Read a transcript of President Barack Obama's first address to a joint session of Congress, concerning the economic stimulus plan, health care, education and more, from February 24, 2009, and discuss the state of the states in The Takeaway's "user-annotated" document viewer.

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President Obama will move to tackle health care next week and he is expected to touch on the subject in his address to Congress tonight. He announced Monday that he will convene a summit to discuss what some call America’s health care crisis. Our guest calls it an ethical crisis. The Takeaway talks to Arthur Caplan, Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

For more of The Takeaway's coverage of health care in this country, click here and to listen to what the experts think President Obama needs to know about health care check out our Briefing Book series.

It's the stuff of melodramas: "I can't pay the mortgage!" says the pretty young mother. "You must pay the mortgage!" replies the landlord, dressed in black with a dragoon's moustache. "I'll pay the mortgage!" says Dudley Doright. But what if you really can't pay the mortgage? And you really don't want to leave your home despite the eviction notice and there's no dashing Dudley Doright in sight? Answering that question is a group of activists in Baltimore who are using nonviolent resistance tactics as a way of keeping people in their homes. Joining us now is Melody Simmons, a reporter for WEAA in Baltimore, and Donna Hanks a homeowner facing foreclosure.

There are reports that Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is about to be selected as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services in President Obama’s cabinet. She has a history of involvement in health care reform in Kansas. And, as a Democrat in a largely Republican state, she’s developed a reputation for bipartisanship. We’re joined by Steve Kraske at KCUR in Kansas City, a political columnist for the Kansas City Star and public affairs talk show host in KCUR in Kansas City, Missouri, who has followed Ms. Sebelius' political career. We are also joined by Time Magazine's Jay Newton-Small for some Washington perspective.

Who else is in President Obama's cabinet? Check out our handy guide!

You’ve probably heard our recession compared to the financial crisis of the 1930s. But in today’s out take, we’re talking to Scott Nelson, a professor of History at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, who is researching the history of financial panics. He says that our current crisis has more in common with the so-called “Long Depression” that began in 1873, than the “Great Depression” of the 1930s. Since we've never heard of the “Long Depression” we asked Mr. Nelson to explain.

Professor Nelson is the author of the book Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend.

We tried to find something about the Long Depression, but couldn't, so here is Tom Waits singing over Dorothea Lange's and Walker Evans' iconic photos of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. It's no Spaghetti Cat, but it will do.

Today is a big day for General Motors. They are preparing to announce how they plan to repay the $13.4 billion loan Congress doled out late last year. Workers at GM plants are anxiously awaiting to hear the detail of the plan, too, because their union is in the middle of negotiating a health care plan with the automaker. Nick Bunkley has been covering this developing story for our partner, the New York Times, and he joins us now.

For more, read Nick Bunkley's and Bill Vlasic's article, Union Talks Seen as Key as G.M. Makes Case for Funds in today's New York Times.

President Obama is preparing to sign the $787 billion stimulus package today. It’s a spending plan that will send the nation deeper into debt in an effort to buoy our economy. It’s also a move that sends deep doubt through Juan Enriquez. He’s a bestselling author of The Untied States of America, businessman, academic, and now managing director at Excel Medical Ventures and he has some serious opinions on the stimulus package.

Here is Juan Enriquez's talk at the 2008 TED conference:

According to a sober assessment of the mountain of losses facing some of the nation's largest banks, the banks could be called insolvent. Calling for more direct government involvement in the banking sector, a group of economists and finance experts claim that without a cure for the bad assets, the credit crisis will linger and banks will not be able to resume the lending that is key to the economy. For what this means for the economy and the nation, we turn to Steve Lohr, a reporter for the New York Times.

For more, read Steve Lohr's article, Ailing Banks May Require More Aid to Keep Solvent in today's New York Times.

Bill Richardson, Tom Daschle, Nancy Kilefer, Tim Geithner, and now Hilda Solis. What do all these names have in common? They were all named to top jobs in President Obama's administration. And all of them stumbled (or fell) due to questions that arose during the confirmation process. Does President Obama have a vetting problem? To answer that question we are joined by Kenneth Gross, a vetting expert who worked with President Bill Clinton.

To see more about President Obama's cabinet picks, see our guide to his inner circle.

California is hurting. Its budget deficit is larger than total expenditures in most states, it's got high unemployment, and the most foreclosures of any state. Stimulus money — an estimated $32 billion would go to the state under the House's stimulus plan — would of course ease some of the short-term pain. But economists and local officials are unclear on how to turn the windfall into long-term economic well-being for the state. New York Times reporter Jesse McKinley joins Katherine and Adaora from San Francisco with a look at how his home state might fare under the stimulus bill.

To see more items on California's wish list, read Jesse McKinley's article, A State With a Wish List for Stimulus Spending in today's New York Times.

As the bank bailout effort continues, the Obama administration has to address the question of how far to take the rescue plan. Can you say "bank nationalization''? The Takeaway talks to the New York Times' Chief Washington Correspondent David Sanger to give us an outline for the debate and what taxpayers would get.

For a deeper analysis, read David Sanger's article, Nationalization Gets a New, Serious Look, in today's New York Times.

Want to craft your own economic stimulus plan? Start here.

For more on the vacant U.S. Senate seat, WNYC's Brian Lehrer joins us in the studio for his take on Caroline Kennedy's withdrawal and what it means for New York and for Ms. Kennedy. Was it political blow-back that made her change her name? Or was it the possibility that she flubbed her job interview? Todd Zwillich, from Capitol News Connection, contributes his thoughts on the replacement process from Washington, D.C.

Now that Caroline Kennedy has officially withdrawn from consideration for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton as she became Secretary of State, all eyes turn to New York Governor David Patterson. Who will he pick to fill the seat now that the frontrunner is a non-runner? For insight into this suddenly wide open field, we are joined by Liz Benjamin a reporter for the New York Daily News who has been following this story from the beginning.

Yesterday marked President Barack Obama’s first full day in office and he certainly had a full docket. Two wars, an economic recession, government ethics, White House pay freezes. He even took the oath of office. Again. All in a day's work for the 44th President. For more we return to Capitol News Connection's Todd Zwillich.

After an evening of conflicting reports on whether Caroline Kennedy was in or out of the race to fill Hillary Clinton's U.S. Senate seat, late last night she officially withdrew her name citing personal reasons in her brief statement. It's a startling development for the political world and leaves many questions as to who New York Governor Paterson might ultimately choose for the Senate seat. We are joined by WNYC's state politics reporter, Elaine Rivera, who has been watching these events closely.

After a celebratory concert at the Lincoln Memorial, President-elect Obama offered words of inspiration and notes of caution to the nation. He said he needed time to show positive change in the country. Once the pomp of inauguration is done, Congress has a long and strategic list to get through. Here with a look at that list is Todd Zwillich, reporter for Capitol News Connection in Washington.

While one president is on his way out and the other is on his way in, Congress is busily moving ahead with legislation. The Democrats want to have an expanded child health care program and a stimulus package all ready for Obama to sign the moment he takes office. Then there are the ongoing confirmation hearings and the man who would be Treasury Secretary hit a snag. For more we go to our man in Washington, Todd Zwillich, reporter for Capitol News Connection.

Luckily for Roland Burris it appears the U.S. Senate has had an abrupt change of heart when it comes to the seating of President-elect Obama’s replacement. It's all turned to hearts and rainbows for Burris, the former Illinois attorney general, now that the Senate has said it will officially seat him. Also today Senator Hillary Clinton will be answering questions in her confirmation hearing in hopes of becoming secretary of state in the Obama administration. Todd Zwillich, intrepid reporter for Capitol News Connection, joins us from Washington, D.C.

When the U.S. Bureau of Land Management auctioned off oil and gas drilling leases in Salt Lake City, Utah last month, some activists stood outside and protested. But Tim DeChristopher, a student at the University of Utah, went one step further. He bid on, and won, $1.7 million dollars worth of land rights. The problem is that he never had any means or intent of paying for it. Some are calling him an environmental hero, others, a criminal. The Takeaway talks to DeChristopher himself about his peculiar act of civil disobedience.

For more, watch this interview with Tim DeChristopher courtesy of YouTube.

President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to present a stimulus package to the country. Yesterday he warned the nation that between the bailout plans and the stimulus packages, it is likely we could see a multi-trillion dollar deficit. Today the Congressional Budget Office is set to release it’s latest budget estimates. To go over the numbers, The Takeaway is joined from Washington, D.C. by New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny.

If you want more on this topic, read Jeff Zeleny's article Obama Warns Trillion-Dollar Deficit Potential in the New York Times.