memeorandum: Now Accused of Fraud, Wall St. Wizard Had His Skeptics (New York Times)

1:00 PM ET, December 13, 2008

Top Items:

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, Ben Smith's Blogs, Powering Up, Gothamist, Washington Monthly, The Daily Politics, NY Daily News, TIME.com and Macsmind

New York Times:

Shaun Donovan — As he prepares to take office, President-elect Barack Obama is relying on a small team of advisers who will lead his transition operation and help choose the members of his administration. Following is part of a series of profiles of potential members of the administration.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

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

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, Don Surber, The Politico, Wake up America, American Power, Commentary, Chicago Tribune, Flopping Aces, Cold Fury, QandO, New York Times and Macsmind

AJStrata / The Strata-Sphere:

The Obama Administration Is Now Damaged Goods, Obama Lied To America — Update: A consensus is brewing about Obama's pending troubles - see here, here, here and here. — Major Update Below! — The big dominos seem to be falling already, less than a week from the news breaking.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom, Hot Air, Associated Press and Scared Monkeys

Roland Martin / essence.typepad.com:
THE BACK STORY OF VALERIE JARRETT, ILLINOIS U.S. SENATE SEAT AND THE WHITE HOUSE

Discussion: CANNONFIRE

James Bone / Times of London:
Blagojevich scandal: Rahm Emanuel and Jesse Jackson Jr face new revelations

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

Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press:

Commander: Some US troops to stay in Iraqi cities — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — BALAD, Iraq - Despite a summer deadline to pull American combat troops from urban areas, thousands will stay in cities to support and train Iraqis, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Newshoggers.com, Agence France Presse and Reuters

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
General Sees Longer Stay for U.S. Troops in Iraqi Cities

Discussion: TIME.com

Chicago Sun Times:

Blago could decide future by Monday — Gov. Blagojevich will decide early next week — perhaps as early as Monday — whether he should resign, a source close to the governor told the Chicago Sun-Times. — “He was blindsided by this,” the source said. “He needs some time to digest what's going on.

Discussion: Hot Air and TIME.com

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

New York Times:

Now Accused of Fraud, Wall St. Wizard Had His Skeptics — For years, investors, rivals and regulators all wondered how Bernard L. Madoff worked his magic. — But on Friday, less than 24 hours after this prominent Wall Street figure was arrested on charges connected with what authorities portrayed …

Discussion: Marginal Revolution and Althouse

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

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:

The Other American Auto Industry — Plenty of car makers make a go of it in this country—they're just non-union and not headquartered in Detroit. — Drew Ferguson IV is a 42-year-old dentist whose family has lived in this town, population 3,300, “since God put us here.”

Discussion: The Mahablog and Jules Crittenden

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