Bush Defends Iraq War During a Farewell Visit  —  Iraqi Journalist Hurls Two Shoes at Bush During Press Conference With Al-Maliki  —  BAGHDAD — Arriving in Baghdad today for a farewell visit, President Bush staunchly defended a war that has taken far more time, money and lives than anticipated …

The Real Story Behind the Rushed Blagojevich Bust: How the Feds Are Frustrated by Losing (Maybe) Half of Their Case  —  Cam Simpson reports on the Rod Blagojevich case in Chicago.  —  Conventional wisdom holds that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ordered the FBI to arrest Rod Blagojevich …

Limits on Executive Pay May Prove Toothless  —  Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt  —  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 …

Google Wants Its Own Fast Track on the Web  —  The celebrated openness of the Internet — network providers are not supposed to give preferential treatment to any traffic — is quietly losing powerful defenders.  —  Google Inc. has approached major cable and phone companies that carry Internet traffic …

Fannie Mae Renters to Stay Despite Foreclosures  —  In a move that provides relief to thousands of renters who face eviction but draws the federal government even deeper into the housing market, the loan giant Fannie Mae said Sunday that it would sign new leases with renters living in foreclosed properties owned by the company.

States' Funds for Jobless Are Drying Up  —  With unemployment claims reaching their highest levels in decades, states are running out of money to pay benefits, and some are turning to the federal government for loans or increasing taxes on businesses to make the payments.

A Second Mortgage Disaster On The Horizon?  —  New Wave Of Mortgage Rate Adjustments Could Force More Homeowners To Default  —  (CBS) When it comes to bailouts of American business, Barney Frank and the Congress may be just getting started.  Nearly two trillion tax dollars have been shoveled …

White House Sizes Up Auto Rescue  —  WASHINGTON — In weighing a much larger rescue effort for U.S. auto makers than originally envisioned, the Bush administration faces a complex set of decisions over what terms to seek — including whether to push the companies to file for bankruptcy — and how to raise necessary funds.

'08 Voter Turnout Rate Said to Be Highest in 40 Years  —  Ahead of today's vote of the electoral college to certify Barack Obama as the president-elect, a George Mason University professor announced yesterday that voter turnout in last month's presidential election reached the highest level in 40 years …

2 Sides of a Troubled Governor, Sinking Deeper  —  CHICAGO — 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 …

No Southerners yet in Obama Cabinet  —  Barack Obama is 15 picks into his Cabinet — he announced New Yorker Shaun Donovan as his Housing and Urban Development head on Saturday—but has yet to name one who hails from the South.  —  “Not a one,” grumbles a one senior Democratic aide who hails from the South.

Now We Know What the Battle Was About  —  Justice Department lawyers defied President Bush over secret surveillance—but not for the reasons you might think.  —  Khue Bui for Newsweek  —  The National Security Agency in Ft. Meade, Md.  —  From the magazine issue dated Dec 22, 2008