How big is the Obama administration’s housing plan? It’ll cost $75 billion over the next several years, and it’s intended to help 9 million homeowners avoid foreclosure. That doesn’t mean it’s a perfect solution, of course. “This is not going to save every person’s home,” acknowledges White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. The program calls for government-controlled mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance mortgages at today’s low market rates, but is limited to borrowers who owe up to 5 percent more than their home’s current value—leaving out severely “underwater” borrowers. Also excluded: mortgages of more than $729,750 for a single-family home, mortgages obtained after Jan. 1, 2009, investors, and people with mortgages on second or third homes. “Some people will not qualify,” says an administration official. “And some people who do qualify will not succeed.”

Wall Street’s five-day losing streak came to a merciful end this afternoon, with the Dow gaining 149.82 points, or 2.2 percent, to close at 6,875.84. Propelling the positive momentum were hopes for a new stimulus package in China, as traders snapped up industrial and commodities stocks. Caterpillar, a major exporter to China, climbed 13 percent, as did Alcoa. China fever also spurred a 2.4 percent rise in the S&P 500 and a 2.5 jump for the Nasdaq. But don’t get too giddy: Analysts are warning that today’s rally is nothing but a blip in a bearish season.

This should be interesting: Former Bush aides Karl Rove and Harriet Miers have struck a deal with the House Judiciary Committee and will testify as part of a probe into the Bush administration’s firings of US attorneys. The on-the-record interviews, sadly, will be given in private—but will be transcribed and released to the public, Politico reports. The deal resolves a battle over executive privilege: President Bush had sought to block the testimony of his former aide and counsel, arguing that as presidential advisers, they were not obliged to testify before Congress.

Six years of conflict, an estimated 300,000 deaths, and the displacement of millions led the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, today on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. Bashir has denied any wrongdoing and belittled the court. "This decision is exactly what we have been expecting from the court, which was created to target Sudan," his aide said. The arrest warrant is the first issued by the Hague against a leader currently in office.

Hours after undergoing open heart surgery, Barbara Bush is said to be resting comfortably in a Houston hospital. The former first lady and Bush family matriarch, 83, went under the knife at The Methodist Hospital to have her aortic valve replaced after experiencing shortness of breath last week, her spokesman said. “I expect her to recover fully and soon resume her normal activities,” her heart surgeon said after replacing the valve a biologic valve. Her husband, George H.W., is at her side in the intensive care unit; she’s expected to be in the hospital for another seven to 10 days. Bush also underwent surgery in November for a perforated ulcer.

Democrats have their targets set on Rush Limbaugh and are determined to show him as the face of a dying breed of Republicans, Politico reports. The "full-scale effort" is even being directed from the White House. "The strategy took shape after Democratic strategists Stanley Greenberg and James Carville included Limbaugh's name in an October poll and learned their longtime tormentor was deeply unpopular with many Americans, especially younger voters," according to Politico. "Democrats realized they could roll out a new GOP bogeyman for the post-Bush era by turning to an old one in Limbaugh, a polarizing figure since he rose to prominence in the 1990s." The talk show host, meanwhile, is basking in the glow of attention—it's mutually beneficial. "The administration is enabling me," he said. "They are expanding my profile, expanding my audience and expanding my influence."

Here’s an exciting part of the Obama administration’s push for transparency: an online Hillary tracker! The State Department has rolled out an interactive map that shows the secretary of state’s whereabouts as she travels abroad—her current location, her next stop, and her previous trips. A quick look at the map shows that on her current mission, which lasts until March 7, Clinton has made stops in Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories; she’s now in Belgium; and she’s scheduled to drop by Switzerland and Turkey. Fun fact: She’s traveled 6,328 miles on this trip to date, and 57,944 in total in her new job.

As if the bleak future of the publishing world wasn’t already plagued with doom and gloom, now actors are infringing on the once-sacred bookshelf space. James Franco, the Spider-Man and Milk star blessed with chiseled cheekbones and the tenacity to pursue dual MFAs, has sold a short story collection to the Scribner imprint of Simon & Schuster. Franco is currently enrolled in the graduate creative writing department at New York University and also treks uptown for writing classes at Columbia. The literary James of all trades also, in an appropriate move, recently signed on to portray poet Allen Ginsberg in Howl.

President Obama isn't the only one who gets to address the occasional joint-session of Congress. In a formal speech to lawmakers on Capitol Hill as part of a last-ditch effort to boost his popularity ahead of his reelection vote, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown focused on the "economic hurricane" enveloping the world. "No matter where it starts, an economic crisis does not stop at the water's edge," he said. Amid applause, Brown advocated a global response because "a bad bank anywhere is a threat to good banks everywhere." He added, "Just think how each of our actions, if combined, could mean a whole, much greater than the sum of the parts." Brown's speech was viewed as a preview to April's G20 economic summit in London.

At first glance, conservative chieftain Rush Limbaugh and baseball star Alex Rodriguez appear to have little in common—aside from their history of drug use, of course. But according to CNN commentator Robert Zimmerman, the talk show host and Yankee slugger share a lot: “Neither is capable of shame, and, ultimately, both are corrosive to America today,” he writes. Both are emblematic, he says, of the hypocrisy that is spreading through the country, and especially the Republican Party, which is moving ever further from the mainstream. “Although the nation has moved beyond the hypocritical and partisan political games of the past, the Republican Congressional leadership and Rush Limbaugh revel in it,” Zimmerman writes.

Maureen Dowd still loves Shakespeare, hates pork. In her latest column for the New York Times, the Queen of Snark rails against President Obama's failure to banish earmarks from the latest burgeoning spending bill. "He let [Congress] do a lot of frivolous redecorating in its budget... Team Obama sounds hollow, chanting that 'the status quo is not acceptable,' even while conceding that the president is accepting the status quo by signing a budget festooned with pork." She notes the $410 billion bill contains "$38.4 million of earmarks sponsored or co-sponsored by Obama's labor secretary, Hilda Solis; $109 million Hillary Clinton signed on to; and $31.2 million in earmarks sought by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood with colleagues." Dowd reposted the angry Twitter messages of Senator McCain, who she likens to King Lear after his amendment was rejected: On the $1 million marked for Mormon cricket control in Utah, McCain Tweeted: "Is that the species of cricket or a game played by the Brits?"

The National Enquirer has led on the John Edwards love child scandal from the start, so it's no surprise in their latest issue they have a fresh update. If you believe the tabloid, the former senator has apparently admitted to being the father of mistress Rielle Hunter's baby. "Edwards made the belated admission to his wife in an effort to stop ex-lover Rielle Hunter from going public" before Elizabeth Edwards' new book comes out, the Enquirer reports. "The last thing John wants right now is for Rielle to go public before Elizabeth's book comes out, make new headlines and trigger a nasty battle between the two women," a source told the Enquirer. After months of denials, Edwards admitted the affair to Nightline but maintained publicly he was not the baby's father.

And the finger-pointing continues. After reports surfaced that Rihanna was reuniting in with alleged abuser Chris Brown at Sean "P. Diddy" Combs' Miami Beach mansion, her fans are responding. "She's making it seem like it's OK to get hit by your boyfriend and get back together with him. She's a role model for kids. What is she thinking?" said one 17-year-old. Young Rihanna fans, initially supportive of the singer, are confused about the mixed messages to her fans. The director of the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline said, "The most common reaction is, 'Why does she stay? Why does she take that?' But the question should be, 'Why would someone be abusive to their partner?'" Both stars have remained mum since the incident on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

Has the RNC tired of new chairman Michael Steele already? So far, Politico recounts, “Steele has brushed back Rush Limbaugh, threatened moderate Republican senators, offered the ‘friggin’ awesome’ Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal some ‘slum love,’ called civil unions ‘crazy’ and promised more outreach to ‘urban-suburban hip-hop settings’ via an ‘off the hook’ public relations campaign.” Steele, meanwhile, has not appointed a chief of staff, a political director, a finance director or a communications director. The RNC’s executive suite is being run by a pair of consultants. “There’s frustration that there’s no discipline, no planning,” says a “well-known” Republican consultant. “He’s risking being overexposed by accepting every interview, which makes gaffes more likely.”

What makes Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke angry? “If there is a single episode in this entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I can’t think of one other than AIG,” Bernanke told lawmakers today. “AIG exploited a huge gap in the regulatory system, there was no oversight of the financial-products division, this was a hedge fund basically that was attached to a large and stable insurance company.” We imagine then that this news has him steaming: AIG still has four PR firms on its payroll.

After a three-day search of over 24,000 miles of ocean, the Coast Guard has called off its search for missing Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith, and former college player William Bleakley. The three men have been missing since their boat capsized during a fishing trip on Saturday. The boat and one survivor, Nick Schuyler, were found. According to the Associated Press, “Searchers spotted no signs of the men except for a cooler and a life jacket 16 miles southeast of the boat.”

A sneak peek of an upcoming play from the orchestra seats: The Daily Beast's Kevin Sessums spoke to Jane Fonda, who headlines the Moises Kaufman-directed, fourth-wall breaking 33 Variations. After a 40-year absence from the stage, Fonda plays a musicologist uncovering Beethoven's obsession with Anton Diabelli's waltz. The actress talked Ted Turner: "He's hysterical. You've got to have a sense of humor to be married to [him]"; her director: "I see him as a visionary and a conductor. And a weaver"; and ending her sabbatical from the stage: "All the plays I had been sent in the past were all old wine in a new cask." Kaufman has equally kind words for his leading lady: "I said to myself that a woman who measures time in the number of martinis is a woman I want to work with." The play—covering "obsession," "transcendence," and "intellectual passion"—opens March 9 on Broadway.

After visiting Israel on Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives today in the West Bank, where Haaretz reports Palestinian Authority president will ask her “to push Israel to freeze construction in West Bank settlements and open blockaded Gaza Strip borders.” Clinton voiced her support yesterday for a two-state solution, which she said “seems inescapable." “The main point,” said an Abbas aide, “is that the Israeli government needs to accept the two-state solution and ... stop settlement expansion.”

Senator Ted Kennedy will soon join the esteemed ranks of Ronald Reagan, General Norman Schwarzkopf, and Steven Spielberg. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce Queen Elizabeth II’s intention to grant the ailing politician an honorary knighthood during his address to a joint session of Congress today. According to the BBC, the 77-year-old politician will receive the honor for his “services to the U.S.-U.K. relationship and to Northern Ireland.” Since 1952, when the Queen took the throne, only 85 distinguished U.S. citizens have been awarded the honor.

Has life aboard a sinking ship ever been so luxurious? While Merrill Lynch lost $27.6 billion last year, the former investment bank still managed to pay out cash bonuses of more than $10 million to 11 executives and more than $3 million to 149 more. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating the $3.6 billion bonuses paid by Merrill in the days before it was taken over by Bank of America.

Will President Barack Obama be able to steer his budget through Congress? Some moderates are already uneasy: Politico reports on a closed-door meeting yesterday of 14 Senate Democrats and one independent discussing how “centrists in that chamber can assert more leverage on the major policy debates that will dominate this Congress.” Democrats skeptical so far include Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, and Evan Bayh. In The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, Bayh criticizes the House’s $400 billion appropriations bill. “The Senate should reject this bill,” he writes. “If we do not, President Barack Obama should veto it.” The thrust of his op-ed is the importance of fiscal responsibility, although he fails to mention that Obama does, in fact, plan to halve the deficit by the end of his term.

A problem still on Obama’s plate: How to manage the toxic assets plaguing the books of the banks? Sources say one solution being weighed is selling them off to a short list of investors—including hedge funds, private-equity firms, and Wall Street financiers—at a price high enough to help the banks and low enough to protect the government, which would still be on the hook to cap investor losses. The initiative, which would be announced in the coming weeks, could cost between—gulp—$500 billion to $1 trillion. “As expensive as it already has been, our effort to stabilize the financial system might cost more,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

“I promised a lot of people I'd slow down when I turned 80," architect Frank Gehry said at his birthday over the weekend. "I wasn't really planning to do it, but because of the economy, I wound up keeping that promise by accident." Gehry has recently seen two major projects—a mixed-use project near Disney Hall in Los Angeles and Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn—delayed indefinitely and his company Gehry Partners, which keeps offices in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, and L.A., has reduced its staff by 50 percent. Gehry complained too about his expensive reputation. "I don't know how to overcome this perception that I'm extravagant," Gehry said. "The cost of Disney Hall was only $215 million. I'm a leftie and I've always believed in doing things on a modest scale."

Here’s one rumor we wish for our eye’s sake wasn’t true: TMZ claims to have “absolute confirmation” that a delivery-room video of Nadya Suleman giving birth to her octoplets is being shopped around town for seven figures. It’s rumored the tape was shot with the consent of the unemployed mother of 14. Keep it off your Netflix queue if you know what’s good for you.

At this point, you have to admire the girl’s gumption. Last night jugglers, clowns, magicians, martial artists, acrobats and rings of fire were supporting acts during Britney Spears’ highly anticipated first tour date in New Orleans. “[The circus theme is the] perfect metaphor for her own life as the world's favorite fallen angel,” writes the atypically effusive Los Angeles Times. Notable songs included a cover of Marilyn Manson’s version of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and a Bollywood version of “Me Against the Music.” After a horrendous last year in the press, Spears appears well situated for a full comeback—the show was deemed “a success.”

In one week in Europe, Jennifer Aniston's hair will rack up $55,000 in expenses, the Daily Mail reports. On tour for her new movie Marley & Me, Jennifer has reportedly insisted her hairdresser, Chris McMillan, come along for the ride and fly in first class the whole way. For London's premiere last night, Chris treated Jen to a sleek, flatironned do with a center part. McMillan is reportedly doing the trip with all expenses paid at the same hotels Jen is staying at. On top of that, he is thought to charge some $2000 per day for his services.

This one definitely won't have bipartisan support: Iowa Representative Steve King will introduce a "Victory in Iraq" resolution on Wednesday, "chronicling the success of the troop surge in Iraq and warning the new Commander-in-Chief that if he changes strategy, he takes ownership of whatever happens on his watch," according to the Washington Times. The "largely symbolic" bill stands in direct opposition to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's 2007 proclamation that the US "lost" the Iraq War. King has visited Iraq six times and says, "Our military has achieved a definable victory, and I want to tell them that America appreciates them." Think Progress notes that, prior to the Victory in Iraq bill, King's most famous moment was when he once argued that Obama would turn the US into a "totalitarian dictatorship." King's bill as 30 co-sponsors but is unlikely to make much progress in a predominantly Democratic House.

Obama's asking, but it's anybody's guess what they'll tell him: The White House confirmed on Tuesday that President Obama is consulting military advisers on how to remove the ban on gays serving openly in the military. The administration declined to specify whether the ban could be lifted immediately, or whether Obama is calling for a longer term, in-depth study. The announcement makes good on an Obama campaign promise but doesn't lock him into pushing the controversial idea into action any time soon, the Associated Press reports.

Investors on Wall Street started buying up cheapened stocks this morning on optimism that there are buying opportunities in the weakened economic climate. The Dow Jones average jumped over 200 points at one point this afternoon as lawmakers on Capitol Hill worked on a solution for the mortgage mess. "Stocks are cheap and the sun will rise again," one manager told Bloomberg. "There's a ray of sunshine in two areas: China and housing. It's an incremental positive for both commodities and housing." The price of Treasures declined on talk that China is stepping up its own stimulus efforts. The country's Shanghai index rose 6.1 percent.