Division of Labor

Politico runs a must-read piece on the Obama economic team and how each team member is bringing his or her own expertise to the crafting and implementation (if passed) of the stimulus bill.

Christina Romer

...She’s an expert on tracking economic outlooks and employment trends. And in a recent report, she estimated that an additional 5 million jobs could be lost this year without an economic stimulus package.

Through complex calculations, Romer aims to plot who will lose their jobs and, roughly, when. By turning those numbers inside out, however, she says she’s able to isolate the industries to target with stimulus cash to save those jobs...

Peter Orzag

...Orszag, who wrote and signed the introduction of that CBO report, will now be charged with making sure the Obama administration’s infrastructure projects are implemented quickly and efficiently.

Read the entire article here.

Sen. Bennet

The Washington Post has an interesting piece on Colorado's newest senator.

He gave up $5 million in unvested stock and a job in finance for the low-paying, high-stress position of chief of staff to Hickenlooper. He left that post to take the helm of an urban school district. Throughout his working life, Bennet has zigged and zagged between seemingly unrelated jobs for which he had no prior experience. And in each case, he left with a measure of success...

Presidential Technology

Think Progress:

After running “the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history,” President Obama’s staffers encountered “a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts” on their first day at their new jobs. “It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

It appears that President Obama will get to keep his Blackberry. More specifically, he’ll get a “spy-proof” alternative that is “reportedly capable of encrypting top secret voice conversations and handling classified documents.”

Inauguration Facts and Figures

Interesting facts and figures about previous inaugurations can be found here.

Here's a video on inaugurals from the past and not so distant past.

An Ominous Future

Image Source; H/T: The Democratic Strategist

Car Ownership

Image Source: The Economist

Senate 2010: MO, FL

Missouri:
Sen. Kit Bond, the senior Republican from Missouri who sits on powerful Senate committees, announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection in 2010, giving Democrats a shot to pick up a seat in a state that has emerged as a major battleground.

The announcement is a blow to Senate Republicans who now will have at least four of their incumbents seeking retirement at the end of the session, a sign that 2010 could be another tough cycle for the weakened GOP minority.

Florida:
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) announced Tuesday that he will not seek the seat of retiring Sen. Mel Martinez (R).Bush, the brother of the current president and the son of the 41st commander in chief, was thought to be perhaps the one GOP candidate who could clear the primary field for the open seat.