"Whether we're convinced if he's dead or not, [Obama] can never give up the hunt for bin Laden. He can not afford it politically, even though in his heart he knows it's a waste of people and money."
--Robert Baer speaking about President-elect Obama's future search for bin Laden

The Russian parliament is fast-tracking legislation that would create a path for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin as president for another two six-year terms. Putin had already served two four-year terms as president from 2000 to 2008, but the current constitution prevents a president from serving more than two terms consecutively. With one-party control, the measure is expected to pass, and quickly, meaning there could be a President Putin in place soon (well before the end of the first term of the President-elect Barack Obama) and until 2021.

"We can't ride the bucking bronco of day-to-day oil prices to determine our strategy."
-- Van Jones, author of "The Green Collar Economy"

View links related to this segment at Garry Golden's The Energy Roadmap blog »

"That would be taking the catastrophe of the last seven years and enshrining it in our law." — Ben Wizner on creating a new "National Security Court" to replace Guantanamo Bay

"That took a third out of your grain supply of the food market and that was a big hit." — Paul Collier, Oxford University

With conditions worsening in Afghanistan, many experts worry that if the transition from President George W. Bush to incoming president Barack Obama doesn't go smoothly, the situation there could spiral out of control.

Economist and op-ed columnist Jared Bernstein talks with The Takeaway about the Obama administration's challenge in pulling America out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.