The first family marks this week by adding more “firsts” to the 80-plus days they’ve been in Washington by attending their first church service, hosting their first White House Easter Egg Roll, and rolling out the first family dog. Click for more.

Black lawmakers headed to Cuba over the weekend and met with President Raul Castro and former President Fidel Castro. The delegations discussed opening trade, travel and getting cooperation to combat drug and human trafficking. Click for more.

What a mess!  For the first time, the White House has abandoned the “first-come, first-served” distribution of tickets for the White House Easter Egg roll in lieu of online ticketing.

Black lawmakers are skeptical about GOP efforts to force Michelle Obama and future first ladies to do more of their policy work publicly and with congressional oversight.

Help is on the Way
This week started off great for the secretary of the Treasury. On Monday, Tim Geithner laid out his “toxic assets” purchase plan for rebounding the economy and earned rave reviews. The Stock Market soared 500 points, and the president named three top leadership folks. More here.

Michelle Obama is on Her Game
While the president has been keeping the East Room abuzz and wrangling with Congress over spending bills – the self-proclaimed “Mommy-in-Chief” has been just as busy settling into the White House and staking her claim as an advocate for military families.  Read more.
Cheney Blasts Obama

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who along with his former boss have been the subject of investigation rumors for the run-up to the war in Iraq, blasted the new commander in chief Sunday, saying that President Barack Obama is making America more vulnerable to terrorism and future war. Read the rest.

Obama: We Must ‘Jolt Our Economy’ President Obama makes his case for his economic plan during his first nationally televised news conference.  He called on his critics to “set aside” differences and work with him to get the economy and the American people back in working order. “It is absolutely true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or economic growth. That is and must be the role of the private sector. But at this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life,” he said in his opening statement. Click for more.

Obama wants 2 million jobs by 2110. Today when President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden announce their hand-picked economic team, the next hurdle will be explaining how they plan to accomplish Obama’s promise to add 2.5 million jobs to the workforce.  Read more at Pamela on Politics. Will the jobs and the job-seekers be a match?

Black lawmakers welcome a new member. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus welcome a new member and select new leadership for the 111th Congress. Read more at Pamela on Politics.

Obama will govern with all eyes on him. Since Election Day, I have traveled to three cities by plane, train and automobile and spoken with complete strangers anxious to discuss the victory of President-Elect Barack Obama.  I overheard conversations on cell phones, in restaurants’ and while waiting in line about the impact of his win and the enormity of its historical impact. Read more at Pamela on Politics.
It’s Official: Obama wins N. Carolina. President-elect Barack Obama officially has put North Carolina in his win column, The Associated Press reported Thursday.  Among the findings in exit polling data posted to CNN.com: Some 60 percent of North Carolina voters said the economy was their No. 1 concern in the election. Among those voters, Obama defeated his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, 52 percent to 48 percent. The AP called North Carolina for Obama on Thursday after determining that the ballots yet to be counted in the state aren’t enough for McCain to make up his 13,000-vote deficit. Obama won the presidency Tuesday night after garnering well over 270 electoral votes in states across the country, but North Carolina had remained too close to call. Tuesday’s election marks the first time that North Carolina has voted for a Democrat in the presidential race since the state went for Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Obama to hold first news conference. Barack Obama is to hold his first post-election news conference this afternoon, after meeting with his team of economic advisers, according to press reports. Meanwhile, the man Obama chose to serve as chief of staff has agreed to take the position. After days of speculation, the sharp-tongued, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) made it official Thursday, and has agreed to give up his congressional seat to take a position in the Obama administration. He is expected to be the “tough cop” to Obama’s “good-cop” role. Obama will also meet with his team of economic advisers as he seeks economic advice from leaders of business, government and academia to stabilize the struggling economy – the nation’s No. 1 concern – his first order of public business. The 47-year-old president-elect will officially take office in Jan. 20.