Obamas, Bidens to arrive in Washington by train
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/12/15/art.getty.dcinaug.jpg caption=" Preparations are underway for the 2009 Presidential Inauguration."](CNN) - The 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced Monday that President-elect Barack Obama will travel by train to the nation’s capitol on January 17 from Philadelphia, but will stop along the way to host events in Baltimore, Maryland and Wilmington, Delaware – home of Vice President-elect Joe Biden. The Obama and Biden families will arrive in D.C. on Saturday.
"As part of the most open and accessible Inauguration in history, we hope to include as many Americans as possible who wish to participate, but can't be in Washington," said Emmett S. Beliveau, Executive Director of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. "These events will allow us to do that while honoring the rich history and tradition of previous inaugural journeys."
The cities of Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore are especially significant as part of the 2009 Inauguration theme, ‘Renewing America’s Promise.” According to the committee, the promise was realized in Philadelphia and defended and commemorated by the National Anthem in Baltimore. Washington, D.C serves as a gathering ground for Americans to unite and renew the promise, the committee said.
Presidential electors meet to cast votes
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/12/15/ap.getty.white-house.jpg caption=" Members of the Electoral College cast their vote for president and vice-president."](CNN) - The 538 members of the Electoral College gathered in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia on Monday to exercise their constitutional prerogative and cast their votes for president and vice president.
While Obama won 365 electoral votes on Election Night, compared to 173 for McCain, there is no constitutional provision or federal law requiring electors to vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in their states.
Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have passed laws requiring electors to back the winner of the statewide popular vote, but the Supreme Court has never specifically ruled on the question of whether such requirements are constitutional.
According to the National Archives, a "faithless elector" has never been prosecuted for refusing to vote in accordance with his or her state's popular vote.
There is no chance, however, that the electors will overturn Barack Obama's November 4 victory.
Supreme Court rejects appeal questioning Obama's citizenship
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/12/15/art.boflag1215.gi.jpg caption="The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a second appeal Monday challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Supreme Court has dismissed a second emergency appeal questioning Barack Obama's eligibility to be president because he had dual British-American citizenship at birth.
The justices without comment on Monday refused to intervene in the November 4 presidential election, dismissing the claims of Cort Wrotnowski, a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut.
In his appeal, Wrotnowski claimed that because Obama's father was a Kenyan-born British subject, the president-elect does meet the Constitution's requirement that the president be a "natural born citizen" of the United States. Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. His mother was a U.S. citizen, born in the United States.
Many legal analysts questioned Wrotnowski's argument.
Bush doesn't set auto bailout timeline
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/12/15/art.bush1.gi.jpg caption="President Bush may use money from the Treasury program in hopes of avoiding the bankruptcy of U.S. automakers."]NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - President Bush said Monday he might use money from the Treasury program to aid financial services companies in order to avoid the bankruptcy of U.S. automakers, but he would not provide a timeline.
In an interview with reporters on Air Force One en route to Afghanistan, Bush said that "an abrupt bankruptcy for the autos could be devastating for the economy."
When asked if he would use any of the $700 billion from Treasury's Troubled Asset Recovery Program (TARP) that has been earmarked for Wall Street to make a loan to automakers, he replied, "I signaled that that's a possibility."
Obama to announce energy posts as Blagojevich questions linger
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/POLITICS/12/15/transition.wrap/art.obama.gi.jpg caption="President-elect Barack Obama will meet Monday with his national security team."](CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce key members of his energy team Monday as questions linger and media attention remains on the scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Obama likely is to name Steven Chu, a physicist who runs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as his energy secretary, three Democratic officials close to the transition team said last week.
Chu won the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics and is highly respected in energy circles.
POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Monday, December 15, 2008
CNN: Aide: Obama to hold first national security meeting
President-elect Barack Obama will hold the first meeting of his national security team on Monday in Chicago, according to a transition aide for the incoming administration.
AP: Illinois lawmakers to focus on ousting governor
Republicans and Democrats alike are calling for Illinois lawmakers to begin impeachment proceedings against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, saying the step is necessary to restore public confidence in state government....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.
Chicago Sun-Times: Tapes have potential witnesses speaking out
When it comes to coming clean, nothing is as motivating as a wiretap. Last week's revelation that Gov. Blagojevich was secretly recorded in his campaign office and on his home phone has prompted more than a dozen potential witnesses in recent days to come forward. They've been calling investigators and defense lawyers to talk about deals or discussions they've had with Blagojevich.
NY Times: 2 Sides of a Troubled Governor, Sinking Deeper
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich is a polished speaker who can win over elderly women at luncheons in southern Illinois with his earnest attention and eloquently recite historical anecdotes from the lives of the leaders he says he most admires — Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Robert F. Kennedy, Alexander Hamilton, Ronald Reagan.
CNN: McCain: I can't promise to support Palin for president
Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would not necessarily support his former running mate if she chose to run for president. Speaking to ABC's "This Week," McCain was asked whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could count on his support.
Washington Post: Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules. But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said.
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