TPMDC Morning Roundup

Administration To Slash Bailout Cost Estimate
The Obama administration is set to cut the estimated cost of the TARP bailout program, to at least $200 billion less than the $341 billion estimate in August, and is looking at using some of the savings for new job creation efforts. The lowered cost has come from fast repayments by big banks, and less spending on some rescue programs than was originally thought.

Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:45 a.m. ET, and the economic daily briefing at 10:15 a.m. ET. Obama will meet with senior advisers at 10:45 a.m. ET. Obama and Biden will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at 11:30 a.m. ET, and they will have a working lunch at 12:15 p.m. ET. Obama and Biden will meet at 3:30 p.m. ET with Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. AT 7:30 p.m. ET, the President and First Lady will host a holiday reception for members of Congress.

McChrystal, Eikenberry To Testify This Week On Capitol Hill
Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry are headed to Capitol Hill this week, to answer questions from Congress on the Afghanistan surge strategy. McChrystal and Eikenberry will testify at the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on Tuesday, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, and at the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Contractor Hirings In Afghanistan To Emphasize Locals
The Washington Post reports that new U.S. military solicitations for private guards in Afghanistan now require that at least half of the guards be Afghans from local towns and villages, a clear effort to not be seen as a foreign force. From one solicitation: "The contractor shall hire a minimum of 50% of its guard force from within a 50 kilometer [30-mile] radius of the location requiring security."

NYT: Obama Critics Hit Multi-Tasking, Scattered Message
The New York Times reports that President Obama is facing more criticism about doing too many things at once, as his poll numbers come down. "It is a very real problem," said Republican pollster Jan van Lohuizen, who advised President George W. Bush. "Not just that attention is scattered, but the message is scattered as well." Democratic strategist Paul Begala gave a different perspective: "I always felt like working at the White House was like being one of those plate-spinners on the old variety shows. It's only newsworthy when one of the plates crashes to the ground."

Congress Approaching Deadline For Funding Government
Congress is poised to pass multiple important spending and tax bills into a single omnibus, approaching a December 31 deadline for funding the government. A very blunt Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN), chairman of the Transportation Committee, chalked it up to a failure by the Senate to have dealt with them separately during the health care debate: "It's apparent that the other body (the Senate) can't walk and chew gum at the same time."

GOP Seeking Doctors For 2010
Congressional Republicans are looking to recruit doctors to run for Congress in 2010, and also to simply provide a fundraising base, against Democratic health care reform efforts, CQ reports. Doctors "are always concerned because they're in the cross hairs of Washington all the time," said Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), an orthopedic surgeon. "I think they're more inclined to participate this time given the incredible importance of what's happening."