To the Rescue: Bush to Give Low-Interest Loans to Carmakers  —  Obama Team Agrees to Bush's Strategy  —  The White House has decided to come to the rescue of General Motors and Chrysler by providing them with $17.4 billion in low-interest loans to keep them afloat, ABC News has learned.

Advocates for Action on Global Warming Chosen as Obama's Top Science Advisers  —  President-elect Barack Obama has selected two of the nation's most prominent scientific advocates for a vigorous response to climate change to serve in his administration's top ranks, according to sources …

W. Mark Felt, Watergate Deep Throat, Dies at 95  —  W. Mark Felt, who was the No. 2 official at the F.B.I. when he helped bring down President Richard M. Nixon by resisting the Watergate cover-up and becoming Deep Throat, the most famous anonymous source in American history, died Thursday.

Franken The Likely Winner As Minnesota Recount Heads To Finish Line  —  Late Update: Norm Coleman's apparent lead has been cut to a mere five votes at the close of business today, according to the running vote count from the Star Tribune, down from a 358-vote lead last night.

The Madoff Economy  —  The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so.  The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.

The Warren Problem: Jane on CNN  —  Jane addresses the problems with having Pastor Rick Warren give the invocation at Barack Obama's inaugural on CNN at this hour.  —  Update: Jane spoke with Rick Sanchez who repeatedly asked why “the left” would have a problem with inviting Warren to speak at the presidential inaugural.

Plans Being Drawn to Close Guantanamo Prison  —  The Pentagon is drawing up plans to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be prepared for any order from President-elect Barack Obama, who has promised to close the controversial facility after he assumes office Jan. 20, a defense official said yesterday.

The Employee Free Choice Act Is Unconstitutional  —  Free speech and the takings clause are at stake.  —  A top priority of the incoming Democratic Congress and Obama administration is the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act.  The EFCA, as is well known, introduces a card-check procedure …

Should the DOJ consider prosecuting Bush administration officials for detainee abuse as the NYT and others have urged?  —  Given the stance he took against what he perceived to be illegal and unethical methods of interrogation during his time at the Office of Legal Counsel …

Kennedy Takes A Beating From Upstate Media  —  Reporters Jump All Over Mostly Silent Princess Of Camelot; Mayor Of Syracuse Doesn't Offer Endorsement  —  Who Should Get Senate Gig?  Siena Poll: Cuomo 26, Kennedy 23  —  Reporting  —  Caroline Kennedy took a page from Hillary Clinton's playbook …

Caroline Kennedy's voting record proves spotty  —  Caroline Kennedy wants to be the next senator from New York, but her voting record is already spotty, the Daily News has found.  —  City Board of Elections records show Kennedy has failed to vote in many elections since she registered in the city in 1988 …

Russia rewriting Josef Stalin's legacy  —  Archives on dictator seized from human-rights group Memorial  —  A rally this month celebrating the 1936 adoption of Josef Stalin's Soviet Constitution illustrates his rising stock among some Russians.  (Dmitry Kostyukov / Getty-AFP / December 17, 2008)