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.

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.

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.

U.S. Eyes Two-Part Bailout for Banks  —  The nation's top economic officials are discussing a new way to stabilize the financial system by buying a portion of banks' bad assets and offering guarantees against future losses on some of the remainder, in an effort to help banks while trying to mitigate the cost to taxpayers.

Candidate Linked to Obama Parody Song Leaves Race for G.O.P. Chairman  —  WASHINGTON — Chip Saltsman, the candidate for national Republican Party chairman who came under fire late last year for distributing a holiday CD with the parody song “Barack the Magic Negro,” dropped out of the contest Thursday on the eve of the vote.

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.

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.

Redecorating Time in Foggy Bottom  —  It was, of course, sadly inevitable.  The smell of fresh paint wafting last week through the hall heading to the State Department cafeteria signaled the demise of the Bush Diplomatic Hall of Glory — that series of lovely photographs that touted …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

Judge Refuses to Delay a Case at Guantánamo  —  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration hit an unexpected rough patch on Thursday in its plan to give itself time to decide how to prosecute Guantánamo detainees.  —  A military judge in the case of one of the best-known terrorism suspects declined …

After Jabs at Cheney, Biden Pursues an Activist Role  —  Vice President Follows Initial Gaffes by Diving Into Wide Range of Issues; Drawing Contrasts With Predecessor  —  WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden, in a bid to become an influential second-in-command, is striving to carve out meaty roles for himself quickly.

Stimulus slush fund for the housing entitlement mob  —  Stimulus slush fund for housing entitlement thugs  —  Creators Syndicate  —  From tiny acorns, mighty government debacles grow.  House GOP Leader John Boehner on Monday rightly sounded the alarm over billions in stimulus tax dollars …

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 …

Los Angeles Times kills local news section  —  Publisher Eddy Hartenstein has ordered the California section killed, leaving the L.A. Times without a separate local news front for the first time since the paper's early decades.  The publisher decided to fold local news inside the front section …

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 …