More kids than ever are crammed into aging, run-down schools that need an estimated $255 billion in repairs, renovations or construction. While the president-elect is likely to ask Congress for only a fraction of that, education experts say it still could make a big difference.

“The need is definitely out there,” said Robert Canavan, chairman of the Rebuild America’s Schools coalition, which includes both teachers’ unions and large education groups. “A federal investment of that magnitude would really have a significant impact.”

Educators argue that spiffy classrooms help children learn and also remove health risks. But they warn that Obama’s school spending plan won’t stimulate the economy if it requires matching funds from state and local governments whose tax revenues have been slashed by the recession.

And they caution that throwing huge sums of money at programs that haven’t proven effective, such as the federal “E-Rate” program that gives technology discounts to schools, won’t help student achievement or the economy.

Obama is promising to give every student access to the Internet — the federal “E-Rate” program. Outgoing Education Secretary Margaret Spellings pointed out that billions already has been spent through the “E-Rate” program.

“It’s made very little difference in enhancing student achievement,” she said.

“We should never spend money in the public sector, especially in education, unless we’re getting something for it, unless it’s to some good end,” Spellings said. “I commend him (Obama) for taking that on. That’s another very ripe area. But not unless it’s moving the needle for kids.”

There’s widespread agreement, however, that improving classrooms helps student performance. Studies in Houston, New York City and North Dakota have made a link between classroom conditions and performance; in the New York study, researchers found kids in crowded classrooms scored lower in math and reading.

Nearly half the principals in primary and secondary schools said deteriorating conditions are interfering with learning, according to the Education Department.

Judi Caddick, a middle school math teacher in blue-collar Lansing, Ill., just south of Chicago, said in the older part of her World War II-era school, classrooms had just two power outlets, forcing teachers to string multiple extension cords into the rafters or to unplug a TV power point presentation in order to plug a computer in for a child.

“It looked like a spaghetti bowl,” Caddick said.

Special education classrooms flooded when plumbing backed up, leaving an unmistakable smell on hot days, not to mention allergy and asthma problems, despite efforts to clean the carpet, she said. And hallways were so dark and crowded, teachers often couldn’t see shoving and bumping in time to stop fights.

A new building to replace that old school is now almost complete. The last group of students, the eighth graders, moved in earlier this year.

“It’s a huge difference,” Caddick said. “We don’t have to have necessarily state-of-the-art and fluffy stuff. But at least when you don’t have mold problems, and you don’t have things that are broken, and you don’t have an inability to use the technology, it’s an investment.”

Upgrades can also make kids healthier; measures to prevent mold can decrease asthma, which is the No. 1 chronic illness making kids miss school.

Obama has given few specifics about his economic recovery plan, which could cost as much as $850 billion over two years. There is no word on how much of that would go to schools, or on how much would go toward repairs versus new construction.

The only dollar figure from Obama so far is that schools would share with roads in an immediate infusion of $25 billion for repairs and rebuilding.

It would take 10 times that amount or more to fully modernize schools, according to an analysis last month by the American Federation of Teachers. In all, schools need about $255 billion in maintenance, new construction, renovation and retrofitting for computer technology, among other things, the union said.

An earlier estimate from the National Education Association placed the cost even higher, in the range of $360 billion.

However, it might not take nearly that much money to make a dent. Federal dollars usually account for only a portion of construction and other school needs; state and local governments also kick in a share.

But with state and local tax revenues plummeting because of the recession, where would states get the money to match school upgrade dollars from the feds? Already, 19 states have lowered their tax revenue forecasts for 2009, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“If there is any kind of matching requirement, it’s going to be more problematic for state and local governments to match,” said David Shreve, education policy analyst for NCSL. “Because everybody is hurting badly and cutting everything else.”

The new Congress begins work on the economic recovery plan on Wednesday with a hearing by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. California Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said school modernization will be part of the hearing.

Obama aides working on the stimulus package say they want projects that can start immediately, putting people back to work. A study by the Economic Policy Institute estimates that spending $20 billion on deferred maintenance in school districts across the country would create nearly 250,000 skilled maintenance jobs.

“The General Assembly must move to impeach Rod Blagojevich immediately,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, a potential Republican candidate for governor in 2010.

“We should have started yesterday,” agreed Rep. Jack Franks, a Democrat.

Legislators were to meet Monday afternoon for the first time since Blagojevich was arrested last week on charges he shook down businesses seeking state deals and tried to profit from his power to choose a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama‘s vacant Senate seat.

The session’s focus was supposed to be about considering a special election, but impeachment is likely to be the chief topic of conversation.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said the governor “has no plans on resigning Monday.”

Guerrero didn’t respond directly to whether the governor could or would do anything to slow down the Legislature‘s move toward impeachment.

“The governor has indicated in the past there is more to this story that he’s wanting to tell at an appropriate time,” he said.

The calls for impeachment put the spotlight on House Speaker Michael Madigan, who ultimately will decide the timing of any impeachment effort.

Madigan, a Democrat representing Chicago, hasn’t taken any public position beyond saying Sunday that he will talk to the House Republican leader about the issue Monday.

David Dring, spokesman for House Minority Leader Tom Cross, said Republicans will step up the pressure on Democrats to remove Blagojevich, perhaps raising the issue on the House floor.

“If they won’t work with us, you’ll probably see some good theater,” Dring said.

The GOP also plans to run television ads pressuring Democrats to approve a special election to replace Obama. Blagojevich still holds the power to appoint a new senator, and if he resigned, that power would go to Democratic Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn.

Illinois Republican Party chairman Andy McKenna told reporters the ads will “make the point that this is the people’s seat, and the people deserve a special election.”

Madigan often has clashed with the Democratic governor, and his office produced a memo this year outlining all the arguments legislative candidates could make in favor of impeachment.

But spokesman Steve Brown wouldn’t say Sunday whether Madigan was even considering impeachment proceedings. Brown said Madigan wants to “maintain some neutrality” in case he winds up presiding over an impeachment.

Madigan’s daughter, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, has asked the state Supreme Court to remove Blagojevich from office, claiming he is unfit to serve. Madigan said Sunday she expects word on whether the court will hear her request “probably just in a few days.”

Lisa Madigan is considered one of the top Democratic candidates for governor in 2010.

The state constitution gives lawmakers broad authority to impeach a governor for any reason they consider sufficient. The House would decide whether to file charges against the governor, and the Senate would ultimately rule on them.

Democrats first made the call for a special election, but some are now having second thoughts.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, for instance, was an early supporter, but is now calling for Blagojevich to resign so that the lieutenant governor could appoint a senator.

Opponents of a special election cite the time and expense. It would cost tens of millions of dollars and not produce a new senator until April.

Republicans claim Democrats are wavering because they don’t want to risk a GOP candidate winning the special election.

At the Greater St. John Bible Church in Chicago, the Rev. Ira Acree, who met with Blagojevich at his home Friday morning, made only a passing reference to the governor in his sermon Sunday but told his congregation that he had prayed with the governor and that everyone deserves pastoral counsel.

“Pray for our state,” Acree said. “No matter what your political position is, pray for our state.”

From Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic Monthly:

It’s quite unsettling to talk to members of Barack Obama’s transition teams these days, especially those who are helping with the economics portfolio. Without going into details, the sense I get from them is that they are very worried that the economy will get a lot worse before it gets better. Not just worse… a lot worse. As in — double digit unemployment without the wiggle factors. Huge declines in aggregate demand. Significant, persistent deficits. That’s one reason why the Obama administration seems to be open to listening to every economist with an idea and is stocking the staff with the leading lights of the field. In one sense, the general level of concern among Obama advisers and transition staffers is reassuring; they get the magnitude of the problems, and they’re not going to assume that, just because the bottom has never dropped out before — certainly not in the lifetimes of most people doing policy these days, the bottom will never drop out.

Where the discussion isn’t going, at least in public,  (or the PR level), is the possibility that the first foreign policy crisis the administration will face will be the complete economic collapse of a large, unstable nation.

Click here for the rest.

From Terence Samuel at TheRoot.com:

There is a lot of head shaking over Jesse Jackson Jr.’s murky involvement in the swirl of muck engulfing Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. While Jackson is clearly not a target of the federal investigation that has ensnared Blagojevich, he may be the one taking the biggest political hit so far.

Jackson’s chances for the Senate seat, and therefore any higher political office, may have been irreparably damaged by the Blago scandal. The governor, after all, has been under investigations for years; his public approval ratings were in the low teens, which means not even his distant cousins were sticking by him. He had no good name left to preserve and no political future to worry about. If he manages to stay out of jail, it will be a legal and personal triumph.

But Jesse Jackson Jr., who had managed to ably establish himself as a legitimate and respected political force, separate from his famous father, suddenly finds himself explaining away problems not of his own making.

Click here for the full story.

The former GOP presidential candidate also praised President-elect Barack Obama for some of his staff choices, including Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton, and shared Letterman’s incredulousness at Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Letterman’s “Late Show” was a land mine for McCain after the Arizona senator abruptly canceled a Sept. 24 appearance, saying he had to return to Washington to help with the nation’s economic problems. Instead, he stopped by to see Katie Couric and Letterman mocked McCain mercilessly. McCain apologized three weeks later.

McCain, whose first post-campaign talk show appearance was with Jay Leno, was asked by Letterman what the transition from a frantic campaign to a slower pace was like.

“I don’t want to talk about the bleeping campaign,” McCain said with a smile. “Understand? If you think I’m going to go back to that bleeping situation, then bleep you.”

McCain said Clinton will bring “instant credibility, a certain amount of celebrity” when she travels around the world as the nation’s top diplomat.

“She is extremely knowledgeable on the issues,” he said. “I think it’s a good team and I think it’s a very wise choice. And I would like to say that I think President-elect Obama has made a number of very wise choices which I think shows a centrist approach to government, which, obviously, the way America and the world is today, is necessary.”

He still disagrees with Obama politically, but McCain said, “I applaud his selections.”

McCain said that Blagojevich, arrested and accused of trying to sell Obama’s Illinois Senate seat to the highest bidder, once asked for a meeting and told McCain he was going to be a great reformer.

Letterman said that people consider Blagojevich either stupid or nuts.

“What do you think?” Letterman asked.

“I think it’s a rare combination of both,” McCain replied.

McCain also talked with Letterman about the times he crashed airplanes, and when he was shot down over North Vietnam and taken as a prisoner of war. He said there’s a statue at the site in Hanoi where he was taken prisoner that says “26 on October 1967 the famous air pirate was shot down. John McCain was captured.”

“You know, you don’t get a lot of statues,” McCain said. “At least before you die.”

An examination of the FBI complaint against Blagojevich and the days immediately following Obama’s historic election victory suggests the governor was highly interested in Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett as a potential Senate appointee, albeit with a steep price tag.

The 76-page complaint contains multiple references to “Senate Candidate 1,” whose description clearly fits Jarrett, a former finance chief for Obama’s earlier campaigns and incoming senior White House adviser.

In secretly recorded conversations, the Democratic governor said he’d be willing to appoint Jarrett — Obama’s supposed favorite to replace him — in return for a high-paying job at a national union organization called Change to Win.

At a news conference Thursday, Obama said his office was assembling any information about possible contacts “between the transition office and the governor’s office,” and that he intended to release any such detail in the next few days.

“But what I’m absolutely certain about is that our office had no involvement in any dealmaking around my Senate seat,” Obama said. “That I’m absolutely certain of.”

It remained unclear whether anyone on Obama’s team had been in contact with Blagojevich or his associates regarding the Senate seat.

According to the complaint, Blagojevich met Nov. 5 with an official of the Service Employees International Union-Local 1 who is believed to be Tom Balanoff, a longtime Obama supporter who spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Blagojevich “understood” that the SEIU official was “an emissary to discuss Senate Candidate 1′s interest” in the Senate seat. Though just a day after the election, media reports had already identified Jarrett as being interested in the job.

SEIU officials released a statement Thursday saying the organization had been in contact with the U.S. attorney’s office and had no reason to believe the union or any union official had been involved in misconduct. The statement said the union, and specifically Balanoff, were “fully cooperating” with the probe.

During a Nov. 5 call, Blagojevich said the Senate appointment was a thing of value, something not given away “for nothing.”

Two days later, Blagojevich allegedly suggested he’d be willing to “trade” the Senate seat to Jarrett in exchange for the Health and Human Services secretary’s job. He repeated that desire during a separate, three-way call involved Blagojevich, Chief of Staff John Harris and someone identified only as “Advisor B,” a Washington-based consultant.

Harris noted that Blagojevich also would consider being appointed to a high-paying position at Change to Win and that Balanoff, who declined numerous requests for an interview with The Associated Press, could guarantee the appointment.

In return, Obama would be expected to help Change to Win with its legislative agenda on a national level, said Harris, according to the criminal complaint.

As the FBI listened in, Harris suggested the three-way deal would give Obama “a buffer so there is no obvious quid pro quo” regarding Jarrett. And “Adviser B” said “they should leverage the President-elect‘s desire to have Senate Candidate 1 appointed to the Senate seat” in exchange for a big job at Change to Win.

On Nov. 10, Blagojevich, his wife, Harris, the governor’s chief counsel William R. Quinlan and several Washington-based advisers conducted an extraordinary two-hour conference call.

Blagojevich conceded he probably wouldn’t get the HHS job or an ambassadorship because of so much negative publicity surrounding him.

Using several expletives, Blagojevich said he was reluctant to give Obama “his senator” without anything in return; he said he’d appoint a deputy governor before giving the job to Candidate 1. He also considered appointing himself to the job to avoid impeachment.

During the next 36 hours, the governor grew angry and suggested Obama’s camp was not interested in making a deal.

“They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. (Expletive) them,” Blagojevich told Harris in an intercepted call Nov. 11. The men talked about alternative candidates and perhaps starting a nonprofit organization that could possibly be funded by a wealthy Obama supporter, perhaps Warren Buffett.

Asked Thursday why the governor might have believed the Obama camp wasn’t going to cooperate, Obama refused to speculate.

“I can’t presume to know what was in the mind of the governor during this process,” he said. “All I can do is read what was in the transcripts, like the rest of you have read it, and shake my head.”

On Nov. 12, major news organizations, including the AP, quoted sources as saying Jarrett was not interested in the Senate seat. The Chicago Tribune said it had received an e-mail from Jarrett declaring, “I am not interested in the Senate seat.”

But as the day wore on, Blagojevich continued to discuss the possibility of appointing “Senate Candidate 1″ in a series of calls; Blagojevich would stay on as governor and ostensibly run the nonprofit.

“Adviser B” told the governor he liked the Change to Win job best because “from the President-elect‘s perspective, there would be fewer `fingerprints’” because the union organization was already in existence and fully funded.

During one of the calls, Blagojevich informed the union official — believed to be Balanoff — that he’d heard Obama now wanted other candidates considered. Balanoff said he would find out if “Senate Candidate 1″ wanted to keep pushing for the Senate seat.

The discussion during a Nov. 13 call between the governor and “Adviser A” made it clear Blagojevich wanted a deal from Obama whether his pick was Jarrett or someone else, according to the complaint. And in subsequent recorded conversations, the governor indeed moved on to other possible candidates, including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

On Nov. 15, Obama announced the appointment of Jarrett as one of his key advisers. And yet nine days later, Blagojevich may not have given up on the idea that Jarrett was still his way to cash in: According to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., he spoke to the governor about Jarrett on Nov. 24.

“The governor asked me, `What about Valerie Jarrett? Do you think she’s serious?’” Durbin said, an apparent reference to her withdrawal from consideration.

“I said, `Yes, I talked to her. She said she doesn’t want this. She’s going to stick with Obama,’” Durbin said.

From Jack Healy at The NYTimes.com:

President-elect Barack Obama said on Thursday that he never spoke to the governor of Illinois about Mr. Obama’s replacement in the United States Senate, and that no one on his staff had been involved in any deal-making regarding Mr. Obama’s successor.

“That would be a violation of everything that this campaign has been about,” Mr. Obama said at a news conference in Chicago which was called to announce an appointment to his Cabinet.

In his first extended comments on the unfolding political scandal, Mr. Obama said he was “appalled and disappointed” by the details of a complaint filed by federal prosecutors, who have accused the governor, Rod R. Blagojevich, of trying to profit from his power to choose Mr. Obama’s successor. Mr. Obama also restated his call for the governor to resign.

“I think the public trust has been violated,” Mr. Obama said. “I hope that the governor comes to the conclusion that he can no longer effectively serve and that he does resign.”

Click here for the full report.

The president-elect has selected Steven Chu for energy secretary, Lisa Jackson for EPA administrator, Carol Browner as his energy “czar,” and Nancy Sutley to lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Democratic officials with knowledge of the decisions said Wednesday.

Obama plans to name the four to the posts in the coming weeks, barring unforeseen developments.

Still unclear is whom Obama will tap for interior secretary.

Officials close to the transition said support for John Berry, the director of the National Zoo and a former assistant secretary at the Interior Department, was growing. But these officials also said Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva and California Rep. Mike Thompson were still in the running.

The Democratic officials who disclosed the selections spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal names that have not been made public.

Among these posts, Browner’s stands out because it’s a new White House position.

She is expected to coordinate the various agencies that play a role in energy and environmental policy, especially on issues such as climate change that don’t fit nicely in the silos of the federal government. Those agencies could include the EPA and the Transportation, Energy and Interior departments.

Six weeks before his Jan. 20 inauguration and little more than a month since his election, Obama has chosen much of his Cabinet and top White House staff. He has only a few key posts left to fill: national intelligence director, the secretaries of housing, labor, education, transportation and agriculture and the U.S. trade representative.

Obama scheduled a news conference on Thursday in Chicago to name former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle as his secretary of health and human services. That choice has been known for some time.

On Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has been mentioned as a possible labor secretary, was in Washington meeting with Obama’s transition team. Her spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, would say only that the governor discussed the president-elect’s economic stimulus plan.

As for his environment and natural resources team:

• Chu was one of three scientists who shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997 for work in cooling and trapping atoms with laser light. He’s a professor of physics and molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and has been the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 2004, where he has pushed for research into alternative energy as a way to combat global warming. It is the oldest of the Energy Department’s national laboratories, doing only unclassified work, and in recent years under Chu has been at the center of research into biofuels and solar technologies.

• Jackson, who would be the first black person to lead the EPA, is a former New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection commissioner who worked at the federal agency for 16 years, including under Browner when she was Bill Clinton’s EPA chief. Jackson is a co-chairman of Obama’s EPA transition team, and currently serves as chief of staff to New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine. A New Orleans native, she grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward, the area stricken by Hurricane Katrina. She holds chemical engineering degrees from Tulane University and Princeton University.

• Browner, who served as EPA chief for eight years under Clinton, will become Obama’s go-to person in the White House overseeing energy issues, an area expected to include the environment and climate matters. Now chair of the National Audubon Society and on the boards of several other environmental groups, Browner has been leading the Obama transition’s working group on energy and environment.

• Sutley, the deputy mayor for energy and environment in Los Angeles and the mayor’s representative on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, is the first prominent gay to earn a senior role in Obama’s new administration. She was an EPA official during the Clinton administration, including being a special assistant to the EPA administrator in Washington. She also previously served on the California State Water Resources Control Board and was an energy adviser to former Gov. Gray Davis.

Legislative leaders in the state capital moved forward Wednesday with several fronts to deal with Blagojevich, who returned to his office in downtown Chicago a day after he was arrested on charges that he put President-elect Barack Obama‘s U.S. Senate seat up for sale.

The first fallout from the scandal also emerged, with U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. denying any misconduct while confirming that he is the Senate candidate mentioned in the federal charges as someone Blagojevich thought would pay money to be appointed to the seat. Jackson, the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said he had been assured by prosecutors he was not a target of the investigation.

Blagojevich’s decision to show up for work like it was another day at the office angered much of the state’s political establishment, and Obama and U.S. Senate leaders demanded that he step down. The prospect that the second-term Democratic governor might still try to appoint someone to the Senate also loomed.

“He appears to listen to no one, and his conduct becomes more outrageous as time goes on,” said Steve Brown, spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Legislative leaders planned a special session Monday to strip Blagojevich of his power to pick a new U.S. senator, putting the decision in the hands of Illinois voters instead. Lawmakers also prepared to discuss the possibility of impeachment, and the attorney general researched whether there is any way to declare Blagojevich unfit to hold office.

“I just don’t foresee him being the governor indefinitely with this cloud hanging over him,” Republican Sen. Christine Radogno said. “There is an awful lot of impetus to move him out of the way.”

Blagojevich’s lawyers have insisted he is innocent, and stressed that he still has important work to do for the state of Illinois.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said some of the governor’s work Wednesday involved talking with staff about the budget and a short-term borrowing plan so the state can get its hands on $1.4 billion to pay some outstanding bills.

“At the end of the day, the top priority for our office is to serve the people, and we have not lost sight of that, nor will we lose sight of that,” said spokesman Kelley Quinn, calling it “business as usual” on Wednesday, the governor’s 52nd birthday.

A day earlier, FBI agents arrested Blagojevich at his home and took him away in handcuffs. Prosecutors released a thick document that included excerpts of wiretapped conversations in which the governor allegedly schemed to enrich himself by offering to sell Obama’s Senate seat for campaign cash or a lucrative job inside or outside government.

They also alleged he pressured the Tribune Co. to fire editorial writers at the Chicago Tribune after several negative editorials about Blagojevich.

Blagojevich is charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit bribery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and 10 years, respectively.

More than 24 hours after the arrest, Obama joined other prominent Democrats in calling for Blagojevich’s resignation. Such a move would make Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn the governor, and he could appoint someone to the seat.

“The president-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois,” Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Asked whether Obama supports a special election, Gibbs said Obama believes the Illinois General Assembly should consider how to fill the Senate seat and “put in place a process to select a new senator that will have the trust and confidence of the people of Illinois.”

Senate Democrats were more pointed in a letter to the governor: They “insist that you step down” and not name anyone to replace Obama. An appointment by a new governor would “be the most expeditious way for a new senator to be chosen and seated in a manner that would earn the confidence of the people of Illinois and all Americans,” wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and the party’s second-ranking leader, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois.

They suggested the Senate might reject anyone chosen by Blagojevich. The Constitution gives the Senate authority to refuse to allow a member to be sworn in.

It was unclear what incentive the governor had to give up his office.

A resignation might make him appear guilty. The office also gives him a certain amount of clout, which can help him raise money for his defense.

Radogno said it’s possible Blagojevich would use his resignation as a bargaining chip with prosecutors and agree to step down in exchange for leniency.

When Illinois lawmakers meet Monday, they’ll consider changing state election law to fill Senate vacancies by special election, rather than leaving the decision to the governor. But holding an election could take months and give Republicans a shot at capturing a seat now in Democratic hands.

Brown, the spokesman for the House speaker, noted that any change in the law would go to the governor’s desk, where Blagojevich could let it sit and still pick a senator.

“Despite our best efforts, the governor could play hide the ball. That is an inescapable reality,” Brown said. “I’m hoping that’s not the case.”

Brown said the speaker hasn’t ordered staff to begin researching impeachment but that individual legislators are doing so. The speaker’s office also compiled a memo earlier this year on arguments for impeaching the governor.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office said her staff is researching whether Illinois Supreme Court rules allow a challenge to Blagojevich’s fitness to hold office. That could pressure Blagojevich to step down.

From Ben Smith at Politico:

The Transition just launched a Digg-style tool by which citizens can ask questions and vote on the questions they think Obama’s aides should answer — in theory, a more authentic, less controlled, system than your average online Q & A.

Click here for the full report.

From Sam Fulwood III at TheRoot.com:

It’s become something of a parlor game for the chattering class to compare President-elect Barack Obama to the pantheon of presidents.

Is Obama the second coming of Abraham Lincoln? A recent Newsweek magazine cover cast Honest Abe’s long shadow behind the incoming president’s silhouette. Inside, writers Evan Thomas and Richard Wolffe found the parallels between the two men irresistible. “It is the season to compare Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln,” they wrote. “Two thin men from rude beginnings, relatively new to Washington but wise to the world, bring the nation together to face a crisis.”

Or is Obama the reincarnation of Franklin D. Roosevelt? Time magazine thinks so, putting a fused portrait of the two men on its cover.

At times, even Obama encourages the idea that he’s channeling both of those beloved presidents. He often compares himself to Lincoln, invoking the Great Emancipator in speeches and in his very open effort to choose a cabinet with echoes of Lincoln’s “team of rivals.”

He also claims Roosevelt as a mentor. “What you see in FDR that I hope my team can emulate, is not always getting it right, but projecting a sense of confidence, and a willingness to try things, and experiment in order to get people working again,” Obama said.

Enough already with the dead white presidents. There’s an equally—perhaps more—apt yardstick by which to measure Obama: South Africa’s Nelson Mandela.

Click here for the rest.

ALSO check out a related story on TheRoot.com called “Where Is South Africa’s Obama?”

But it would take a lot of nerve and Blagojevich would have to hurry because state lawmakers are racing to snatch away his power to appoint a new senator and put it in the hands of voters.

“No appointment by this governor, under these circumstances, could produce a credible replacement,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Tuesday after the governor was arrested on charges of conspiring to commit fraud and soliciting bribery.

Until state lawmakers call a special election, though, Blagojevich still has the power to fill the Senate seat left vacant by President-elect Obama.

“He is still the sitting governor of Illinois today, now, and that is not something we have any say in or control of,” U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in unveiling corruption charges against the 52-year-old governor.

Obama was not accused of any wrongdoing. “I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening,” the president-elect said.

Prosecutors stepped in and had the governor arrested because he was on “what can only be called a political corruption crime spree,” Fitzgerald said.

Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said he is prepared to call the Illinois House into session as early as Monday to set a special election to fill the seat. Illinois Senate President Emil Jones said he had something similar in mind.

In Washington, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., made it plain he didn’t want to seat anyone under such a cloud, saying the charges “are appalling and represent as serious a breach of the public trust as I have ever heard.”

Charged along with Blagojevich was his 46-year-old chief of staff, John Harris, who was accused of taking part in the schemes to enrich the governor.

The FBI said in court papers that Blagojevich was overheard conspiring to sell the Senate seat for campaign cash or lucrative jobs for himself or his wife, a real estate agent. He spoke of using the Senate appointment to land a job with a nonprofit foundation or a union-affiliated group, and even held out hope of getting named Obama’s secretary of health and human services or an ambassador.

According to court papers, the governor tried to make it known through emissaries, including union officials and fundraisers, that the seat could be had for the right price. Blagojevich allegedly had a salary in mind — $250,000 to $300,000 a year — and spoke of collecting half-million and million-dollar political contributions.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden,” prosecutors quoted Blagojevich as saying about the Senate appointment on federal bugs in his campaign office and wiretaps on his home telephone, “and I’m just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I’m not gonna do it.”

Chicago FBI chief Robert Grant said even seasoned investigators were stunned by what they heard, particularly since the governor had known for at least three years that he was under investigation for alleged hiring fraud and clearly realized agents might be listening in.

Besides scheming to swap or sell the Senate seat, Blagojevich — a former congressman, state lawmaker and prosecutor — was accused of trying to strong-arm the Chicago Tribune into firing editorial writers who had called for his impeachment. He also was accused of using the governor’s power over state business to raise campaign funds.

“But the most cynical behavior in all this, the most appalling, is the fact that Gov. Blagojevich tried to sell the appointment to the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Obama,” Fitzgerald said. “The conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.”

Nothing in the court papers suggested Obama had any part in the discussions about selling the Senate seat or even knew of them. In fact, Blagojevich was overheard complaining at one point that Obama’s people are “not going to give me anything except appreciation.” He added: “(Expletive) them.”

Blagojevich was charged with two counts: conspiracy to commit fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and solicitation to commit bribery, which is punishable by up 10 years. He was released on his own recognizance following an afternoon hearing.

The allegations “do nothing to impact the services, duties or function of the state,” according to a statement issued by Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero.

The governor’s attorney, Sheldon Sorosky, said he didn’t know of any immediate plans for the governor to resign. Blagojevich believes he didn’t do anything wrong and asks Illinois residents to have faith in him, Sorosky said.

“I suppose we will have to go to trial,” he said.

The head of the FBI’s office in Chicago said he phoned Blagojevich at 6 a.m. Tuesday, telling him of a warrant for his arrest and informing him there were two FBI agents at his door. Blagojevich’s first comment was, “Is this a joke?” Grant said. The governor was led away in handcuffs.

Blagojevich becomes the latest in a long line of Illinois governors to become engulfed in scandal. He was elected in 2002 as a reformer promising to clean up after Gov. George Ryan, who is serving six years in prison for graft. He was re-elected to another four-year term in 2006.

Long before Blagojevich faced criminal charges, his most vocal critics already discussed impeachment, citing a long list of potentially unconstitutional moves, slights to the General Assembly and ethics violations.

Impeachment is a two-step process. First, the Illinois House would consider whether there were grounds for impeachment, much like a grand jury deciding whether someone should be brought up on criminal charges. If a majority of the House voted yes, then the Senate would hold a trial.

It takes a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict, and the only possible punishments are removal from office and disqualification from holding any other office.

ABC News has acquired a secret McCain campaign ad that never aired, attacking Obama’s relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Many Republican pundits believe that if that narrative had been fleshed out, the outcome of the election could have been very different.

According to the report, after the election Rev. Wright sent President-elect Obama a message that said, “As long as you are presiding over policy that grinds God’s people into Earth, I am coming after you.”

Watch the video here:

The Bush administration would allow a “car czar” envisioned in the legislation to force the companies into bankruptcy if they weren’t doing enough to cut labor costs, restructure their debt and downsize to stay afloat.

At the same time, the head of the United Auto Workers, Ron Gettelfinger, signaled that his union might demand an equity stake in General Motors Corp., if asked to give up more.

The fast-paced developments come amid an environment of general economic instability, the Congress and the presidency both in transition, a ricocheting Wall Street and the Federal Reserve Board, Treasury and other agencies fighting to steady the reeling financial industry.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she supports the concept of a federal overseer of any rescue plan, saying she lacked confidence the heads of the car companies could solve the problem if “left to their own devices.”

Pelosi appeared on morning television Tuesday after a night of intense Capitol Hill discussions aimed at narrowing the differences over a $15 billion bill that would, among other things, rush short-term loans to the industry. The plan would require that the Big Three reinvent itself to survive — and that it pay back the government if it doesn’t. The package could come to a vote as early as Wednesday.

Pelosi said she thought taxpayers should consider it “a second chance” rather than a bailout.

Deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said Tuesday, “We made progress and hope to continue making progress. We want to move quickly, but it’s important that we get the policy right.”

Cash from any such rescue plan would immediately be plowed into General Motors Corp. and Chrsyler LLC. Ford Motor Co. has said that it does not have an emergency cash-flow problem and that it would not ask for short-term assistance.

In testimony before Congress last week, General Motors and Chrysler, which have said they are weeks from collapse, made it clear they would need a total of $14 billion to $15 billion to survive through early 2009.

“We do not face a near-term liquidity issue, and we will not be seeking a short term bridge loan,” the company said in a statement Monday night. “But Ford fully supports an effort to address the near-term liquidity issues of GM and Chrysler, as our industry is highly interdependent and a failure of one of our competitors could affect us.”

Robert Lutz, GM’s vice president of global product development, also said he could accept a federally appointed czar to supervise implementation of a restructuring plan.

“Well, whether we need it or not, I think it’s reasonable that when the federal government steps in with taxpayer money, they’re not going to–they’re not going to lend us the money and just say, `Do the best you can with it and tell us when you need more.’ Obviously, there’s going to be some kind of oversight and I think that’s a reasonable thing to expect,” he said on CBS’s “The Early Show.”

The measure being discussed in Congress would put a government overseer named by Bush in charge of setting guidelines for an industrywide overhaul, with the power to revoke the loans if the automakers fail to do what’s necessary to become viable. The White House was seeking tougher consequences, including allowing the overseer — being called a car czar — to force the companies into bankruptcy if they weren’t doing enough to cut labor costs, restructure their debt and downsize to stay afloat.

Pelosi said she had no candidates for the job, but said that Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman and now an economic adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, would be a good choice. She said he enjoys the public’s confidence.

Despite optimism on both sides that Congress and the White House could reach a swift agreement on the rescue package, it was still a tough sell on Capitol Hill. With lawmakers in both parties bitter over the administration’s use of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, many of them were preparing to hold their noses and vote for yet another federal rescue to avert deeper economic disaster.

“While we take no satisfaction in loaning taxpayer money to these companies, we know it must be done,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. “This is no blank check or blind hope.”

Gettelfinger, who appeared Tuesday on CBS, declined to say whether his union would demand a seat on GM’s board of directors in exchange for contract concessions. But he did say that “if we’re gonna be asked to give up more, and it appears that we are, then we should have an equity stake in the company.”

The developing plan would dole out auto industry loans right away, drawing the money from an existing program meant to help the carmakers retool their factories to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. Then the czar would write guidelines, due on the first of the year, for restructuring the companies.

The proposal would attach an array of conditions to the auto bailout money, including some of the same restrictions imposed on banks as part of the Wall Street rescue. Among them are limits on executive compensation, a prohibition on paying dividends, and requirements that the government share in future profits and taxpayers be repaid before any other shareholders.

The proposal gives the car czar say-so over any major business decisions by the automakers while they’re taking advantage of federal aid. The companies would have to open their books to the government, including informing the overseer of any transaction of $25 million or more.

Also under discussion is a requirement that the carmakers taking federal aid get rid of their corporate jets — which became a potent symbol of the industry’s ineptitude when the Big Three CEOs used them for their initial trips to Washington to plead before Congress for government assistance.

Still, the White House wanted clearer consequences for the automakers if a company was not meeting its own promises for long-term viability, according to officials who would comment on the continuing negotiations only on condition of anonymity.

Under Democrat’s proposal, if the Big Three didn’t come up with suitable restructuring plans by the end of March, the czar would have to submit his own blueprint to Congress for a government-mandated overhaul.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., a key ally of the auto industry, said getting the roughly 15 Republicans needed to support the plan was an uphill battle.

“This is a real hill to climb even if we can get agreement between the White House and congressional leaders,” he said.

From WAPT.com:

Two students on a school bus in a Mississippi town were kicked off the bus for saying, “Obama is our President.” The students were left at the Pearl High School and later taken to Pearl Junior High where they attend school.
Parents in the town are outraged and school adminstration officials have taken action against the bus driver, but it is unclear what the disciplinary action actually is.

Click here for the video report.

Slaves not only helped build the White House, but also for decades men and women in bondage served America’s presidents and first families as butlers, cooks and maids.

Two hundred years later, Barack Obama’s election as the 44th president — the first black chief executive — is casting a spotlight on the complicated history of African-Americans and the exalted place they called home — the White House.

During and after slavery, black workers made the White House function. Obama’s entry on Jan. 20, 2009, will be a moment for the ages that few of them could imagine.

“I’m very proud of the fact we’re going to have an African-American president and I think the help is going to be pleased to be working for an African-American president,” said 89-year-old William Bowen Jr., a second-generation White House butler who worked for Presidents Dwight Eisenhower to George H.W. Bush.

When Bowen started at the White House in 1957, the civil rights movement was still in its infancy, segregation was still legal and African-Americans were just penetrating the upper echelons of government service.

People like Bowen, employed at the White House before the civil rights and feminist movements, were the “help.”

Surrounded by presidential memorabilia in his suburban Maryland home — including a newspaper trumpeting Obama’s victory — Bowen is contemplating coming out of retirement to work for the first black president.

“I never thought, coming up, that this would ever happen. Not in my lifetime,” Bowen said.

His father, William Bowen, left his job at the Washington Navy Yard after World War I to become a White House butler. He soon recruited his son to work there as a mail carrier and part-time butler. The senior Bowen taught him the White House domestic code of silence, which White House workers observe to this day.

“Pay attention and don’t be talking to people while on your assignment,” Bowen Jr. remembered his father lecturing. “Don’t unnecessarily engage some of the guests unless they speak to you.”

It was hard sometimes, with celebrities such as Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey frequenting White House parties and dinners. To this day, Bowen remembers conversations with presidents and first ladies, but they are something he still will not repeat.

“You don’t talk about things that happened on the job,” Bowen said.

A century before the Bowens, slaves labored inside and outside the White House. Washington planner Pierre L’Enfant rented slaves from nearby owners to dig the foundation for the White House. White House designer James Hoben used some of his slave carpenters to build it.

President George Washington forced slaves from Mount Vernon to work as staff inside “the President’s House” in Philadelphia during his term. Thus began a tradition of enslaved men and women working for the president in his residence, a practice that continued until the 1850s.

Not only did they work in the White House, enslaved men and women lived there as well. According to the White House Historical Association, the slave and servant quarters were in the basement, now called the ground floor. The rooms now include the library, china room, offices and the formal Diplomatic Reception Room. At least one African-American baby was born there, in 1806 to Fanny and Eddy, two of Jefferson’s slaves. The child, who was also considered a slave, died two years later.

History values these slaves for more than just their labor.

Paul Jennings, President James Madison’s personal slave, told the first tale of White House life written by someone who lived there. Jennings, in his memoirs, debunked the oft-repeated White House legend of first lady Dolley Madison saving the portrait of Washington from invading British troops.

“This is totally false,” Jennings said. “She had no time for doing it. It would have required a ladder to get it down. All she carried off was the silver.”

Instead a Frenchman, John Suse, and Magraw, the president’s gardener, took the painting down and sent it off on a wagon, Jennings said. Later in his life, he would give part of the money he earned as a freedman to help a destitute Dolley Madison after her husband’s death.

As the years progressed, so did the role of African-Americans inside the White House.

Blacks moved from slaves to honored guests — President Abraham Lincoln met with abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth in the White House — to indispensable parts of White House life. President Andrew Johnson appointed William Slade as the first White House steward, the person charged with running the domestic side of the White House.

Not only did blacks work in the White House, they also started working at the White House. E. Frederick Morrow was the first African-American appointed a White House aide by Eisenhower in 1955; John F. Kennedy named Andrew Hatcher associate press secretary in 1960.

The progress was hardly smooth.

In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt formally invited Booker T. Washington to the White House for dinner. But as Republican presidential candidate John McCain noted in his concession speech last month, Southern newspapers were outraged and publicly condemned Roosevelt after they learned of the invitation from an Associated Press dispatch. Roosevelt never invited another African-American to a White House dinner.

All the while behind the scenes, African-American domestic workers such as John Pye kept the White House humming along.

“These are the folks who not only keep the leadership comfortable, but they make the White House into a home for those occupants, and they make government service more than tolerable for high-level staffers who are working long hours,” said Gail Lowe, senior historian at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum. “Without their eyewitness to history, we probably would not have as full a story as we have of the inner workings of the White House.”

The Smithsonian holds memorabilia belonging to Pye, who worked as valet, messenger, driver, cook and butler in the White House during President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration.

Sometimes the workers also made history, Lowe said.

“When the first war bonds were issued in April 1942, President Roosevelt did a little presale as a publicity move, and the first person to whom he sold a war bond was John Pye,” said Lowe. “It cost $18.75. And as President Roosevelt made his pitch for the war bonds — ‘This is to support our war effort. Our young men are serving overseas, They’re giving their lives, we can lend our money.’ — almost before the words were out of his mouth, John Pye had stepped forward to purchase the bond.”

Despite their contributions, blacks experienced racism even inside the White House.

Alonzo Fields, a former maitre ‘d who worked in the White House for 31 years, said they had segregated dining rooms for the workers at one point.

“I’m good enough to handle the president’s food and do everything, but I cannot eat with the help,” Fields, who died in 1994, told the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies for its Workers in the White House project.

Pye faced at least one incident with Richard M. Nixon, then vice president, who came to him and asked about some leftover food.

Nixon said: “Boy, what are y’all going to do with the rest of the food,” Lowe said. “Mr. Pye did not like being called ‘boy’ and he didn’t like to be questioned about how the kitchen would deal with leftovers.”

Pye told him that the food went to charity, but it turned out Nixon wanted to eat the leftovers.

“Pye made sure they went to charitable organizations that day,” Lowe said.

The plan would draw the emergency aid from an existing loan program meant to help the automakers build fuel-efficient vehicles. The size of the package hasn’t been finalized, but it is expected to be about $15 billion, several congressional aides said.

It would create a board composed of Cabinet secretaries from the departments of Treasury, Energy, Labor, Commerce and Transportation plus the Environmental Protection Agency administrator to oversee a broad auto industry restructuring. A congressional aide outlined the emerging measure on condition of anonymity because it is not yet completed.

In return for the money, the carmakers would have to agree to terms similar to those placed on banks that receive funds under the $700 billion Wall Street bailout: to limit their top executives’ pay packages, cease paying dividends, give the government a chunk of future gains and guarantee that taxpayers would be reimbursed before any other shareholders, the aide said.

The bill under discussion would place the special investigator overseeing the bank rescue in charge of keeping tabs on the auto bailout.

The White House and Democratic congressional leaders are narrowing their differences over the auto bailout, but had yet to agree on specific legislative details, officials said.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Banking Committee, said Sunday that General Motors Corp.‘s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, “has to move on” as part of a government-run restructuring.

“I think you have got to consider new leadership,” Dodd said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

On Monday, Dodd said that “it’s not my job to hire and fire, but what I suggest is, you need to have new teams in place here … if you’re going to convince the American public” that the financial relief plan is necessary and justified.

Dodd also said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday that figures showing over a half-million people lost their jobs in November amounts to a “game-changer” in the debate over an aid package.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, said his union is ready to go back to the bargaining table to help the auto companies, but he also said that workers should not be made “scapegoats” for their problems.

Criticized for staying on the sidelines until now, President-elect Barack Obama voiced support Sunday for the bailout legislation being drafted in Congress. He accused car industry executives of a persistent “head-in-the sand approach” to long-festering problems.

In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Obama said Congress was doing “the exact right thing” in drafting legislation that “holds the auto industry’s feet to the fire” at the same time it tries to prevent its demise.

GM spokesman Steve Harris said the company appreciates Dodd’s support for the loans, but added, “GM employees, dealers, suppliers and the GM board of directors feel strongly that Rick is the right guy to lead GM through this incredibly difficult and challenging time.”

From Craig Gordon & Ben Smith at Politico.com:

It’s slim pickings left for high-profile White House hopefuls, as bold-face names like Clinton and Gates have taken some of the plum postings. With the inner circle occupied, most of the jockeying now focuses on powerful, lower-profile sub-Cabinet positions.

But there are a few gems left for the taking as Barack Obama fills out his White House roster – including a few that might be uniquely Obama. The father of the Internet – working on a government salary? It could be.

Here’s a look at the five best jobs left to be doled out by Obama. There isn’t a lot here that would usually make big headlines, but they are jobs that could get a boost in stature given the economic meltdown and Obama’s personal priorities.

Click here for the full list.

From The Seattle Times:

Tiny wooden cabins line the dirt road once known as Slave Street as it winds through Friendfield Plantation.

More than 200 slaves lived in the whitewashed shacks in the early 1800s, and some of their descendants remained for more than 100 years after the Civil War. The last tenants abandoned the hovels about 30 years ago, and even they would have struggled to imagine a distant daughter of the plantation one day calling the White House home.

But a historical line can be drawn from these Low Country cabins to Michelle Obama, charting an American family’s improbable journey through slavery, segregation, the civil-rights movement and a historic presidential election.

Read the full story here.

From Chicagoist:

Yesterday we explored what we thought was a benign attempt by a fringe political group to raise a ruckus over Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Boy, were we wrong.
While we’re not putting on our tinfoil hats, it definitely has earned
our attention. There have been several lawsuits filed regarding the
release of Obama’s birth certificate, including one by former Obama
opponent Alan Keyes, and now one of the cases has made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Court will consider tomorrow whether or not to hear a lawsuit
brought by Leo Donofrio against New Jersey Secretary of State Nina
Mitchell Wells, a suit originally intended to delay the election.

Click here for the full story.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

Marc Ambinder’s- Beating The Dead Donkey: Your Next President Is Eligible For His Job

Andrew Sullivan’s- Obama’s Birth Certificate

From Newser.com:

Blame radio’s drive-time zoo disc jockeys for a new skepticism among politicians. GOP Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen received a phone call from someone identifying himself as Barack Obama. She hung up on him, thinking it was a radio show prank—and even complimented him on his Obama impression. The only snag? It actually was the president-elect. Then she hung up on Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Click here for the full story.

From Ada McMahon at Green For All:

Last week, President-Elect Obama announced that upon taking office he will enact an immediate and sweeping economic stimulus plan that will create 2.5 million jobs in 2 years, many of which will be green jobs.

Obama’s new plan is beefed up in response to what he now calls “a crisis of historic proportions.”

Click here for the full story.

From The New Republic:

Omniscient reader EC notes something crucial about new appointees James Jones, Eric Holder and Timothy Geithner: They all play Obama’s favorite sport.

Jones played forward at Georgetown. Geithner reportedly likes himself a good pickup game. And the Times says Eric Holder was once known, impressively, for his “easy dunk.” (Cracks EC: “Not even Janet Reno could do that.”)

Update: Susan Rice, too! (Sez Ben).

Hey and come to think, Stephon Marbury also plays hoops but now mostly wears a suit and is looking for a new job. Maybe Obama can find something for him in, say… Iraq? (He’s not afraid of strong personalities, after all.) More: Marbury even maxed out for Obama in 2007….

Click here for the full story.

Obama continued his theme of diversity by choosing two more female leaders for crucial positions, most notably his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. Clinton is well-respected among world leaders, and has a breadth of knowledge of world affairs that will surely make her a force of both diplomacy and defense. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and the changing world climate concerning Islamic extremism and genocide, the President-elect will be responsible for ending the Iraq War cautiously. Marine General James Jones will serves as his National Security Adviser. 

From Associated Press: 

 

CHICAGO (AP) President-elect Barack Obama announced Monday that Robert Gates would remain as defense secretary, making President Bush’s Pentagon chief his own as he seeks to wind down the U.S. role in Iraq. Obama picked former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.

At a news conference, Obama also introduced retired Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser, former Justice Department official Eric Holder as attorney general and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security.

The announcements rounded out the top tier of the team that will advise the incoming chief executive on foreign and national security issues in an era marked by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorism around the globe.

“The time has come for a new beginning, a new dawn of American leadership to overcome the challenges of the 21st century,” Obama said as his Cabinet picks stood behind him on a flag-draped stage.

“We will strengthen our capacity to defeat our enemies and support our friends. We will renew old alliances and forge new and enduring partnerships.”

Obama said his appointees “share my pragmatism about the use of power, and my sense of purpose about America’s role as a leader in the world.”

He also appointed campaign foreign policy aide Susan Rice as his ambassador to the United Nations. Obama said he would make her a member of the Cabinet, an increase in stature from the Bush era.

Obama’s announcements marked a shift in emphasis, after a spate of appointments last week for his economic team.

He now has selected half the members of his Cabinet, and is doing so at an unusually quick pace during his transition as he seeks to fulfill his goal of being able to “hit the ground running” when he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.

Obama introduced Clinton first, saying of his former presidential rival, “She possesses an extraordinary intelligence and toughness, and a remarkable work ethic. … She is an American of tremendous stature who will have my complete confidence, who knows many of the world’s leaders, who will command respect in every capital, and who will clearly have the ability to advance our interests around the world.”

Clinton will give up her seat as a senator from New York to join the Obama Cabinet. Her appointment was preceded by lengthy negotiations involving her husband, the former president, whose international business connections posed potential conflicts of interests.

The former president also agreed to disclose the donors to the foundation that built his library, as well as contributors to his international foundation.

She said to Obama, in a brief turn at the lectern, “I am proud to join you … and may God bless you and our great country.”

Sen. Clinton had scarcely finished speaking when her husband issued a written statement. “She is the right person for the job of helping to restore America’s image abroad, end the war in Iraq, advance peace and increase our security, by building a future for our children with more partners and fewer adversaries, one of shared responsibilities and opportunities,” he said.

Gates said he was “mindful that we are engaged in two wars and face other serious challenges at home and around the world.”

“I must do my duty as they do theirs,” he said of the men and women in uniform in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. “How could I do otherwise?”

He said he was “honored to serve President-elect Obama.”

 

From The New York Times Online:

Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry.

Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65 days.

For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side — on most days, it was fastened to his belt — to provide a singular conduit to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter throughout his campaign.

“How about that?” Mr. Obama replied to a friend’s congratulatory e-mail message on the night of his victory.

But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off.

Click here to find out how Obama will communicate without his BlackBerry.

From The Daily Kos:

On the day before Election Day — that final moment when candidates decide where they want to make their last case to the voters they want to win the most  – Barack Obama chose to visit three big battleground states: Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.

Since 1968, these Southern states had voted Democratic for president only six times between them. And president-elect Obama was about to ask voters in these states — all members of the old Confederacy — to vote the first African-American ever into the White House.

Click here for the full post.

From Roger Simon at Politico:

I do not understand why some people are opposed to a $25 billion government bailout of the U.S. auto industry.

The price is cheap. That $25 billion represents less than three months of the cost of the Iraq war.

To put it another way: If Barack Obama would end the Iraq war just three months early, he could pay for the entire U.S. auto industry bailout, and have about $5 billion left over to spend on luxury items like U.S. education, health care and the environment.

But nobody is putting it that way.

Click here for the full story.

Today, President-Elect Barack Obama announced the establishment of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Modeled on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to provide an independent voice on intelligence issues, the new Economic Recovery Advisory Board will be charged with offering independent, nonpartisan information, analysis and advice to the President as he formulates and implements his plans for economic recovery. The Economic Recovery Advisory Board will provide regular briefings to the President, Vice-President and their economic team. The Board will be established initially for a two-year term, after which the President will make a determination on whether to continue its existence based on its continued necessity.

“At this defining moment for our nation, the old ways of thinking and acting just won’t do. They call for us to seek fresh thinking and bold new ideas from the leading minds across America. And they demand that as we chart a course to economic recovery, we ensure that our government – your government – is held accountable for delivering results. Today, I’m pleased to announce the formation of a new institution to help our economic team accomplish these goals,” said President-elect Barack Obama.

Paul Volcker, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979-87, will serve as Chair of the Board. Volcker is one of the world’s foremost economic policy practitioners with vast experience in managing economic crises. He will bring a deep understanding of financial markets and the global nature of this economic crisis to bear in leading the Board’s work. Austan Goolsbee will serve as Staff Director and Chief Economist of the Recovery Advisory Board and act as the primary liaison between the Board and the Administration. The President is also nominating Goolsbee to be one of the three Members of his Council of Economic Advisers.

Members of the Board will be drawn from among distinguished citizens outside the government who are qualified on the basis of achievement, experience, independence, and integrity. The Board will bring a diverse set of perspectives and voices from different parts of the country and different sectors of the economy to bear in the formulation and evaluation of economic policy. Additional members will be announced in the future.

The Board will meet regularly and provide advice directly to the President on the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs to jump-start economic growth, create jobs, raise wages and living standards, address the housing crisis and stabilize financial markets. The Board will also focus on how the response to the short-run economic crisis is laying the groundwork for the reforms necessary for longer-run prosperity.

The economic appointees announced today:

Paul Volcker, Chair of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board

Paul Volcker has served under five presidents of both parties in a life committed to public service. He was chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System from 1979 to 1987. Prior to that he served as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Undersecretary of the Treasury for Monetary Affairs. He is professor emeritus of international economic policy at Princeton University and has served as chairman of the board of trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee and of the Independent Inquiry Committee for the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program and Chairman of the Board of the Group of Thirty.

Austan Goolsbee, Staff Director and Chief Economist of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board & Member of the Council of Economic Advisers

Austan Goolsbee is the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he has taught since 1995. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the American Bar Foundation. Goolsbee, a Fulbright Scholar and Sloan Fellow, co-directs the Chicago Booth Initiative on Global Markets and formerly served as lead editor for the Journal of Law and Economics. He has been a key economic adviser to the President-elect since 2004.

With much of President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet still unnamed, it’s understandable that speculation should focus on who helms the different agencies.

After all, running cabinet departments is a big job, and the personalities Obama has nominated so far – New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, for instance – are politically larger than life. So are those whom Obama is expected to name, like Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

But all the focus on who will sit in Obama’s cabinet overlooks a basic fact of governance. Much, if not most, of the actual substance of policy – from its detailed conception to its experimentation to its implementation – doesn’t come from the heads of the federal agencies. It comes from deep in their guts.

This is particularly true for national security and foreign policy.

Click here for the 5 critical posts to watch for.

For those clamoring for invitations to future White House functions-everything from Christmas parties to state dinners-there will be few people more important than Desiree Rogers.

The Chicago businesswoman will have major clout for such events as the next White House social secretary, an appointment President-elect Barack Obama’s transition office announced Monday.

“It will probably be overwhelming, initially, as people want to get into the White House and want to be a part of all this,” Rogers said. “We’re not going to be able to have everyone there in the first year. . . . People are going to have to be a little patient with us.”

The White House’s State Dining Room, for example, can seat only 130 to 140. Many-including close friends from Chicago-are going to be turned away for some of the hottest White House tickets.

Despite the limited access to many events, Rogers said she wants to help Barack and Michelle Obama make the White House a welcoming and inspirational place.
She said she hopes the future Obama home will be a place to showcase the best the nation has to offer for arts and culture, but also be a place that highlights “great minds, great Americans and everyday Americans.”

Rogers, 49, will be the first African-American to serve in the full-time position, one responsible for organizing and overseeing all White House functions and ceremonies.

She is wrapping up her duties at Allstate Insurance Co., where she was creating a financial social networking program. But she is already studying the Kennedy White House, an administration renowned for its White House functions. “This is not just going to be about the culture and the arts,” she said. “Part of this is reaching out to all Americans.”

The Obamas seem highly disciplined. Rogers was coy when asked whether they can also party.

“We’ll see, won’t we,” she said. “I think the one thing that is very obvious is that they enjoy life and each other and their friends.”

Rogers is a longtime friend of the Obama family, worked on the campaign’s fundraising team and is especially close to Valerie Jarrett, another Obama confidant and someone who will be a senior adviser at the White House.

The former president of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas is also on the board of trustees for both the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Museum of Science and Industry. She is part of Chicago’s effort to woo the 2016 Olympics and is a former director of the Illinois Lottery.

Rogers has a Harvard MBA and was once married to millionaire Chicago financier John Rogers, the head of Ariel Capital Management and another close Obama friend and fundraiser. She has one daughter, Victoria, 18, a student at Yale University.

Rogers said she never imagined she would work in the White House.

“I am giddy with excitement. As I look at my career and the work I have done, this is the perfect combination of some of the skill sets that I have,” she said. “I don’t think it can get much better than this.”