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.

What’s next at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.?  Less than 24 hours after the president’s prime-time news conference, it was announced that Obama would hold a virtual town hall meeting Thursday to give the public a chance to ask him questions.

Abortion clinic protester was arrested in Oakland. A California man who wanted to intervene on behalf of Black women seeking abortions could get jail time this week. Oakland pastor Walter Hoye was charged with unlawful intimidation of visitors to a medical clinic last summer when he stood on a sidewalk with a sign that read “Jesus Loves You and Your Baby. Can We Help You?” Lawyers for Hoye say that he offers to help Black women, in particular, because they form a majority of the more than 1 million annually who get abortions in America. Though a witness testified that he used no force, the pastor will go before a judge this week to be sentenced for allegedly violating statute. Supporters are rallying behind the pastor, who they say only exercised his free speech.

White House will review GM, Chrysler plans. Two of the former “Big Three” auto companies are expected to present their business plans for restructuring and longevity today in Washington. General Motors and Chrysler execs seeking government assistance in turning around their corporations will offer formal pitches to the Obama administration. “We’re anxious to look at the plans,” says Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman. Hindered by slow car sales and bleeding from worker layoffs, American automakers are another tender spot in the struggling economy. A boost in the form of government aid is sought by GM and Chrysler, in order to prevent the car industry from further collapsing. The companies will likely ask for billions in financial help.

 President Obama, whose No. 1 job these days is getting America back to work and injecting a dose of adrenalin into a sluggish economy, told a group of more than a dozen leading business leaders that his goal is to produce the kind of jobs that guarantee long-term economic stability. “But even as this plan puts Americans back to work today, it will also make those critical investments in alternative energy and safer roads, better health care and modern schools that will lay the foundation for long-term growth and prosperity,” Obama said of his stimulus package. Assembled at the White House meeting was a wide array of leaders from business and industry, including Debra Lee, CEO of BET Holdings; Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron Technology; John Bryson, CEO of Edison International; David Cote, CEO of Honeywell;; Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning; and Ron Williams, CEO of Aetna. “Most of the money we’re investing as part of this plan will get out the door immediately and go directly to job-creation, generating or saving three to 4 million new jobs,” the president said. “I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my administration accountable,” he said. The House overwhelmingly passed the bill Wednesday. Not a single House Republican stood by the president, however, squawking at the bill’s size and complaining that it doesn’t focus enough on tax relief.

Obama Wants Some Hoops in the White House President-elect Barack Obama says it’s time to get some hoops in the White House. He said he’s got no need for a bowling alley, but basketball is a whole different story. During his years as a student at Hawaii’s Punahou High School, he was a reserve player on the squad. Former all-star NBA shooting guard Reggie Miller said that if Obama does rip out the lanes and replace it with some hardwood, he’d like to get in on a game or two. “I would love to be the first to go there and play,” said Miller, who has an NBA all-time record of 2,560 three-pointers with the Indiana Pacers. Miller, 43, is now an NBA analyst for TNT. “I have never met [Obama] personally, but from afar, obviously, I admire the man and the courage and the strength, the wisdom. I respect how much of a family man he is,” Miller said.

Poll shows 75 percent are glad president’s leaving. Even many opponents of President-elect Barack Obama are likely among those who prefer him in the White House over George W. Bush: Three out of four people are glad to see Bush in his final days as America’s commander-in-chief, according to a CNN poll. More than a quarter – 28 percent – of people in the same survey rate Bush as the worst president in history. Even Republican presidential nominee John McCain was careful to distance himself from Bush during the election campaign. The results of CNN’s poll are not surprising, since Bush’s approval ratings have been droppin’ like they were hot in 2008.

The White House and Congress agree on auto bailout deal. The White House and congressional Democrats reached a tentative agreement Tuesday night to bail out the auto industry with $15 billion in loans. According to a Bush administration official and a Democratic aide, the plan maps out key points, but there are a few details still to work out before the bill is ready for a vote, which could take place as early as Wednesday. The bailout would allow GM and Chrysler to avert a threatening bankruptcy through March, and would designate a “car czar” to help the companies restructure. Ford Motor Co, which has not requested immediate help, has asked for a line of credit in case its finances worsen, according to Reuters. Congressional Democrats and the White House have agreed that the money would come from an Energy Department fund established in September to help Detroit make more fuel-efficient cars. Key Democrats urged both President Bush and President-elect Barack Obama to help rally bi-partisan support for the pending measure, Reuters reported. by Democrats and Republicans for the pending measure.

 Before Barack Obama officially becomes president, the Electoral College has to vote him in on December 15. The Electoral College is an appointed body created by the founding fathers, to be the last safeguard with the voting power to certify or reject the President-elect after the American public votes for him or her on Election Day. Now, a small group, mostly based in the South, has started an Internet campaign questioning Obama’s citizenship, claiming that he was born in Kenya. State officials in several states report receiving an increased number of letters from citizens requesting the name, identity and contact info for their states reps to the Electoral College. Traffic on one Web site supporting the campaign, Obamacrimes.com, has spiked to 105 million hits since Election Day, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Former presidential hopeful Alan Keyes is involved in the movement and lawsuits have been filed in two states in an effort to block Obama’s presidency. “People are going after electors now because they can only vote for a qualified candidate, and [Obama] hasn’t shown he’s qualified,” says Philip Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., a Democrat and lawyer who has filed two lawsuits calling Obama’s citizenship into question. Experts say the chances of Electoral College members voting against the will of the people are next to none.  But the movement’s members are actively contacting Electoral College voters, with audacity and hope, in a last-ditch effort to switch the outcome of the historic ‘08 elections.

A Chicago businesswoman is a new White House aide. President-elect Barack Obama has picked prominent Chicago businesswoman and socialite Desirée Rogers as the next White House social secretary, reports The New York Times. Rogers, 49, told the Times by phone: “One of the things that is particularly important for this administration is that we continue along this vein of making it everyone’s America. We are inviting all of America and all of the world to share in that splendor.” Read the rest here.

President elect heads to the White House.  President-elect Obama and his wife today head to the White House, where he will tour the historic first residence and meet with President Bush. First Lady Laura Bush is to show the next first lady, Michelle Obama, around the White House. Obama and Bush are expected to discuss the nation’s pressing issues. “I’m going to go in there with a sprit of bipartisanship,” he said this weekend. Members of Obama’s team appeared on the Sunday talk shows to discuss the transition. Obama confidant Valerie Jarrett said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that  the Obama administration “will be inclusive.” Rep. Rohm Emmanuel, on ABC’s “This Week,” echoed the same theme, dismissing Republicans’ concerns that he would take a tough, partisan approach to running the White House as chief of staff. He said Obama will maintain his pledge to govern in a bipartisan manner.