Miami has been in the national news as the American staging ground for many of the relief efforts in Haiti. We talk to Miami's Mayor Tomas Regalado about his many Haitian constituents.

 

After big setbacks for the Democratic Party, President Obama is reconstituting the political team that helped him win the 2008 election. But will this be enough for the party to stave off losses in the mid-term elections — or even further ahead to 2012? Bruce Reed, the CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council and Reihan Salam, fellow at the New America Foundation assess the president's — and the party's — options.

We give you all you need to know about the news we expect to come in the next seven days. This week, we take a look at what to expect in President Obama's first State of the Union address. We'll also look ahead at how the president  is planning to stop what appears to be a tailspin for the Democrats; Ben Bernanke's confirmation as Fed chairman; the relief effort in Haiti; and the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Yesterday President Obama unveiled his $275 billion plan to help millions of homeowners refinance their mortgages or avoid foreclosure. President Obama's plan claims to be simple, but it's not. Luckily we have Alvin Hall, personal finance adviser and Takeaway contributor, who has been up all night reading through the plan. Also joining us for his first-hand account is Carlos Saenz, a homeowner struggling to pay his mortgage in Orlando, Florida.

The $790 billion economic stimulus plan has money in it to change America’s infrastructure forever. As we consider the future of urban planning in this country, The Takeaway talks to Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia and urban strategist who draws on the 5,000-year history of his hometown for inspiration.

How is the stimulus going to develop infrastructure in your city? Follow the dollars online and tell us how the stimulus plan is playing out in your community. We're sharing your stories online and on air, and we'll continue the investigation with your help.

ShovelWatch is a joint project of the non-profit investigative outfit ProPublica, the morning news program The Takeaway and WNYC, New York's flagship public radio station. With investigative reporting, interactive features and help from you, we're tracking the stimulus bill dollars from Congress to your community.

The country's economic situation has been pretty well reported. In such bleak times, with unemployment numbers reaching record highs in many states, you would expect to see an increase in the number of people seeking public assistance. But according to an investigation by our partners at the New York Times, 18 states cut their welfare rolls last year and nationally the number of people getting assistance is near a 40-year low. Jason Deparle, reporter in the Washington Bureau for the New York Times joins us for a peek at the results of their investigation. For more from Jason Deparle, read his article, Welfare Aid Not Growing as Economy Drops Off in today's New York Times and pick up his book American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare on welfare reform.

President Obama’s $825 billion stimulus package includes $300 billion in tax cuts, which would come to the American spending public in the form of rebates. But history proves that refunds, whether dispersed in a small steady amounts or in one lump sum, do little to jumpstart a spending spree. For an assessment of what a tax rebate should look like under an administration that runs on the motto of “change,” we are joined by Dan Ariely, who is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University and author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.

Have a better idea how to get the economy going? Create your own stimulus plan here.

China's family planning commission has released a survey saying that 70% of Chinese women wish they could have two babies or more partially because they worry that an only child is likely to become lonely or spoiled. The commission just announced the survey, but there is a twist, it was conducted in 2006, but is only being released now. For more on the survey and what it might mean for China's one-child policy, we're joined by Quentin Sommerville, the BBC's Beijing Correspondent.

The unemployment numbers for December are out and the jobless rate hit 7.2 percent. Additionally, payroll employment dropped by 524,000 over the month. While this is pretty much what economists expected, it is still shocking in that it is one of the biggest monthly drops ever in this modern post-war economy. Here to tell us about how the losses have accelerated is Kelly Evans of the Wall Street Journal.

Today the unemployment numbers for December will be released. The projections are grim: economists expect unemployment rates to rise to a 15-year high of 7.0 percent. This is a reality that President-elect Obama did not sugarcoat yesterday when he addressed the nation and it’s economic forecast. In the first major speech since he won the election, Barack Obama acknowledged the unemployment crisis and stressed the urgency of passing a robust economic stimulus package. Joining us to discuss the ailing economy, the unemployment crisis, and Obama’s approach to both, is Kelly Evans, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Christopher Hayes, the Washington Editor of The Nation, and entrepreneur Jim Svetz.

Don't miss part two of our economic roundtable.

UPDATE 8:47 a.m. ET: Unemployment rose to 7.2 percent in December 2008. Listen to The Takeaway's coverage.