Dick Cheney just conducted a farewell interview with Jim Lehrer, and it was a doozy.

For one thing, Cheney brushed off today's report in the Washington Post about Pentagon official Susan Crawford, who said that a 9/11 suspect was tortured, and dismissed the idea that there was a coordinated policy of torture:

As we dig in and look at hundreds of cases, we may well find a few people who were not properly treated. You know, I ran the Pentagon. I know that you can't absolutely guarantee, at all times, that everybody's doing it the way they're supposed to be doing it.

I can tell you what the policy was; I can tell you that we had all the legal authorization to do it, including the sign-off of the Justice Department. I can tell you it produced phenomenal results for us, and that a great many Americans are alive today because we did all that. And I think those are the important considerations.

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Obama Meeting Senate Dems Today, Will Press On Bailout
Barack Obama is heading to Capitol Hill today for the weekly lunch of the Senate Democrats, part of his outreach to Capitol Hill. Obama is expected to lobby the Senate Dems on obtaining the authorization for the remaining $350 billion of the Wall St. bailout, and it seems reasonable to expect he'll also work on getting his economic stimulus package approved.

Today: Hillary's Confirmation Hearing
Hillary Clinton will be appearing at 9:30 a.m. ET before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for her confirmation hearing to be Secretary of State, and is expected to easily win confirmation. Hillary will reportedly tell the committee: "I believe American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted."

Bernanke: Obama Stimulus Would Lift Economy, But Other Reforms Also Needed
Speaking today at the London School of Economics, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that Barack Obama's stimulus plan would give a "significant boost" to the economy. However, he also cautioned that other reforms are needed for the financial system, and that a fiscal stimulus alone isn't likely to produce a lasting recovery.

NYT: Closing Gitmo Will Take A While
The New York Times reports that Barack Obama's plans to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay will face numerous logistical difficulties: "One transition official said the new administration expected that it would take several months to transfer some of the remaining 248 prisoners to other countries, decide how to try suspects and deal with the many other legal challenges posed by closing the camp."

Obama Transition Team: He Looks Forward To Working With Burris
Obama transition team spokesman Dan Pfeiffer released this statement last night, welcoming Roland Burris to Washington: "As the President-elect has said repeatedly, he knows Roland Burris and has high regard for him. He looks forward to working with Senator Burris and the rest of the United States Senate to rebuild our economy and meet the great challenges of our time."

Obama Will Address House GOP In A Few Weeks
The Hill reports that Barack Obama has accepted an invitation to address the House Republican caucus a few weeks after being inaugurated. "We hope this will be the beginning of a positive working relationship with House Republicans at the start of your administration," the GOP leadership wrote in their invitation.

Cheney Writing A Book
Dick Cheney told Sean Hannity yesterday that he's writing a book about his experiences in public services. "I've got 40 years since I came to town to stay 12 months," Cheney said. "I've got a lot of stories to tell. And a few scores to settle."

Obama: Stimulus Could Grow To Over $1 Trillion
Barack Obama told CNBC that his stimulus package potentially could grow well beyond its initial target of $775 billion. "We've seen ranges from $800 (billion) to $1.3 trillion," said Obama. "And our attitude was that given the legislative process, if we start towards the low end of that, we'll see how it develops."

Obama Delivering Economic Speech Today
Barack Obama is delivering his big economic speech at 11 a.m. ET this morning in Fairfax, Virginia. Obama will make the case that his stimulus is absolutely necessary, while also promising efficiency and accountability.

Obama Rolling Out Tim Kaine For DNC Chairman
Barack Obama and Tim Kaine will be holding a 3:30 p.m. ET press conference at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, obviously the official announcement of Kaine as the next chairman of the DNC. Kaine was elected governor of Virginia 2005, endorsed Obama's presidential candidacy very early on in 2007, and did a lot of work to help turn Virginia blue this past November.

Burris Testifying To Impeachment Panel
Roland Burris is scheduled to testify today before the Illinois House's special committee to impeach Rod Blagojevich. Burris' job here is to make it clear that even if there are allegations that Blago tried to sell the Senate seat, there were nevertheless no shenanigans in the actual selection of Burris himself.

Daschle Up For Confirmation Hearing Today
Tom Daschle is scheduled to appear today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the first Obama cabinet nominee to face a confirmation hearing. Daschle's nomination is likely to get through the Senate very easily.

Congress To Officially Certify Obama's Victory Today
Congress will count the electoral votes today, officially certifying Barack Obama's win and bringing the 2008 presidential election to an end.

Obama Site Getting Questions About Bush Administration's Torture Policies
The New York Times reports that the Obama transition team's "Open for Questions" site has received heavy support in favor of one particular subject: Whether the Obama Administration will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate George W. Bush and other officials for policies such as torture. This comes after liberal blogs endorsed the question and asked readers to vote for it.

Cheney Expects Total Retirement From Public Life
In an interview with CBS radio, Dick Cheney said he expects to fully retire from public life after he leaves office. "I've got a lot of rivers to fish," said Cheney. "So I don't think anybody will feel sorry for me. They shouldn't."

Biden Heading Up "White House Task Force On Working Families"
The Obama transition team announced this morning the creation of the "White House Task Force on Working Families," which will be chaired by Joe Biden and also include the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Health and Human Services, plus many other top economic advisers. The task force's goal is to craft policies furthering the areas of education, work/family balance, labor standards and workplace safety, and income and retirement security.

Obama Expands Stimulus Targets To Cope With Rising Unemployment Projections
Barack Obama has reportedly expanded his economic stimulus plan to have a target of creating three million new jobs, up from a prior goal of 2.5 million jobs. However, the New York Times points out that even this would fall short of the projected four million jobs that many economist believe would be lost if no action were taken in an economy that is only getting worse and worse.

Report: Obama Team To Say Rahm Only Spoke With Blago Once
George Stephanopoulos reports that an upcoming internal report from the Obama transition team will say that Rahm Emanuel only had one conversation with Rod Blagojevich, a courtesy call after Rahm was named as White House Chief of Staff. The alleged conversation was mostly about Rahm's own House seat, with only a "passing reference" to the Senate seat and with no deals over it being discussed.

Poll: Public Optimistic About Obama
The new ABC/Washington Post poll finds 68% of adults saying they are optimistic about the policies that Barack Obama will pursue upon taking office, and 65% support a large infrastructure-based economic stimulus plan such as the one he's laid out. In addition, a 51% majority wants him to make major changes to the health care system right after taking office, compared to 26% who say he should wait and only 20% who say he shouldn't do it at all.

Hillary's Debts At $6.4 Million
Hillary Clinton's campaign debt is now $6.4 million, lower than it was at any previous time this year -- and the amount is owed to just 16 specific creditors, the most notable one being Mark Penn. Hillary is in a bit of a race against the clock to get the money paid off, as she will be unable to personally conduct fundraising activities after she is sworn in as Secretary of State.

Cheney On Biden's Rhetoric: "I Don't Take It Seriously"
During an interview aired today on Fox News Sunday, Dick Cheney ridiculed Joe Biden for having attacked Cheney's performance in office, and said it was Biden who doesn't understand the Constitution. "I write that off as campaign rhetoric," said Cheney. "I don't take it seriously. And if he wants to diminish the office of vice president, that's obviously his call."

In the wake of Dennis Kucinich's attempt to have Dick Cheney impeached, which was scuttled by the House Democratic leadership, a new Rasmussen poll shows that 31% of likely voters agree that the vice president should be impeached, while 41% do not agree.

"Every family has a black sheep."

— Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton, making a tongue-in-cheek reference to Vice President Cheney in reaction to the news that Obama and Cheney are distant relatives through an ancestor eight generations back.

This is kind of/sort of/not really interesting: Lynne Cheney says that in researching the family genealogy, she found out that Dick Cheney and Barack Obama are related, sharing an ancestor eight generations back. It's not much, but it's there.

And that's not all — there is also reason to believe that Vice President Cheney may have been Obama's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate...

(Via Think Progress.)

It turns out that Dick Cheney will be hitting the fundraising circuit in some important races, after all. On Friday, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the vice president will be a guest next month at a fundraiser for Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM), who is running to replace retiring GOP Senator Pete Domenici.

Interesting side note: The fundraiser will be in Washington, DC, as opposed to taking place in New Mexico.

In an interesting sign of the times, Dick Cheney has held a grand total of one fundraiser for an incumbent House Republican this year, and zero fundraisers for Republican challengers.

This is down from a ten fundraisers for incumbents and three for challengers at the equivalent point in 2005, when Cheney could charge a donation of $4,200 for a handshake and a photo — and have donors lining up to do it and candidates more than willing to host him.

Cheney spokeswoman Lea Ann McBride countered that her boss has done some fundraising for Senators John Barrasso (WY), John Cornyn (TX), and Saxby Chambliss (GA).

"In every election cycle he has done whatever it takes to help Republicans," McBride said. "This is someone who knows the value of campaigning and fundraising. You're going to see that from him this cycle."

By that logic, shouldn't he be absent from the campaign trail entirely?

(Via Think Progress)

It's hard to imagine that anyone in public life is less popular than Dick Cheney, but a new poll finds that one politician has managed to pull it off: George W. Bush.

Take a look at these numbers in this week's new Washington Post/ABC News poll:

Bush
Approve 33%, Disapprove 65%

Cheney
Approve 34%, Disapprove 59%

The last time we know of that a poll found Bush worse off than Cheney was back in January, when a Fox News poll put President Bush's personal unfavorability at 58%, compared to Cheney's 53%.

Meanwhile, the poll also finds that Congress' approval rating is 37%, which is dismal but not as bad as Bush's or Cheney's. Congressional Republicans, however, are faring significantly worse than Congressional Democrats:

Congressional Republicans Approve 34%, Disapprove 64%

Congressional Democrats
Approve 46%, Disapprove 51%

Dick Cheney has sunk to a new low – in a new Gallup Poll, that is. The Gallup survey finds Cheney's approval rating at 30 percent, down four points from last month and a record low for a vice president since Gallup started in 1945.

Even more surprisingly, his job approval among Republicans, although higher, is also at its lowest point yet – 57%. His approval rating among independents is a dismal 26% – barely one in four.

In a trifecta of sorts, Cheney's overall favorability rating is also at its lowest point yet. Only 30 percent say they have a favorable impression of him, down from 37 percent in January. His unfavorable rating is 62 percent.

"The big question right now among Republicans is how to remove Vice President Cheney from office."

--Sally Quinn, in a column today in The Washington Post entitled "A GOP Plan To Oust Cheney." Of course, Quinn doesn't quote anyone actually saying this. But as Steve Benen notes, Quinn is the "social director of the Georgetown cocktail circuit," meaning that "if Quinn is writing about it, Republicans in DC are talking about it." So it's at least possible that there's something here.