridge maintenance and school repair …

F.D.R. Knew How to Spend Carefully  —  THE plan by Barack Obama to attack unemployment by putting people to work on roads, bridges, schools and new energy projects sounds like a version of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration.  If Franklin D. Roosevelt is Mr. Obama's model …

UAW Workers Actually Cost the Big Three Automakers $70 an Hour  —  The United Auto Workers (UAW) wants Congress to bail out General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler to prevent their undergoing restructuring in bankruptcy proceedings.  In bankruptcy, a judge could order union contracts to be renegotiated to reflect competitive realities.

Washington Takes Risks With Its Auto Bailout Plans  —  WASHINGTON — When President-elect Barack Obama talked on Sunday about realigning the American automobile industry he was quick to offer a caution, lest he sound more like the incoming leader of France, or perhaps Japan.

Did Democrats peak too early?  —  Did the Democrats' exile end too soon?  —  That may be a question that nags at more than a few party activists once all the partying is done.  —  Democrats have clearly come a long way in rebuilding their party infrastructure since falling from power in the late 1990s.

We've Got Phoney-Baloney Jobs Up the Ying-Yang, Say America's Mayors!  All We Need Is the Money To Pay For Them!  —  When the history of this awful moment of bailout hysteria is written, there'll be a chapter or 20 on the complete bogosity of what might call “the infrastructure flim-flam” …

Al Gore waves off official role  —  He may be assembling a Team of Heavyweights, but Barack Obama isn't likely to have the full-time services of one of the most formidable powers on the political landscape.  —  When Obama and Joe Biden sit down with Al Gore at noon Tuesday in Chicago …

Critiquing The Obama Administration  —  As someone who was criticized for railing against the idea of John Brennan as a potential head of the CIA (I also find the idea of Michael Hayden as DNI intolerable), I do find it ironic that by and large, I am quite comfortable, pleased even, with the makeup of the incoming Obama Administration.