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.

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.

Nelson ‘Undecided’ On Recovery Plan: 'I Don't Even Know How Many Democrats Will Vote For It As It Stands'  —  On Wednesday, when the House voted 244 - 188 to approve the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 11 Democrats joined with the entire Republican caucus in voting against the bill.

Power's back  —  In quietly hiring Samantha Power at the NSC, Barack Obama has brought back from an exile yet another adviser known for speaking her mind.  —  Power's exile was a matter of political convenience: She wasn't some political operative who had played a dirty trick …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

IL-Sen: The GOP's best lag behind  —  Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 1/26-28.  Likely voters.  MoE 4%, 5% for primary samples (No trendlines) … What can you say?  It's early and people aren't ready to make any calls.  Given that Rep. Jan Schakowsky and State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias …

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.

Giuliani: Corporate plums help keep NYC afloat  —  NEW YORK (CNN) — Bonuses for Wall Street fat cats are easy political fodder in uncertain economic times, but former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Friday cutting corporate bonuses means slashing jobs in the Big Apple.

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.

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.

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 …

How to End the Culture War  —  This item about whether Obama will bring the culture war to an end has inspired two thoughtful posts — one by Tim Fernholz at Tapped, and another by Ed Kilgore at the Democratic Strategist.  —  Tim's post concludes by posing the following question: “So, Damon, how does one end the culture wars?”

Monument to Bush shoe-throwing shines at Iraqi orphanage  —  BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — For the war-beaten orphans of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, this big old shoe fits.  —  A huge sculpture of the footwear hurled at President Bush in December during a trip to Iraq has been unveiled in a ceremony at the Tikrit Orphanage complex.

U.S. Removes Kashmir From Envoy's Mandate; India Exults  —  Inside a chandeliered ballroom Thursday, Indian diplomats and business leaders and American officials held forth about a new “Cooperation Triangle” for the United States, China and India.  But little mention was made at the Asia …

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 …