Needlenose

From the Washington Post this morning:

U.S. to Wind Down Help for Some Banks

Stress Tests Find Most Can Absorb Losses

The government signaled yesterday that its financial rescue efforts may have reached their high-water mark, announcing that the much-anticipated “stress tests” of 19 large banks showed that only one, GMAC, was likely to need additional taxpayer aid and that it would begin to unwind assistance for the healthiest firms.

Despite a deepening recession and projections that banks will continue to lose money, the government will require the firms to increase their combined capital by as little as $9.5 billion. [. . .]

From the Onion earlier this week:

Nation Ready To Be Lied To About Economy Again

After nearly four months of frank, honest, and open dialogue about the failing economy, a weary U.S. populace announced this week that it is once again ready to be lied to about the current state of the financial system.

Tired of hearing the grim truth about their economic future, Americans demanded that the bald-faced lies resume immediately, particularly whenever politicians feel the need to divulge another terrifying problem with Wall Street, the housing market, or any one of a hundred other ticking time bombs everyone was better off not knowing about. [. . .]

I’m just sayin’…

The above graphic, via Markos, answers the question I raised last week about the security features of the new Obamamobile.  (No tips regarding darkblack’s query whether the cigarette lighter would work, though maybe the fire extinguisher is a hint.)

If there’s anyone thinking or writing a sequel to that Harrison Ford Air Force One flick, I suppose it would be helpful to know if the POTUS has direct access to the pump-action shotgun.

More info available from U.S. News.

What do you get when you cross a Hummer with the Batmobile?  From CNN:

The Secret Service has unveiled the new presidential limousine, to debut on Inauguration Day next Tuesday.

“Although many of the vehicles’ security enhancements cannot be discussed, it is safe to say that this car’s security and coded communications systems make it the most technologically advanced protection vehicle in the world,” Nicholas Trotta, Assistant Director for the Office of Protective Operations, said in a statement.

Any guesses as to what some of the secret “security enhancements” are?

Dubya checks what time it is.

From the Associated Press (via MSNBC):

President George W. Bush’s two terms in office have been marked by wars, a global financial crisis, and a steady stream of political opposition. But his official portrait, unveiled Friday at the National Portrait Gallery, shows him at ease and smiling, seemingly unfazed by eight years of tumult.

. . . Bush wanted painter Robert Anderson, a Yale classmate of the president’s, to give him a more informal look for his likeness at the National Portrait Gallery. Anderson painted the portrait to engage viewers with the president in a “personal and conversational manner,” according to an event program.

Isn’t it kind of curious that a president who was obsessed with presenting himself as a figure of unquestionable authority (a “war president,” the “decider,” endless self-references to being “commander-in-chief,” etc.) would suddenly decide to go casual for his official portrait?

Seems to me that the only times I’ve seen the Shrubster in shirtsleeves came when he was posing as engaged and working hard while touring the site of a natural disaster.  I guess maybe envisioning his legacy counts.

Watertiger, meanwhile, notes the special obstacle that the presidential artist had to overcome.

(Image via Suitably Flip.)

One of the tidbits of news that seeped out in the wake of the roundly criticized weekend bailout of Citigroup was this report from Justin Rood of ABC News:

AIG, Citibank and a number of other federally bailed-out financial institutions have no plans to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in sports team sponsorships, even as they take billions in taxpayer support, ABC News has found.

In boom times, the sponsorships were seen as a way to advertise the firms’ “brands” and appeal to potential customers.

I’d like to join the call from skippy the bush kangaroo and a pair of righty blogs that U.S. taxpayers deserve a share of the action here.  But rather than replacing the existing names, I think this should be treated as a co-branding opportunity — “Citi Taxpayers Field,” “Wachovia Taxpayers Center,” etc. — just to make sure everybody knows who owes us some payback.

As an alternative, I’d be willing to support simply naming every arena or stadium involved after Barack Obama, if only to see if it would make Grover Norquist‘s head explode.

Here’s the lead sentence in the final paragraph of a press release by the presidential transition today:

Jim Messina currently Director of Personnel for the transition team of President-Elect Barak Obama.

I’d been meaning to needle Green Boy about his persistent misspelling of our new president’s name, but if the guy’s own staff can’t get it straight, maybe I shouldn’t bother.  (The missing verb is in the sentence is just a bonus.)

Hot off the wires from the Associated Press:

President-elect Barack Obama says he’s resigning from the Senate, effective Sunday.

. . . The move was expected. Obama won the presidency last week over Republican John McCain.

I like the understatement in that last paragraph.  Did he have a choice?  Does the Constitution have explicit procedures for this, or could Obama technically have kept his day job, so to speak?

(Just as a guess without looking, I’d imagine that he’d automatically surrender his Senate seat upon taking the oath of office, and this is just to give his replacement a head start.  But the alternative possibilities are amusing.)

Shortpacked! today:

(Tip of the ‘Nose to Eli at Multi-Medium)

A new site lets you submit your written or pictorial farewell to our President.

I think this one is my favorite so far.

Fast work from Xerotopia.