Obama may not be President yet, but Congress isn’t waiting around for him to get to work. This is a big week on Capitol Hill, with confirmation hearings for several cabinet members, plus the likely resolution of the Roland Burris question, and even some new legislation. Todd Zwillich, a reporter for Capitol News Connection, joins The Takeaway with an update.

Former British prime minister Tony Blair is back in the spotlight again in his new role of special Mideast envoy representing the U.S., the E.U., Russia, and the United Nations. He is in Cairo today for a series of meetings with Israel and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mr. Blair says the elements are in place for a cease-fire to end the fighting in the Gaza Strip. For an on-the-ground report of events in Cairo, we are joined by Magdi Abdelhadi, the Arab affairs analyst for our partner the BBC.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict invokes accusations of journalistic bias like no other issue. And photojournalists are at least as susceptible as reporters and editors of being accused of favoring one side or the other. Patrick Witty, Foreign Picture Editor for The New York Times, joins The Takeaway to discuss how he makes sure that the photos he selects tell a true, balanced story.

Follow the links to view the photos discussed in the segment. The photo of the three boys killed by mortar fire, the doctored photos of an Iranian missile test, and the photos as used by the New York Times.

Motown Records launched the careers of some of the most influential music artists of the 20th century. Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Jackson 5 and Smokey Robinson all came up through the ranks of Motown, founded 50 years ago today in Detroit. Gloria Jones is a singer songwriter who worked at Motown on songs for the Four Tops, The Jacksons, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross and wrote the chart toppers "Tainted Love" and "If I Were Your Woman." Gloria joins The Takeaway to wish Motown a happy 50th birthday.

All eyes are on Detroit this week as the annual North American International Auto Show starts its engines. As the American auto industry struggles, with dismal car sales and a skeptical Washington doling out bridge loans, this show is considered by many as Detroit's last stand. Joining us now for an insider's view of the Detroit car show is Lawrence Ulrich, a Detroit native and writer for the New York Times.

An advertisement for the Detroit auto show in better times.

President-elect Obama's ambitious and optimistic recovery plan has both cheerleaders and critics. We're looking at the plan from both sides. The Takeaway talks to Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a Senior Fellow at The Hudson Institute and former chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, and James Galbraith, professor and economist at the University of Texas, Austin and author of The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too, about their take on the economic stimulus plan.

Last night you may have watched the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The big winner of the night was the unlikely blockbuster film, "Slumdog Millionaire", which won Best Director and Best Motion Picture (Drama), not to mention Best Score and Best Screenplay. And we have to remind you that we totally called it! Joining us now to discuss the accolades is Vikas Swarup. While his day job is pretty impressive as India's Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa, his current claim to fame is writing the novel Q & A, which is the basis for the film.

A spoiler-free clip from the film.

Last month President Bush cited government-sponsored research showing that teen drug use has declined during his administration. But New York Times op-ed columnist Charles Blow took a second look at those statistics and found that cocaine has resisted the downturn, with usage staying flat since 2001. And white and Hispanic teens are far more likely than blacks to use cocaine. Charles Blow joins The Takeaway for an analysis of the data.

For more information, read Charles Blow's article, Cocaine and White Teens in the New York Times.

The fates aligned for some of football’s dogged underdogs this weekend. The Philadelphia Eagles knocked defending Super Bowl champs the New York Giants out of the running and long-time losers the Arizona Cardinals staged a spectacular upset against North Carolina. The Takeaway is joined by frequent sports contributor Jeff Beresford Howe to discuss the wild weekend in sports.

Read Jeff's notes on weekend NFL playoff action.

Congress could be asked to turn over control of the remaining $350 billion in bailout funds today. The Bush administration is expected to file the request for the rest of the money so the incoming Obama administration can start doling it out almost as soon as the President-elect takes office. The Congressional panel overseeing the Treasury Department’s $700 billion bailout isn't quite ready to approve the release of funds, though. First they would like some answers on how the first $350 billion of the bailout money was spent. Joining The Takeaway is former New Hampshire Senator John Sununu, who is on that Congressional oversight panel.

An Israeli government spokesman says Israel is "very close" to achieving its three key goals for starting the military action in Gaza. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the elements of a cease-fire "are there." Cease-fire or not, this conflict has shown a profound shift in power in the Arab world when it comes to war and peace in the Middle East. Michael Slackman is covering this story from Cairo for our partner, the New York Times, and he joins us now.

Read Michael Slackman's article, Crisis Imperils 2-State Plan, Shifting a Balance in today's New York Times.