Obama says farewell to the Senate. President-elect formally resigned from the U.S. Senate on Sunday after a little less than four years of service. He did it with a thank you letter to his Illinois constituents, which began “Today, I am ending one journey to begin another,” and was published in the state’s newspapers. In the letter, Obama wrote, “The challenges we face as a nation are now more numerous and difficult than when I first arrived in Chicago, but I have no doubt that we can meet them. For throughout my years in Illinois, I have heard hope as often as I have heard heartache. Where I have seen struggle, I have seen great strength. And in a state as broad and diverse in background and belief as any in our nation, I have found a spirit of unity and purpose that can steer us through the most troubled waters….With your help, along with the service and sacrifice of Americans across the nation who are hungry for change and ready to bring it about, I have faith that all will in fact be well. And it is with that faith, and the high hopes I have for the enduring power of the American idea, that I offer the people of my beloved home a very affectionate thanks.” Illinois’ Democratic governor is expected to name Obama’s replacement by the end of the year.

A cell phone helps police rescue a Delaware shooting victim. Wilmington, Del., Police used the cell phone of a shooting victim to locate the victim of a gunshot. The 37 year-old Wilmington man had been shot in the neck with a shotgun, but did not know where he was when he contacted police about 6:30 Saturday night. Authorities say they were able to get a general location by tracking which cell phone towers had handled his call. Once police were in the vicinity, they heard the man pounding on a shed door. He was then taken to Christiana Hospital where he is in critical, but stable, condition. There’s no word on what prompted the shooting.

A showdown is expected over an automaker bailout plan.  Proponents, mostly Democrats, say $25 billion of the $700 billion Wall Street rescue package should be used to bail out the failing U.S. auto industry.  “The repercussions would be dire” if the nation allowed the auto industry to collapse, President-elect Obama said on CBS’s 60 Minutes Sunday. But hard-line opponents, mostly Republicans, brand the industry a “dinosaur” that should be allowed to fail. That’s how the debate is expected to go when Senate Democrats introduce legislation today to attach an auto bailout to a House-passed bill that extends unemployment benefits. But if the talk on Sunday news shows is any indication, the measure faces an up-hill battle in the Senate lame-duck session. Sens. Richard Shelby of Alabama and Jon Kyl of Arizona said it would be a mistake to use any of the Wall Street rescue money to prop up the automakers because a bailout would only postpone the industry’s demise. “Companies fail everyday and others take their place. I think this is a road we should not go down,” Shelby, the senior Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said Sunday. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) also said that automakers are trying to adapt to a changing consumer market, but need immediate help to survive the economic crisis. “This is a national problem,” Levin said Sunday. “The auto industry touches millions and millions of lives.” A White House alternative to the Democrats’ plan would allow the car companies to divert the $25 billion in loans Congress previously approved to develop fuel-efficient vehicles and use the money for more immediate needs. Congressional Democrats oppose the White House plan as shortsighted. A vote on the measure is expected as early as Wednesday. Majority Democrats will need at least a dozen GOP votes in the Senate to prevent opponents from blocking their measure – assuming all Senate Democrats support it, reports The Washington Post.

Obama asks Bush to help struggling automakers. The struggling auto industry was foremost on the mind of president-elect Barack Obama as he visited the White House Oval Office for the first time on Monday, according to news reports. Obama put himself in the middle of a political standoff between the White House and Democrats on Monday as he asked President Bush in a meeting at the White House to support immediate emergency aid to the automakers, according to The New York Times. Read the rest here.