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.

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.

New York Housing Chief Picked for Slot in 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 …

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.

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:

Exclusive: Pentagon Pro-Troop Group Misspent Millions, Report Says  —  While the Pentagon preps for a new administration, a scandal from an earlier era is rearing its head.  —  A Defense Department project, supposedly designed to support U.S. troops, was used instead to channel millions …

Where Do Detroit's Inefficient Work Rules Come From?  —  Why have unionized Detroit auto manufacturers manifestly lost out to their non-union Japanese competitors, even when it comes to building cars in the United States—to the point where Congress is presented with a choice of bailout or bankruptcy?

22 Pounds of UAW Rules and Regulations  —  Ever wondered what a UAW contract looks like?  Here is all 22 pounds of it (in this case, Ford's 2,215 page 2007 master contract; Coke can is for scale and because I was thirsty).  —  I'll tell you this much, those 2,215 pages don't include much regarding efficiency and competitiveness.