In response to criticism of outlandish executive pay, the government is now tightening the reins. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced the brand new position of "pay czar" and appointed Ken Feinberg, the Washington lawyer known for setting the compensation amount for families of the 9/11 victims. Now he turns his attention to setting a very different kind of monetary figure. To talk about this is Nell Minow, editor and co-founder of the Corporate Library, a think-tank that studies executive pay.

Starting in 1882 and continuing for almost a century, the United State's Bird Migration Program collected two-by-five notecards from bird watchers around North America. Today, these long preserved cards — did we mention that there were over six million of them? — are being dusted off, in the hopes that they can tell us something about a bird of a different feather: climate change. Jessica Zelt, coordinator of the newly established North American Bird Phenology Program where she is in charge of digitizing the cards, joins the show to tell us more.

Are you itchin' to get your hands on a little American history? You can transcribe the migration notecards into the digital directory from your very own home. Click here to help! Go on, be a part of bird history.

For more, read Molly Webster's Producer's Note

And before we let you go, we'd like to leave you with a little bird quote from our friends here at the Internet, because really, what's the World Wide Web good for if not to root-out some profound, bird-related witticisms? Ahem: "My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather." ~Loire Hartwould

(c) USGS.gov

(c) USGS.gov

Legendary trader, Bernie Madoff is expected to plead guilty to 11 felony charges for allegedly pulling off what could be the largest Ponzi scheme in history. The billions of dollars that he supposedly swindled is estimated to be within $50 to $65 billion. Whether or not his victims will ever see that money remains unknown. But supposing that they would be compensated, how would that money be distributed?

Joining The Takeaway to explain what it would take to financially compensate those caught up in Madoff’s investment web is Ken Feinberg, a Washington attorney who served as special master of the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund, which awarded over $7 billion to some 5,300 victims and their families.

Trouble viewing this video? Check out the YouTube version.

Today American consumers have nearly $1 trillion of outstanding credit card debt. A quarter of all homeowners are paying more on their mortgage than their home is worth. And unemployment nationwide has reached 8.1 percent. Does this economic crisis put the American dream at risk? Many may wonder that, as a nation, have we so corrupted the fundamental ideals of the American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that we instead find ourselves living through the American nightmare? Joining The Takeaway to help answer this is David Kamp. He’s a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and has written the article Rethinking The American Dream. Kamp joins us for the first in a series of conversations about what the American dream means in this day and age.

For the unemployed, The Takeaway continues to discuss how to dust yourself off and get back on your feet. With more than half a million jobs lost in the U.S. last month alone, those who've been laid off may be confused as to what benefits are available to them. Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project talks to The Takeaway about exactly how to get the most out of unemployment benefits.

The Super Bowl will be played in Tampa on Sunday and a group of Boston University researchers has gathered there in advance of the game. They are announcing findings of an investigation into brain injury in one former NFL player that is part of a still controversial body of evidence that may link professional football to brain damage. For more, we ask Dr. Robert Stern, an Associate Professor of Neurology at Boston University, to explain his findings and what this could mean for the NFL.

Yesterday was the second day of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment trial, and state legislators got a special treat. The FBI released some snippets of the Governor’s taped conversations. There were no f-bombs and no direct references to President Obama's Senate seat. None the less, some legislators said the recordings made the Governor's alleged misdeeds more real. Amanda Vinicky of Illinois Public Radio gives John and Adaora an update on the proceedings.

Instead of defending himself in the Illinois Statehouse, Governor Blagojevich hit the media circuit. On Monday he defended himself on The View:

Yesterday House Republican leaders met with President Obama to voice their objections to his stimulus plan. Representative Kevin Brady of Texas' 8th Congressional District was there. He joins John and Adaora with a report on what happened in the meeting, what his hopes are for bipartisan compromise, and what's next for the bill.

For President Obama's take on the meeting, here's his post-meeting press conference:

On the campaign trail Barack Obama promised to be a leader of bipartisan politics. Now he’ll try to make good on his word as he works to pass his $825 billion recovery plan. Yesterday, in an effort to get the bipartisan ball rolling, President Obama met with House Republicans who are resisting his stimulus plan. For a look at whether or not Mr. Obama has the ability to effectively reach across the aisle we are joined by Bradford Berenson. Berenson repeatedly saw Mr. Obama walk a fine line between two radically different worlds when they were classmates at Harvard Law School and editors for The Harvard Law Review. Berenson was also a top lawyer in the White House counsel’s office from 2001-2003.

For more on President Obama's past as a bipartisan player, watch the Frontline documentaries Dreams of Obama and The Choice.

A busy day is ahead on Capitol Hill as President Obama pleads his case for the stimulus package to Senate and House Republicans. Vice President Joe Biden will also be on the Hill for the swearing in of New York’s newest senator, Kirsten Gillibrand. Capitol News Connection’s Todd Zwillich tells us what we should expect from the President and Vice-President's tag-team.

Follow The Takeaway's coverage of the stimulus package

Over 10 million Hispanic voters turned out on Election Day and they overwhelmingly cast their support for President Obama, who received twice as many votes from the Hispanic community than John McCain. Now that Obama is in the Oval Office it’s time for Latinos to cash in and push their agenda. The question is: are they organized enough to maximize the power that they’ve earned? Joining us for a look at how Latinos need to leverage their political influence is Gebe Martinez. She’s a longtime Washington watchdog and a Politico contributor.

Read Gebe Martinez's article, Latinos fight for political recognition at Politico.com

Two of the nation's largest and most troubled banks are going through high-level personnel changes. Bank of America has taken over Merrill Lynch, and is now pushing out its chairman John Thain. And under pressure from federal regulators Citigroup has brought in a new chairman, Richard D. Parsons, who used to head up Time Warner. New York Times business reporter Louise Story joins John and Adaora to explain the high level staff shifts and what they might mean for the future of the banks.

For more, read Louise Story's article, Thain Resigns Amid Losses at Bank of America in the New York Times.

One of President Obama’s top priorities is to move his $825 billion stimulus plan through Congress. Although there is consensus that the economy needs to be rehabilitated, Obama’s vision of how to fix it is meeting resistance mostly among House Republicans. Joining us is one congressman who is currently withholding his support, Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey. Congressman Garrett is a Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises for the House Financial Services Committee.

Don't like Obama's stimulus plan? Create your own!

Salmonella-tainted peanut butter has sickened close to five hundred people in 43 states, and killed six. People started getting sick back in September, but the FDA has only recently pinpointed the source of the infection as King Nut brand peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America in Blakely, Georgia. Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents victims of food poisoning and advises companies on food safety joins John and Adaora to explain why it takes so long to trace foodbourne illnesses and how the system could be improved.

FDA website list of recalled products: http://www.fda.gov

When he listed the diverse faiths of our nation in his inaugural address, President Obama chose to include nonbelievers, a group rarely acknowledged in official discourse. Randall Balmer, professor of American religious history at Barnard College and author of "God in The White House" joins John and Adaora to discuss the implications of the President's inclusion of atheists and agnostics as part of our spiritual community.

Voters in Nashville, Tennessee head to the polls today to decide whether English should be the only language for all government business in town. This means marriage licenses, parking tickets, and court summons could only be written and responded to in English. Reporter Blake Farmer of WPLN has been covering the “English First" movement since the legislation was first proposed more than a year ago. He joins us from Nashville.

Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner faces the Senate Finance Committee today and it could get ugly. His confirmation hearings were delayed after it was disclosed that he didn’t pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for several years, took child care deductions that weren't accurate, and employed a housekeeper whose immigration documentation had lapsed. Don Williamson, a Washington, D.C. accountant and professor at the Kogod School of Business at American University gives John and Adaora his professional view on Geithner’s tax problems.

Who else is joining Obama's administration? See our guide to his inner circle.

What a way to start an administration. As if things weren't bleak enough already, even as President Obama was giving his inauguration speech, the Dow was plunging, taking its biggest slide ever on an Inauguration Day. Despite billions funneled to the banking system by the federal government, that's where the crisis in the economy remains rooted. How are we going to get out of this mess? Newsweek's Dan Gross give his insights on the possible ways for the new President to get things under control, and how long we can expect troubled times to continue.

The festivities are over and today the new president and Congress begin the process of working together. President Obama has said that he will collaborate more closely with Congress than his predecessor, and that he will reach out to Republicans. How is that likely to play out as lawmakers grapple with healing the economy and taking on other major challenges like health care reform? The New York Times' David Sanger joins John and Adaora to take a look at the executive/legislative relationship as the Obama Administration gets underway.

For more, read David Sanger's new book The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power.

For The Takeaway's idea of what President Obama needs to know on his first day in office, check out our Briefing Book series.

The Takeaway's look at how the inauguration is viewed across America continues with Dan Moulthrop, host of The Sound of Ideas on WCPN in Cleveland, and Johanna Sailor, a reporter for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. They'll discuss the particular perspectives of their corners of the nation on this historic day.