The majority of the additional funds, about $75 billion, will go to the pentagon to help alleviate the conditions of ongoing war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The rest of the funds would go to non-war spending like improving diplomatic relations with allies and may also be used as emergency funds for unexpected calamities.

Today is Barack Obama’s inauguration as the 44th President of the United States. Live stream from Ustream.

This is Cong. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen‘s Statement after receiving a call from President-Elect Obama which she thought was a prank caller.

“Miami, Florida — Cong. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen thought it was a hoax when President-Elect Barak (sic) Obama called her twice today and she proceeded to hang up on him, twice.

“Ros-Lehtinen was working in her South Florida district when she received a call on her cell from a Chicago based phone number and an aide informed her that President-Elect Obama wished to speak to her. A gentleman sounding like Obama introduced himself when Ros-Lehtinen cut him off and said that ‘I’m sorry but I think this is a joke from one of the South Florida radio stations known for these pranks’ and hung up.

“A short time later, Cong. and Chief of Staff designate Rahm Emmanuel (sic) called Ileana and stated ‘Ileana, I cannot believe that you hung up on the President-Elect.’ Ros-Lehtinen told Rahm that she didn’t believe the call was legitimate and hung up on Emmanuel (sic). A staffer to the Congresswoman informed her that Chairman Howard Berman of the Foreign Affairs Committee needed to speak with her urgently. When Chairman Berman called, Ros-Lehtinen urged him to recount a story only both of them would know, which he did, and told her that she had indeed hung up on the President-Elect.

“The Congresswoman then received another call from Obama and he told her ‘It is very funny that you have twice hung up on me,’ to which she responded that South Florida radio stations are notorious for these jokes. Obama told her that in Chicago they also have prank calls. Ileana told Obama that ‘you are either very gracious to reach out in such a bipartisan manner or had run out of folks to call if you are truly calling me and Saturday Night Live could use a good Obama impersonator like you.’ After she congratulated him for his victory and pledged to work together on behalf of all Americans, Ros-Lehtinen asked Obama to please consult with Senator Bob Menendez and Congressman Albio Sires on Cuba policy and to rely on Secretary of State designate Clinton on Israel, two issues about which Ros-Lehtinen feels passionately.

“Ros-Lehtinen talked to Hillary Clinton by phone yesterday and also discussed Cuba and Israel.”

Romer will be joining Barack’s economic think tank comprised of Tim Geithner, Larry Summers and Peter Orszag.

Christina Romer is currently a professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton may be the Obama administration’s choice for Secretary of State.

From Washington Post:

There’s increasing chatter in political circles that the Obama camp is not overly happy with the usual suspects for secretary of state these days and that the field might be expanding somewhat beyond Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and maybe former Democratic senator Sam Nunn of Georgia.

CNN‘s Report:

One source close to Hillary Clinton tells CNN that as of early yesterday, Senator Clinton had not been contacted by the transition team about a possible cabinet appointment. This same source tells CNN that Senator Clinton would not necessarily dismiss such an offer.

A spokesman for Hillary Clinton, Philippe Reines, tells CNN “Any speculation about cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-Elect Obama’s transition team to address.”

On Monday night, while walking into an awards ceremony in New York, Senator Clinton was asked if she would consider taking a post in the Obama administration. She replied, “I am happy being a Senator from New York, I love this state and this city. I am looking at the long list of things I have to catch up on and do. But I want to be a good partner and I want to do everything I can to make sure his agenda is going to be successful.”

President-Elect Barack Obama to talk with current U.S. President George W. Bush on several turnover issues.

From the Strait Times:

Mr Barack Obama holds his first post-election meeting with President George W. Bush on Monday, promising a civil handover of power even as aides said he seeks to reverse current White House policy on oil drilling and stem cell research.

Mr Bush, who invited the president-elect to the White House to discuss the transition, in his weekend radio address applauded Mr Obama’s election victory as a ‘triumph.’

‘He can count on my complete cooperation as he makes his transition to the White House,’ said the outgoing leader, who announced that he and his successor also would discuss Iraq and the global economic crisis in their first post-election face-to-face talks on Monday.

Mr Bush told about 1,000 aides during an emotional thank-you speech on Thursday that they needed to bring Mr Obama’s team up to speed on critical matters like the war and the meltdown.

Senator Barack Obama announced last Monday night that he would temporarily leaving the this week’s campaign trail to visiting his gravely ill Grandmother in Hawaii.

Sen. Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, 85, helped raise the senator since he was 10 years old until he left for college. Both parents are dead.

Leaving the campaign with only two more weeks until the election carries some risks. Sen. Obama currently leads the national polls against republican senator John McCain. Obama may lose some critical points needed to secure the win, which he needs badly as the poll gap between him and McCain is not large.

Beleaguered global insurer American International Group (AIG) is likely to sell its valuable assets, including its local subsidiary, Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co (Philamlife), within six to nine months, an AIG official said Tuesday.

AIG is selling various valuable worldwide assets outside its property and casualty insurance business, including Philamlife, to pay off its expensive $61 billion debt to the US government. The emergency loan kept AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, from going under after toxic mortgages led to massive losses. From ABS CBN News

Moves like this are resounding throughout the world as financial institutions slowly crumble under the heel of the growing recession.

Some of the awards given out that night:

Best Picture: “Tirador”

Best Director: Brillante Mendoza (“Tirador”)

Best Actors: Jason Abalos and Sid Lucero

Best Actress: Cherry Pie Picache

Best Supporting Actor: Emilio Garcia

Best Supporting Actress: Angela Ruizin (“Tirador”)

The film “Tirador” was the big winner that night also bagging Best Cinematography and Best Sound.

Rustom’s Night?

Also that night, the openly gay Rustom Padilla elicited some smiles as well as gasps when he came to present the awards… In a gown!

Floating Lifeline – The Bill’s Key Points

Stabilizing the Economy

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) provides up to $700 billion to the Secretary of the Treasury to buy and other assets that are clogging the balance sheets of financial institutions and making it difficult for working families, small businesses, and other companies to access credit, which is vital to a strong and stable economy. EESA also establishes a program that would allow companies to insure their troubled assets.

Homeownership Preservation

EESA requires the Treasury to modify troubled loans – many the result of fraudelent and low doc/no doc applications – wherever possible to help American families keep their homes. It also directs other federal agencies to modify loans that they own or control. Finally, it improves the HOPE for Homeowners program by expanding eligibility and increasing the tools available to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help more families keep their homes.

Taxpayer Protection

Taxpayers should not be expected to pay for Wall Street’s mistakes. The legislation requires companies that sell some of their bad assets to the government to provide warrants so that taxpayers will benefit from any future growth these companies may experience as a result of participation in this program. The legislation also requires the President to submit legislation that would cover any losses to taxpayers resulting from this program by charging a small, broad-based fee on all financial institutions.

No Windfalls for Executives

Executives who made bad decisions should not be allowed to dump their bad assets on the government, and then walk away with millions of dollars in bonuses. In order to participate in this program, companies will lose certain tax benefits and, in some cases, must limit executive pay. In addition, the bill limits ‘golden parachutes’ and requires that unearned bonuses be returned.

Strong Oversight

Rather than giving the Treasury all the funds at once, the legislation gives the Treasury $250 billion immediately, then requires the President to certify that additional funds are needed ($100 billion, then $350 billion subject to Congressional disapproval). The Treasury must report on the use of the funds and the progress in addressing the crisis. EESA also establishes an Oversight Board so that the Treasury cannot act in an arbitrary manner. It also establishes a special inspector general to protect against waste, fraud and abuse.

Prolonging the inevitable

The obvious factor of the bill being turned down the first time was it’s bloated price tag. Several cities have already taken to the streets and voiced their protests against the bill, stating that the Bank’s responsible for the crisis shouldn’t kept afloat using taxpayers money. But the bill’s authors claim that if nothing is done, the U.S. markets would spiral into an even deeper crisis.