Treasury To Order Steep Pay Cuts At Bailed-Out Firms
The Treasury Department is expected to order bailed-out financial firms to cut their compensation packages for their top executives -- with a 90% slash to base salaries, and a 50% cut to total compensation. Elizabeth Warren, the head of the TARP oversight committee, confirmed the reports: "It's real in the sense that it says,Guys, you have to understand that you can't party on like it's 2007. If you're going to take taxpayer dollars, then the game has to change. In that sense it's real."

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama will hold a videoconference at 10 a.m. with Lt. General Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. He will meet for lunch at 12:30 p.m. ET with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. At 2:15 p.m. ET, he will sign the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act. He will meet at 3:15 p.m. ET with Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, and at 3:45 p.m. ET with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Gates: Everybody Will Be Watching Afghan Runoff
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told reporters that NATO will be closely watching the Afghanistan runoff election. "Everybody has an interest in making sure that there are as few problems in this runoff election as possible, in terms of providing legitimacy for the winning candidate," said Gates.

U.S. Pressures Japan On Military Package
The U.S. government is attempting to pressure Japan on a military base realignment plan that was agreed upon in 2006, but is now being resisted by the newly elected center-left Democratic Party of Japan. Despite a visit yesterday to Japan by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said that Gates' presence "doesn't mean we have to decide everything."

Cheney To Obama: 'Stop The Dithering' On Afghanistan
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has called upon President Obama to "stop the dithering" over sending more troops to Afghanistan. "Make no mistake," said Cheney. "Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries."

NYT: Strains For Democrats In Budget-Balancing Act
The New York Times reports that Democrats face a very difficult balancing act, in attempting to both stimulate the economy and fix the long-term budget situation. "It is a complicated balance because these imperatives point in different directions," said senior economic adviser Lawrence Summers. "Imagine a business if it were trying to execute a plan of rapid expansion for two years, followed by retrenchment and cost-cutting for the next three. It would be a complicated business strategy to execute."

Inouye Reaches Milestone In Senate Service
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who has been in the Senate for 47 years, has become the third-longest serving Senator in history, surpassing the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and trailing only Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) and the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC). "I'm not celebrating that day because I'm too busy to do that," said Inouye. "I think it's an achievement, to think that I've lasted that long."