Daily Kos: State of the Nation: "More than three decades after he first appeared before the panel as a 27-year-old Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar protester, Senator John F. Kerry is widely expected to be named the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position that will give him enormous influence over international relations.The pending announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, which congressional aides said could come as early as today, would elevate Kerry to ...

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NBC News is reporting that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-ND) will be appointed by President-elect Obama as Secretary of Health & Human Services.Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has accepted President-elect Barack Obama's offer to be secretary of the Department Health and Human Services, NBC News confirmed Wednesday.Democratic officials confirmed the acceptance.The appointment has not been announced, but officials said the job is Daschle's barring an unforeseen problem as Obama's team reviews the ...

tags: leader tom daschle, senate majority leader, former senate majority leader, cabinet appointments, tom daschle, nbc news, president elect, nbc, health

It was a good day in the LexBlogosphere. There's quality posts from ACS Blog on Eric Holder (an ACS board member) being tabbed as the next attorney general and Minneapolis attorney Gavin Craig on Proposition 8. President Bush Issues Executive Order Pushing NextGen Forward - Costa Mesa lawyer Steven Taber of Chevalier, Allen & Lichman on the firm's Aviation and Airport Development Law Blog Governor Schwarzenegger Strikes Again: ...

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed under 8000 today, a five year low, and 24% lower than it stood the day President Bush was inaugurated.  But hey… that’s still better than Herbert Hoover.

tags: dow jones industrial average, dow jones industrial, nthe, dow jones, president bush, hoover

And now, some news that'll hopefully brighten your day:A grand jury in South Texas indicted U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and former attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday for "organized criminal activity" related to alleged abuse of inmates in private prisons.The indictment has not been seen by a judge, who could dismiss it.The grand jury in Willacy County, in the Rio Grande Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border, said Cheney is "profiteering from depriving human beings ...

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