The Real Story Behind the Rushed Blagojevich Bust: How the Feds Are Frustrated by Losing (Maybe) Half of Their Case  —  Cam Simpson reports on the Rod Blagojevich case in Chicago.  —  Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich …

WOAH!... Troops Give Bush Tremendous Sendoff in Iraq (Video)  —  Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS) is an excellent source of US military video and photos.  —  Today DVIDS posted an amazing video of President Bush's visit with the troops in Iraq.

Limits on Executive Pay May Prove Toothless  —  Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt  —  Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism …

Google Wants Its Own Fast Track on the Web  —  The celebrated openness of the Internet — network providers are not supposed to give preferential treatment to any traffic — is quietly losing powerful defenders.  —  Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic …

Fannie Mae Renters to Stay Despite Foreclosures  —  In a move that provides relief to thousands of renters who face eviction but draws the federal government even deeper into the housing market, the loan giant Fannie Mae said Sunday that it would sign new leases with renters living in foreclosed properties owned by the company.

States' Funds for Jobless Are Drying Up  —  With unemployment claims reaching their highest levels in decades, states are running out of money to pay benefits, and some are turning to the federal government for loans or increasing taxes on businesses to make the payments.

A Second Mortgage Disaster On The Horizon?  —  New Wave Of Mortgage Rate Adjustments Could Force More Homeowners To Default  —  (CBS) When it comes to bailouts of American business, Barney Frank and the Congress may be just getting started.  Nearly two trillion tax dollars have been shoveled …

White House Sizes Up Auto Rescue  —  WASHINGTON — In weighing a much larger rescue effort for U.S. auto makers than originally envisioned, the Bush administration faces a complex set of decisions over what terms to seek — including whether to push the companies to file for bankruptcy — and how to raise necessary funds.

'08 Voter Turnout Rate Said to Be Highest in 40 Years  —  Ahead of today's vote of the electoral college to certify Barack Obama as the president-elect, a George Mason University professor announced yesterday that voter turnout in last month's presidential election reached the highest level in 40 years …

Will ‘feditis’ spread to Obama and Daley?  —  Why are Chicago machine Democrats lining up against Gov. Rod “Dead Meat” Blagojevich like a bunch of thin-lipped Victorian physicians in some old movie set in an musty insane asylum?  —  Since Tuesday, they've been swinging their silver hammers at his cranium with righteous gusto.

No Southerners yet in Obama Cabinet  —  Barack Obama is 15 picks into his Cabinet — he announced New Yorker Shaun Donovan as his Housing and Urban Development head on Saturday—but has yet to name one who hails from the South.  —  “Not a one,” grumbles a one senior Democratic aide who hails from the South.

Two Sides of a Troubled Governor, Sinking Deeper  —  Many who know Rod R. Blagojevich well say the Illinois governor has seemed panicked or delusional in recent months.

Now We Know What the Battle Was About  —  Justice Department lawyers defied President Bush over secret surveillance—but not for the reasons you might think.  —  Khue Bui for Newsweek  —  The National Security Agency in Ft. Meade, Md.  —  From the magazine issue dated Dec 22, 2008