Lawrence Summers to Head National Economic Council

President-elect Barack Obama will name former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers the director of his National Economic Council, placing the Harvard University economist he passed over for Treasury secretary inside the White House as his closest economic adviser, Democratic officials said Saturday night.


Presumed Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) (R) greets former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and others during a meeting with some of his top economic advisors at the Omni Shoreham hotel July 28, 2008 in Washington, DC. Obama called the two-hour meeting to discuss the current economic situation in the United States, including high gasoline prices and the collapse of the mortgage market.


The move came as the president-elect prepares Monday to introduce his new Treasury secretary nominee, Timothy Geithner, and the rest of his economic team at an event in Chicago Monday. Among those on stage will be Mr. Summers, who was central to his campaign's economic team and is now leading efforts to draft a massive economic stimulus plan the president-elect hopes to sign into law as one of his first acts as the nation's leader.

Mr. Obama has instructed his economic advisers to draft a stimulus that could dwarf the $175 billion version he campaigned on, stretching it over two years and pushing to create 2.5 million new jobs with it.

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Breaking News: Rahm Emanuel Confirmed

Via Politico:

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a wily, aggressive West Wing strategist
under President Bill Clinton, has accepted the post of White House
chief of staff for President-elect Barack Obama, Democratic officials
tell Politico.

The selection is the first major public decision by Obama since he was elected in a landslide on Tuesday.

The announcement will send a signal that Obama is eager to work with
Congress and plans a swift launch of an aggressive agenda that will
focus on the economy, taxes, energy, education and health care.

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Feds Accuse Student Of Terror and Espionage For Talking About Constitution

A student of a large bible college in east Texas was accused by federal agents of committing an “act of terror and espionage” after he gave a talk to a group of Boy Scouts in which he encouraged them to educate themselves about the U.S. constitution.Jeff, who wishes to remain anonymous at present, is a [...]

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[Source: War On You

The week ahead

What may be in the news

? DEMOCRATS in Pennsylvania have their say about who the party's presidential candidate should be when the state holds its primary election on Tuesday April 22nd. In the six weeks since the last contest in Mississippi Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have made gaffes over Bosnian snipers and free-trade agreements (Mrs Clinton) and race-baiting pastors and ?bitter? voters (Mr Obama). Mrs Clinton is expected to win the vote on Tuesday. If not, it will spell the end of her campaign.

For background see article ...

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[Source: The Economist: News analysis