What is an “orderly” bankruptcy? It's the phrase that the Big Three U.S. automakers were throwing around yesterday with the White House. Apparently it’s one option available to aide GM and Chrysler. White House. The White House confirmed yesterday that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was considering the unusual option to help bail out the auto industry. The Takeaway talks to David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for the New York Times, to explain this new option.

President-elect Barack Obama will announce his selection of Republican Illinois Congressman Ray LaHood as his transportation secretary today. While LaHood will be the second Republican in Obama's cabinet, he is known as a moderate willing to work across party lines. But he has a weak record on the environment and hasn't been a mass transit advocate. Tanya Koonce, News Director of WCBU in Peoria, gives The Takeaway a briefing on her hometown congressman.

Across the country, state governments are trying to cope with severe budgetary shortages. The solution: taxes! Whether you call them fee hikes or revenue enhancements, we are seeing ideas that range from a real bummer to downright odd. Everything is on the table to increase tax revenues including sugary drinks and iTunes downloads. The Takeaway talks to Steven Zelin, a Certified Public Accountant in New York, who sings about taxes. No, really.

To download an mp3 of the soon-to-be hit "Giving All My Money to the Man" click here.

Still want more from the Singing CPA, check out his website.

The disputed Minnesota Senate race is now closer that it's ever been. Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman leads Democratic challenger Al Franken by two votes. Late yesterday the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that improperly rejected absentee ballots should be included in the state's recount. That means the winner will not be declared until the first week of the new year at the earliest. Tom Scheck, a reporter with Minnesota Public Radio, joins The Takeaway with the latest.

For 23 years The Economist has published a special issue that predicts events of the coming year. The 2009 edition has just come out and it includes an apology from the editor-in-chief because the magazine just got so much about 2008 wrong. Earlier this week we asked our listeners to provide their predictions for 2009 and tell us in on what they were wrong about in 2008. Today Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist and editor of "The World in 2009" special issue, adds his voice to the discussion.

States across the country are in financial distress. More than half of them are facing shortfalls in their budgets for this year and next. And with times so lean there's not much fat left for governors to cut. While some governors are choosing to implement deep cuts in long-standing government programs, others are opting to enter a strange new world of taxable items (iTunes downloads anyone?). For a look at the budgetary challenges that many states face in 2009, The Takeaway checks in with New Jersey's Governor Jon Corzine and Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. Last week they testified before Congress, pleading for Federal help. This week they are here on The Takeaway.

What would you tax to balance the books? »

Do you believe eating at night makes you fat? Or that you lose most of your body heat through your head? Guess who believed them too? Your doctor. Dr. Rachel Vreeman, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, knew about the enduring legacy of these old wives' tales, so she and a colleague set out to debunk the more popular medical myths. Her findings were just published in the British Medical Journal. She joins The Takeaway to discuss these medical myths.

Kokomo is Indiana’s 13th largest city and it came in third on a list of the nation’s fastest dying towns. With 14% of the town’s population relying on Chrysler for their income, how will the town cope with the stalled auto bailout and the city's four manufacturing plants idle? Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight joins John and Adaora to talk about the future of his town.

Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah" has been covered by over 50 artists, and is now poised to take the top two spots on the UK music charts. Who would have thought that these brooding lyrics about a bad relationship would become a planetary breakup anthem?

Lyrics to Hallelujah here, on Leonard Cohen's website.

In just weeks Robert Gibbs is going to become one of the most watched people in Washington DC as he is slated to become the White House press secretary. He's a young veteran of politics from Alabama and few people are closer to the president-elect. New York Times magazine writer, Mark Leibovich, has just written a profile of Gibbs that will run in this weekend's edition and he joins The Takeaway to tell us what we can expect with Gibbs as press secretary.

A six month ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza has expired and late on Thursday Hamas announced it would not be extending the truce. The Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, says the Palestinian people don't feel they have anything to gain by keeping the ceasefire in place. In recent weeks, there has already been an upsurge in violence. Katya Adler, a BBC Correspondent in the Middle East, joins The Takeaway to discuss this troubling turn of events.

After news that the White House is offering the U.S. auto industry $17.4 billion in short term financing, we check in with an earlier guest, Greg Goodnight the Mayor of Kokomo, Indiana. 14% of Kokomo's population is employed by Chrysler.

President Bush offered the American auto industry $13.4 billion dollars in short-term financing that will be drawn from the $700 billion dollar Wall Street rescue program. Another $4 billion dollars will be added later. The President said that the only way to avoid a collapse of the U.S. auto industry was for the executive branch to step in. However, there are some serious stipulations attached to the loan. Joining The Takeaway is Micheline Maynard, Senior Business Correspondent for The New York Times, based in Michigan, and Todd Zwillich with Capitol News Connection.