After 21 years in office, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., lost the 2008 election to Democratic challenger Jim Himes. Shays joins The Takeaway to reflect on the future and the past.

President-elect Obama's aides will release a report today reportedly showing his transition team is clean. Meanwhile, the Illinois state senate committee considering impeachment of Blagojevich ended its work for the week without coming to any definitive conclusions. Politico's Ben Smith joins The Takeaway for an update.

A meeting in Moscow today of gas-exporting nations, including Russia, Venezuela and Iran, has some wondering if the group is trying to form the gas equivalent of OPEC. The Takeaway talks to Global Insight's senior Russian analyst, Natalia Leschenko, for more insight.

Baydan Shoe Company, the Turkey-based shoe manufacturer that made the infamous footwear hurled at President Bush earlier this month, has seen such a high demand in shoes that the company has added one hundred new jobs. The shoes are flying off the shelves...

In its final weeks the Bush Administration has issued a federal rule that allows health care workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable. Doctors and nurses have had the right to opt-out of providing abortions for decades, but this new rule is much broader. Slate's senior legal correspondent, Dahlia Lithwick, gives The Takeaway the rundown.

Two major economic indicators are released today: the numbers for new and existing home sales for November. Together, the numbers are expected to indicate the economy is worsening. Chip Case, the co-producer of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, joins The Takeaway to talk about how the housing market is the backbone of the American economy and if there is a prospect for good news in real estate.

With more people out of work during the holidays, shoplifting is on the rise. Ian Urbina, reporter for The New York Times, talks about the vulnerablity as well as the sympathy retailers feel for their customers.

Jurors have found five Muslim immigrants guilty of conspiring to kill US soldiers.

For those living on the streets, newspapers could prove to be an unlikely lifeline this winter. Taxi, a Toronto-based advertising agency, is donating thousands of its high-tech, sub-zero coats to the homeless. The jacket, when filled with an assortment of op-eds, sports, movie listings and classified pages, is as protective as any down-filled coat. For a look at this news many can use, The Takeaway turns to Taxi's Steve Mykolyn, the creative force behind the winter gear.

Hours after the death of the President in the West African state of Guinea, a statement from the military said it was dissolving the government. An army officer went on radio and television to say the army had taken over, and a body called the National Council for Development and Democracy had been set up to root out corruption.

From Sudan to Somalia to Zimbabwe, nearly all of the news from the African continent seems to center on fractured leadership in nations torn apart by violence and mired in poverty. But Charles Stith, former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania and editor of the book "For such a time as this: African Leadership Challenges," says there's a lot of good news to be found on the continent as well.

The Moscow meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum has turned the heads of energy analysts. Chris Weafer, a strategist at Moscow's Uralsib Capital, shares his views with The Takeaway.

GDP, retail spending and corporate earnings numbers are all in decline. Martin Wolf, chief economic correspondent for the Financial Times, joins The Takeaway to discuss the latest economic numbers.