Health Care Now  —  The whole world is in recession.  But the United States is the only wealthy country in which the economic catastrophe will also be a health care catastrophe — in which millions of people will lose their health insurance along with their jobs, and therefore lose access to essential care.

Time to put middle class front and center  —  For years, we had a White House that failed to put the middle class front and center in its economic policies.  —  President Obama has made it clear that is going to change.  And it's why he has asked me to lead a task force on the middle class.

Obama May Seek Republican for Cabinet  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama and his advisers have approached Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, about becoming commerce secretary, a step that could open the way to significant shift in the balance of power in Congress.

Bush lawyer directs Rove not to talk to Congress—once again  —  Just four days before he left office, President Bush instructed former White House aide Karl Rove to refuse to cooperate with future congressional inquiries into alleged misconduct during his administration.

Steep Slide in U.S. Economy, but Not as Dire as Forecast  —  The United States economy shrank at its fastest pace in a quarter century from October through December, the government reported on Friday, in the broadest accounting yet of the toll of the credit crisis.

Cleaner and Faster  —  Throughout 2008, Larry Summers, the Harvard economist, built the case for a big but surgical stimulus package.  Summers warned that a “poorly provided fiscal stimulus can have worse side effects than the disease that is to be cured.”  So his proposal had three clear guidelines.

Alice Rivlin: “Now Is An Excellent Time To Fix Social Security And Medicare”  —  Pete Davis reports on a lunch talk by former OMB Director Alice Rivlin (she was CBO Director, too, the Peter Orszag of her day) about the economic situation: … Very little about the conservative movement's reaction …

Obama Distorts America's Stance on Muslims  —  Every new president flatters himself that he, kinder and gentler, is beginning the world anew.  Yet, when Barack Obama in his inaugural address reached out to Muslims by saying “to the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward …

Exxon Posts Record 2008 Profit Despite Slip in 4th Quarter  —  Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Friday that its fourth-quarter income fell 33 percent as oil prices declined.  —  But in a year where oil rose to a record before having its steepest-ever collapse …

Cuomo Said to Eye Return of $4 Billion in Early Merrill Bonuses  —  Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may demand the return of $4 billion in bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch & Co. just before it was acquired by Bank of America Corp., a person familiar with the matter said.

Obama Taps a General as the Envoy to Kabul  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has picked Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, a former top military commander in Afghanistan, to be the next United States ambassador to Kabul, an administration official said Thursday.

Option ARMs See Rising Defaults  —  Woes Mount in $750 Billion Home-Loan Market; Analysts' Dim Views  —  Defaults on a popular form of mortgage that gave home buyers a choice of how much to pay each month are rising and could rival those on subprime loans, potentially causing more trouble for investors and banks.

A Rich Income in '06 Was $263 Million  —  The income of the 400 wealthiest Americans swelled in 2006, soaring nearly 23 percent from the previous year, to an average of $263 million, according to data released Thursday by the Internal Revenue Service.  Since 1996, this group has nearly doubled …

Quinn's 1st executive order pushes reform  —  Newly minted Gov. Pat Quinn's first executive order will be to establish the Illinois Reform Commission as an official state body under the governor's office, he said this morning.  —  Quinn set up the commission before former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's impeachment and conviction.

Blagojevich Makes a Day of It on Way Out  —  CHICAGO — As the nine-seat airplane raced through the skies on Thursday somewhere between Springfield and here, an onboard telephone began to ring.  —  Rod R. Blagojevich, the soon-to-be ex-governor of Illinois, instructed his aides not to answer.

Border War  —  Geithner-Summers psychodrama, Round 1.  —  Larry Summers has a cutting sense of humor.  For example, when he thinks a proposal calls for government heavy-handedness, he will dismiss it as “Putinesque,” a reference to the statist Russian leader.

Proof that all debate is now over  —  Imagine that.  The most expensive social experiment in American history — one that will cost taxpayers more than both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined — was allotted less than a single day of debate in Congress.

New Jungles Prompt a Debate on Rain Forests  —  CHILIBRE, Panama — The land where Marta Ortega de Wing raised hundreds of pigs until 10 years ago is being overtaken by galloping jungle — palms, lizards and ants.  —  Instead of farming, she now shops at the supermarket and her grown children …

GOP Stakes Its Claim With Stimulus Vote  —  The unanimous vote by House Republicans against President Obama's stimulus plan provided an early indication that the GOP hopes to regain power by becoming the champion of small government, a reputation many felt slipped away during the high-spending Bush years.

What Israel Gained in Gaza  —  Israel's recent operations in Gaza began in an atmosphere of criticism, including the widespread prediction that the use of force wouldn't “solve anything.”  Since, in this view, a negotiated peace is the only eventual answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict …