According to Bloomberg News, Wall Street bonuses are on track to increase by 40 percent this year. But as our partner The New York Times reports, the Obama administration will order the companies that received the most aid from the bailout to slash the pay of their top earners. According to officials who spoke to the paper, seven companies will have to cut the paychecks of the 25 highest-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year. More companies will have to curb special perks like country club memberships and private planes. We look at how much the government should be involved in setting private salaries with New York Times reporter Stephen Labaton; Paul Hodgson, senior researcher at The Corporate Library; and Steve Kaplan, professor of finance at the University of Chicago's School of Business.

• Washington Takeout: The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, reports on health care reform in the House of Representatives as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looks for the votes she needs for the public option.
• Business Takeout: WNYC reporter Lisa Chow talks about the latest in the trial of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers accused of fraud just ahead of the economy's collapse in 2007.
• Listener Takeout: Listeners respond to Wednesday's conversation about banks closing credit card accounts without warning.

An alleged terror plot in Boston is again raising questions about just how big the actual threat of homegrown terrorism is. Tarek Mehanna, 27, has been charged with plotting to "kill, kidnap, maim or injure" people in the United States. Prosecutors say Mehanna and others discussed attacking a shopping mall and two U.S. politicians. Explaining the case against Mehanna are Abby Goodnough, Boston Bureau Chief for The New York Times, and Richard Falkenrath, deputy commissioner of counterterrorism for the New York Police Department.

The United States is ready to pull more troops from Iraq, but part of the equation for troop withdrawal is the need for credible elections. Progress on that front slowed yesterday as the Iraqi parliament announced it had hit a stalemate in their efforts to draft election laws. That could delay the election scheduled for Jan. 16. Rod Nordland, foreign correspondent for The New York Times, joins us from Baghdad.

WNYC political reporter Bob Hennelly joins us with a look at the race for the New Jersey governor's seat. Incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine has faced a steep battle to retain his seat, and President Barack Obama has joined in his fight. But is Corzine's struggle a sign of decreased popularity for the president?

Today Microsoft launches Windows 7, the latest and much-anticipated version of its popular Windows operating system. Microsoft hopes to build buzz for the new release by offering it on the same day that the software giant also makes its first foray into the retail side of business. Microsoft, taking a page from Apple's playbook, is planning to open their own stores all over the country. Killing Microsoft's buzz is the news that Apple profits skyrocketed 47 percent in the last quarter on the success of iPhone and Mac sales. The Takeaway's tech contributor and Wired magazine writer Cliff Kuang says Apple's big week was a big blow for Microsoft but that this could be Microsoft's big year. We also go live to Paul Atkinson of public radio station KJZZ in Arizona, who is on the scene of a Microsoft Windows launch party in Scottsdale, Ariz.

(Banners in the Scottsdale mall promoting the Microsoft Store. [Photo: Paul Atkinson])

Yesterday in Vienna, President Obama’s strategy of engagement with Iran may have resulted in a big first step toward stopping that country from getting a nuclear weapon. Iranian negotiators agreed to a draft deal that would send 75 percent of Iran’s low-enriched uranium to Russia. Iran would, in turn, receive highly enriched uranium in a form that would be useful for nuclear power but not nuclear warheads. We speak to BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne for an on-the-ground look at the news. We also speak with Alex Glaser, a physicist who looks at nuclear proliferation issues at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and Will Tobey, a senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

• Washingon Takeout: The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, continues reporting on health care reform's progress in Congress. Moderate Democrats may be warming up to the idea of a health care bill that includes a public option, especially if individual states could opt out.
• Sports Takeout: The Takeaway's sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, talks baseball after last night's NLCS game. The Philadelphia Phillies are headed to their 2nd consecutive World Series after beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-4. We also get a preview of tonight's Game 5 in the ALCS. Will the Yankees join the Phillies in the World Series or will the Angels fight them off?
• Listener Takeout: Listeners respond to our interview with Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) about health care reform and the public option.

The national media has given prominent coverage to the woes of the Motor City. For example, Time recently embedded journalists in the city for over a year for its ambitious "Assignment Detroit" project. But while the national attention is (mostly) appreciated, insiders' eyes may turn out to be more valuable when it comes to looking for solutions to the city's troubles. Reporters at Detroit's public radio station, WDET, are crowd-sourcing plans for Detroit's recovery. They have been asking Detroit residents for their own voices and viewpoints in order to come up with plans to fix it. We find out more about the project from WDET news director Jerome Vaughn.

The Mexican city of Puebla is trying a bright pink experiment in a culture famous for its machismo and violence. In an effort to prevent violent crimes against women passengers, 35 new taxis are driving the streets. These pink cars are driven by women and will pick up only female passengers. Inside, each pink taxi comes with a beauty kit, a GPS system and an alarm button. We talk to Eduardo Del Castillo, CEO of Pink Taxi, along with Elena Alvarez, a recent passenger.

For a look inside the Pink Taxi, watch the video below:

Parents have a lot to worry about: what their kids eat, where to send them to school and how to rear them, just for starters. Compounding the mysteries of parenting is the debate over whether there are innate differences between raising a boy and raising a girl. Modern parents often try to be gender neutral, offering primary colors instead of pink or blue, and finger paints instead of trucks or dolls. But as many parents will attest, it seems that some boys are predisposed toward fire trucks and football, while girls want tutus and princesses no matter how you raise them. Should we change our parenting depending on our kids' gender? To help answer this question, we checked in with friends, contributors and listeners for their stories on how they were raised…and what they do with their own kids.

A congressional advisory panel has found that the Chinese government is ratcheting up its cyberspying operations against the United States. The report, due out today, documents specific examples of carefully orchestrated campaigns against corporate targets in the United States. Siobhan Gorman, the Wall Street Journal's intelligence correspondent, joins us with a look at a growing war in cyberspace between the U.S. and China.