How the Fed Failed to Tell Obama About The Bonuses  —  Federal Reserve officials knew for months about bonuses at American International Group but failed to tell the Obama administration, according to government and company officials, exposing problems in a relationship that is vital to addressing the financial crisis.

Duke Coach to Obama: Worry About the Economy, Not NCAA Picks  —  Reacting to news Obama picked North Carolina to win the NCAA Championship, Mike Krzyzewski says, “the economy is something that [the president] should focus on, probably more than the brackets.”

EXCLUSIVE: Obama's $500,000 book bonanza  —  Deal reached 5 days before he took office  —  As he empathized with recession-weary Americans, President Obama arranged in the days just before he took office to secure a $500,000 advance for a children's book project, a disclosure report shows.

Julia Alasheyeva, Moscow  —  A picture has emerged apparently showing Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in his former days as a KGB officer.  —  The 20-year old photo depicts two world leaders - US President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev - in Moscow.

Our Must-Win War  —  The ‘Minimalist’ Path Is Wrong for Afghanistan  —  Later this month, the Obama administration will unveil a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan.  This comes as most important indicators in Afghanistan are pointing in the wrong direction.

Cuomo Wins Ruling to Name Merrill Bonus Recipients  —  Andrew M. Cuomo is starting to unearth some of the most closely guarded secrets on Wall Street: the identities of Merrill Lynch employees who collected large bonuses even as the brokerage firm lost billions.

Schwarzenegger to help Obama answer GOP critics  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  LOS ANGELES - President Barack Obama is playing a bit of divide and conquer this week, pitting his Republican critics in Washington against GOP governors and mayors eager …

Citigroup Said to Commit $10 Million for New Executive Suite  —  Citigroup Inc. plans to spend about $10 million on new offices for Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit and his lieutenants, after the U.S. government injected $45 billion of cash into the bank.

President Obama Compares Big Banks, AIG, to Suicide Bombers  —  At his town hall meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif., Wednesday evening, President Obama compared embattled insurer AIG and other large failing banks to a suicide bomber.  —  “A lot of people say, ‘Well, why not just let the banks fail?’” the president said.

Leading climate scientist: 'democratic process isn't working'  —  Protest and direct action could be the only way to tackle soaring carbon emissions, a leading climate scientist has said.  —  James Hansen, a climate modeller with Nasa, told the Guardian today that corporate lobbying …

Top brass disturbed by GOP stalling of Iraq ambassador  —  There's one as yet unremarked constituency increasingly disturbed by some Republican senators' efforts to block the confirmation of former North Korea envoy Christopher Hill to be the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq: the U.S. military.

Rethinking The JournoList List  —  A friend emailed to ask me for my thoughts on the “JournoList,” a question prompted by Michael Calderone's short but suggestive report in yesterday's Politico.  Calderone's piece is for the most part a lament about the secrecy maintained by the members of the list …

Eminent Domain, Alabama Style  —  Speaking of the Cato Institute's new video telling the story behind Suzette Kelo's legal fight against the City of New London, I've been working on a website for a new grassroots organization in Alabama hoping to promote “the property rights of all Alabamians, regardless of race or financial status.”

Detainees May Be Released in U.S.  —  WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners.

Dissecting the A.I.G. Bonus Contract  —  Washington is filled with outrage over the $165 million in bonuses given out by the American International Group.  Yet, as I said in my post on Tuesday, “Seven Sad Truths About A.I.G.,” the real concern over the insurance giant should be about the $170 billion …

Dodd Admits Role In AIG Bonus Controversy  —  U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, already reeling in public opinion polls, suffered another political blow Wednesday with the admission that he had been involved in key legislative changes that helped pave the way for AIG to pay controversial bonuses to its employees.

What to Do About AIG?  —  Chief executive of AIG from 1967 to 2005  —  CEO Edward Liddy believes that dismantling AIG, once the world's largest and most successful insurance company, is the only way to repay the taxpayer money it has received.  But AIG's history demonstrates that its businesses …

The Daily Me  —  Some of the obituaries these days aren't in the newspapers but are for the newspapers.  The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is the latest to pass away, save for a remnant that will exist only in cyberspace, and the public is increasingly seeking its news not from mainstream television networks …

13 firms receiving federal bailout owe back taxes  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - At least 13 firms receiving billions of dollars in bailout money owe a total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes, a key lawmaker said Thursday.