Deregulation Flurry Will Bind Next President · The Bush administration will lower dozens of environmental regulations in his lame-duck months and make the controversial rules difficult for a new administration to reverse. In 2001, Bush officials withdrew 254 Clinton regulations before they could take effect. (Washington Post)

Most-Watched YouTube Supports McCain [VIDEO] · The most-viewed election-related video on YouTube was done by an Iraq war vet who critisizes Sen. Barack Obama, saying: "When you call the Iraqi war a mistake you disrespect the service and sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom." (BBC) The video has been watched 11 million times.

Alaska Gives Hero’s Welcome For Convicted Sen. Ted Stevens · Two days after being convicted of seven felony counts in Washington, DC for receiving and lying about $250,000 in gifts from an oil services company, Senator Ted Stevens returned to a hero's welcome in Anchorage by several hundred supporters. (NYT)

Bush’s Judiciary Pulls U.S. Courts Rightward · The U.S. judiciary has been transformed by the Bush Administration, which has appointed younger and more ideological conservative judges than any president in decades, accounting for over one-third of the entire federal judiciary, half of whom are members of the conservaqtive Federalist Society. (NYT)

Alaska Law Unclear On Succession If Stevens Resigns · If convicted felon Sen. Ted Stevens resigned from his seat (or was expelled), Alaskan law is ambiguous on how his replacement would be chosen. (Anchorage Daily News)

Glaeser: There Will Be Blood [OPINION] · Harvard economist Edward Glaeser argues that while private actors overwhelmingly contributed to the financial crisis, some government interventions such as home mortgage interest deduction helped to make the crisis worse.  Going forward, he cautions against putting the entire financial system in a regulatory straightjacket. (Economix)

McCain Calls For Bailout Of U.S. Homeowners · Republican running mates John McCain and Sarah Palin said Tuesday in their first live interview that the U.S. government's top priority in the financial crisis should be to buy bad mortgages from troubled homeowners as it did via the 1930's Home Owners' Loan Corporation. (CNBC Video)

Insurers May Tap Treasury For Remaining $90B · U.S. insurers are reportedly in talks to tap the remaining $90 billion of the U.S. Treasury's $250 billion bank recapitalization program. The American Council of Life Insurers confirmed that officials are exploring how to fit some insurers into the program without stigmatizing them. (Bloomberg, WSJ)

Hiring Delays Hinder Treasury Bailout · The U.S. Treasury's plan to buy troubled assets from financial institutions has reportedly hit a roadblock as officials dispute fees the government should to pay to potential asset managers such as bond titan Pacific Investment Management. (WSJ)

Congress Mulls Special Panel For Financial Regulations · Congressional leaders are considering setting up a special bipartisan panel to overhaul the financial-services regulations next year. They hope  that a single panel will cut through the turf wars that often come with industry overhauls. (WSJ)

Dinallo Calls CDS Bets “Legalized Gambling” [VIDEO] · New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo said Sunday that the multi-trillion credit default swap market at the heart of the financial meltdown is "legalized gambling," condoned unanimously by Congress in an obscure 2000 bill that overturned state "bucket shop" laws and removed derivatives from the purview of federal oversight. (60 Minutes)

Tesla Slowing Expansion · Electric car maker Tesla is laying off about 25% of its workforce and scaling back expansion plans to offset difficulties raising additional capital. It expects a low-interest loan from the Department of Energy and part of the federal government's auto industry bailout to bolster future prospects. (NYT)

McCain’s ‘Voter Fraud’ Brouhaha Is Threat To Democracy [OPINION] · Sen. John McCain said that ACORN (and Sen. Barack Obama's ties to it) are a threat to the "fabric of democracy," but the real threat is the Republican Party's attempt to disallow legitimate voting by U.S. citizens, opines the Washington Post.

A Tech Letter To The Next President [OPINION] · Science and technology may help solve many of the problems facing the country, but only if the federal government funds long-term discovery research, because private capital will only fund projects with clear commercial prospects. (Technology Review)

‘Taxes’ Now Favor Obama · Democrats appear to have the upper hand in the debate over taxes for the first time in decades, according to polls and interviews by the Washington Post. Obama maintains a 51-43 lead over McCain on handling taxes, in a ABC tracking poll.