COMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS

Here’s a progress report on the Barack Obama administration:

Bigger fish to fry
When President George W. Bush convenes a two-day summit of world leaders in Washington today to confront the global economic crisis, President-elect Barack Obama will not be present.

When Congress convenes for a lame-duck session next week to confront an economic crisis and potentially provide new help for the ailing auto industry, Sen. Obama of Illinois will be noticeably absent.

“I am not going to be spending too much time in Washington over the next several weeks,” Obama said, as he boarded a chartered jet home to Chicago following a private meeting with Bush in the Oval Office this week.

There is, as Obama and aides repeatedly have said, only “one president at a time” – and Obama will not be that president until he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

In the meantime, while Obama concentrates on building a Cabinet and assembling a vast array of advisers on everything from the economy to the future of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Obama is largely leaving Washington to Bush. That will leave the initial responsibility for enacting a new economic stimulus with a lame-duck president and Congress. If they cannot craft it, that will become job number one for Obama.

‘Plum Book’ compiled
Want to work for Barack Obama?

The list of government jobs is now available. A Senate committee released the so-called “Plum Book” listing the top jobs available in the new administration on Wednesday.

The book lists more than 7,000 jobs, 4,000 of which are political appointments. More than 1,000 require Senate confirmation.

The Plum Book is essential reading for anyone interested in pursuing public service in the executive branch of government. It’s referred to as a “Plum Book” because it is plum in color and lists the “plum” jobs.