12/5 Roundup: Please Sir, Texan Shrubbery, Will Obama be Damon Weaver's Homeboy?

Leader: Please, Sir

- Congress swarmed with penitent auto execs yesterday, arms outstretched and palms upturned.  The execs took a public thrashing in the Senate Banking Committee, and said they would accept government oversight in exchange for the $34 billion they're requesting. 

- Though GM and Chrysler both claim to need the cash before year's end, lest they implode completely, lawmakers were unforgiving, and wouldn't make any promises.

- Senator Shelby of Alabama grilled the executives on perhaps the gravest of questions: How did they get from Detroit to Washington? "Did you drive or did you have a driver? Did you drive a little and ride a little? And secondly, I guess are you going to drive back?" He was very serious.  And he got answers (they shared the driving).

- Writing for Slate, Eliot Spitzer says it's time to let the market work.  Sometimes companies disappear. 

Politics

- Ed Kilgore (aka the Democratic Strategist) has an excellent post wondering if Republicans are in favor of a deep recession.

- Xavier Becerra has emerged as a frontrunner for the position of US Trade Representative. The NY Times notes some political advantages the selection would afford Mr. Obama.

- The whole national mall will be open to anybody whomsoever might decide to spend hours standing in the freezing cold to catch a glimpse of a mite-sized speck that might be Barack Obama, or might just be a mite-sized speck.

- The Bushes have bought a home in Dallas, which I think is a great place for them to be.

Economy

- The Federal Reserve has a new tactic to fight the collapse of the economy: Stem foreclosures and keep people in their homes. Wonderful, Chairman Bernanke! Did you think of that yourself?

- Paul Krugman isn't sure it will be possible to halt rising unemployment before it hits  double digits.

International

- Speculation is beginning as to where in the world will be Obama's first stop on his initial foreign tour. The Times reports that he plans to make a speech in the capital of a Muslim country in his first 100 days.  Cairo would be the obvious choice,  but perhaps it will be Jakarta?

- Not wanting to miss the party, France has announced a $33 billion stimulus package aimed to curb rising unemployment.

One More Thing

- So, it turns out that happiness is contagious after all. A happy next-door neighbor will make you 34% more likely to be happy, and a friend living within a mile gives you a 42% bump.  Curiously (or perhaps not) happy coworkers have exactly zero effect.

- Did you hear the one about the woman who hung up twice on the president-elect?  Oh wait... Oops.

- Last, fifth grader Damon Weaver takes his journalistic career to the next level, entreating President-elect Barack Obama to do an interview with him.  Joe Biden is already Damon's homeboy, as is Dwayne Wade, so Barack would be in good company.