memeorandum: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development announced in Weekly Address (Dan McSwain/Change.gov)

12:05 PM ET, December 13, 2008

Top Items:

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

Rahm Emanuel, Blagojevich staff talked — Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Tribune has learned.

Discussion: On Politics, Gateway Pundit, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, The Politico, Don Surber, protein wisdom, American Power, Scared Monkeys, Flopping Aces, QandO, New York Times and Macsmind

Roland Martin / essence.typepad.com:

THE BACK STORY OF VALERIE JARRETT, ILLINOIS U.S. SENATE SEAT AND THE WHITE HOUSE — No one with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has identified his close friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett as Senate candidate #1, as mentioned in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE

Wall Street Journal:

Meatier Stimulus Plan in Works — Obama Team Considering Beefing Up Earlier Goals; $1 Trillion Is Possible — President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is considering an economic-stimulus program that will be far larger than the two-year, half-trillion-dollar plan under consideration two weeks ago …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Fox News, TIME.com, The Other McCain, Calculated Risk and Capital Commerce

James Bone / Times of London:

Blagojevich scandal: Rahm Emanuel and Jesse Jackson Jr face new revelations — Pressure grew on two of Barack Obama's closest political aides yesterday as new details emerged of the “pay-for-play” allegations against the Governor of his home state. — Rahm Emanuel, the President-elect's …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Political Machine, Comments from Left Field and Vox Popoli

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

New York Housing Chief Joins Cabinet — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has picked the widely respected housing commissioner for New York City, Shaun Donovan, to be the secretary of housing in his cabinet. — Assuming that Mr. Donovan, 42, is confirmed by the Senate to head …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Politico, MSNBC, The Caucus, Washington Monthly, Gothamist, Powering Up, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Daily Politics, NY Daily News, TIME.com and Macsmind

Dan McSwain / Change.gov:

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development announced in Weekly Address — In his Weekly Address, President-elect Barack Obama focused on a key component of getting our economy back on track: ending the mortgage crisis. — Finding solutions to this urgent issue will require fresh, bold thinking.

Countdown / MSNBC:

GOP: ‘ACTION ALERT - AUTO BAILOUT’ — Countdown has obtained a memo entitled “Action Alert - Auto Bailout,” and sent Wednesday at 9:12am, to Senate Republicans. The names of the sender(s) and recipient(s) have been redacted in the copy Countdown obtained.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Buck Naked Politics, Los Angeles Times, Minnesota Independent and Crooks and Liars

Frank James / The Swamp:
Is Senate GOP trying to break union?

Discussion: The Politico

Scott Simon / Wall Street Journal:

Even Chicago's Crooks Are Appalled by Blagojevich — Extorting Children's Hospital is a new political low. — Chicago — Chicagoans and Illinoisans love political scandal the way that Milanese love opera. — We trade recollections, like baseball cards, about the secretary of state …

Discussion: The Swamp and TigerHawk

Mark Pittman / Bloomberg:

Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion — A A A — Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve refused a request by Bloomberg News to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Discussion: Flopping Aces, Brilliant at Breakfast, BloggingStocks and Corrente

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:

General Sees Longer Stay for U.S. Troops in Iraqi Cities — BALAD, Iraq — The top American commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, said Saturday that some American troops would remain in cities past the June deadline for a withdrawal of combat troops that was called for in an agreement with the Iraqi government.

Discussion: TIME.com

John Cole / Balloon Juice:

A Bailout Plan the GOP Can Support — Inspired by a commenter, I have come up with an auto industry bailout plan. For years, we have been treated to the following comments: … And this: … Rep. Steve King (R-IA) was even dedicated enough to run the numbers:

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Jules Crittenden, Emptywheel and Outside The Beltway