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- Barack Obama campaigned in Ohio today to promote the economic stimulus package introduced in Congress yesterday and plans to hold a "fiscal responsibility summit" in February designed to address the long-term effects of not only the stimulus itself but also entitlement spending.
- Ted Kaufman was sworn in to replace Joe Biden as Delaware's new junior Senator.
- President Bush gave his farewell address yesterday evening, stealing a line from Jimmy Carter's farewell, and reminding the public that this president stuff is tough and, well, he tried his best. I would prefer that we don't remember Bush simply as an oaf, which was how his presidency began, but rather as beyond failure, beyond insult, beyond incompetence. Meanwhile, out in wingnuttia, would-be conservative reformer Patrick Ruffini thinks we ought to give Bush "sincere thanks" for his tenure, despite his overall disappointment in the administration and some winger at RedState thinks the Left should admit they were wrong about Bush because the outgoing president is voluntarily relinquishing his power rather than staging a coup (seriously).
- While I expect the right wing to be wistful about their departing hero, it's clear they aren't going anywhere, managing to accomplish the following over the last 24 hours: The Wall St. Journal forgets about the 2001 anthrax attacks, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) thinks it's "bizarre" that Obama can say his middle name at the inauguration but he can't say it the rest of the time, blogger Pam Geller describes Bush as the "last American president" because Obama does not love his country, did not grow up in America, and might have been the son of Malcom X, Grover Norquist thinks the corporate tax rate is "torture" for businesses, Fred Barnes isn't too bothered by a caller referring to the president-elect as a "monkey boy," a new viral email claims that "the radical homosexual movement" (rescinding DADT) will destroy the military, the American Life League somehow links doughnuts to abortion, and the South Carolina state house has a bill pending that would make it "unlawful to communicate profanity" in a public place.
- Laura Rozen has an interesting post on the "secret dinner" between Barack Obama and foreign policy experts that aren't part of his incoming administration.
- Florida CFO Alex Sink, apparently the Democrats last, best, hope for taking Florida's Senate seat in 2010, will not be running.
- Marc Ambinder floats the argument that Norm Coleman could still pull off a win in Minnesota.
- Ezra walks us through the potential problems with making health care reform a year-one priority for the Obama administration.
--Mori Dinauer
