Can you believe it? Clinton’s first pet, Socks the cat, is on the verge of death. I mean, I was surprised to find out the cat was still alive in the first place. I mean, the little rascal must almost be close to 20 years old!

For those of you that were too young to remember a cat named Socks, he was Clinton’s cat, procured in 1991, before the Clintons moved into the White House. When Socks entered the West Wing as first pet, he was only the fourth cat to occupy the White House, an interesting distinction. There he occupied his time by terrorizing helpless reporters during his many press briefings, helping President Clinton to draft anti-dog legislation during his time in office and hiding many times in the secret White House areas designated for emergency.

Of course, life wasn’t always catnip and Fancy Feast for the first cat. In 1997, Clinton replaced Socks as the first pet by adopting a Labrador Retriever named Buddy, which quickly became the choice White House pet by its occupants. Apparently, Socks despised Buddy, necessitating frequent flights from the rapid beast to higher books shelves and White House chandeliers.

Despite the animosity, Socks and Buddy penned a book together with First Lady Hillary Clinton detailing the many letters to two pets received during their time in office. But of course, the feline was not immune to scandal during his reign. GOP Rep. Dan Burton targeted the cat in his crusade against pork spending, seeing the cat’s futile attempts to correspond with children as a drain on the nation’s treasury. Socks was able to stave off impeachment, but not after many restless nights of play in the West Wing.

When the Clintons themselves left the White House in 2001, Socks parted ways with the back-stabbing, dog-loving Clinton, opting instead to adopt human Betty Currie, Clinton’s secretary. Socks has remained with Currie to this day, enjoying the time out of the spotlight. Sadly, though, Socks’ life is nearing an end.

Well, I wanted to ease back into blogging with something fun, this seemed appropriate. If Obama is looking for a cat with attitude, boy do I have one for him. I would certainly miss Sue if he had to take a term or two in the White House, but I believe he’s ready to answer his nation’s call to service. It’s a long shot, but my cat Sue is ready to fill the socks of Socks, if Obama asks. Still waiting for that call.

Other blog news: I’ll be doing a sort of Nick’s Blog 2.0 before inauguration day, hopefully. I know I’ve been less than a dutiful blogger lately, I’ve been enjoying the afterglow of my first successful semester. I have some exciting news I have neglected to share: I’ll be spending my summer in the Beltway! I’ll be covering real politics instead of musing about it from the safety of my own blog. Looking forward to it!

Anyways, I’ll see about cooking up something later for today. Thanks for reading!

This literally makes me sick. As much as I concede that the bailout will likely preserve American capitalism and hopefully protect most Americans from an economic collapse, I can’t help but read something like this and feel absolutely sick:

American Express seeking $3.5 billion as part of government bailout program
The Associated Press

NEW YORK — American Express Co. is seeking $3.5 billion in funds under the government’s plan to directly invest in financial firms, according to a Wednesday report in The Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources.

Earlier this week, American Express received approval from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company, which is a similar structure to traditional commercial banks. The credit card company now has access to financing from the Fed and the ability to grow a large deposit base.

The increased funding opportunities through government programs, including the potential $3.5 billion investment, could be a huge boost to American Express as one of its primary sources of funding has nearly disappeared amid the ongoing credit crisis.

American Express relied on packaging pools of credit card debt and selling them to investors in the securitization market. As investors have shied away from purchasing all but the safest forms of debt, the market for credit card-backed securities has dwindled.

American Express is also facing a slowdown in the broader economy, which has led to more customers missing payments and cutting back on spending, hurting the company’s profitability.

So you have a company here who preys on Americans, imposing short-term lending agreements meant to squeeze cash from consumers and pad company profits. Now facing a bleeding credit market that is likely now to spread to consumer credit cards, AMEX is crying for a bailout from the very taxpayers they are bankrupting out of house and home.

OK, that’s a bit of a stretch, but it still leaves me a bit queasy. I know credit card companies aren’t incarnations of the devil, but I do believe they craft credit agreements that are often not in the best interest for consumers they supposedly serve. While consumers have a burden in deciding which credit agreement they can live with, credit card companies also have obligations. For one, they shouldn’t lend to consumers that can’t pay their credit cards!

So if AMEX is bleeding money and can’t afford to take the limo to the office today or take that week-long spa trip this Christmas, excuse me while I play the world’s smallest violin. SUCK. IT. UP.

I only hope the federal government has the decency to impose the same credit terms on AMEX that they and many others impose on consumers. How does 25 percent interest sound to you?

Last month, it was confirmed that the economy has begun to shrink, the first real indicator that we are indeed in recession. So what does this mean at the local McDonald’s?

McDonald’s same-store sales rise 8.2 percent
By Lauren Shepherd
The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Consumers worldwide who are watching their spending bought more burgers and chicken breakfast biscuits at McDonald’s in October, leading to a big rise in sales at established locations for the fast-food leader.

McDonald’s Corp. said Monday its global same-store sales jumped 8.2 percent during the month. That beat the company’s own prediction for a rise similar to the one it recorded in its last quarter, when same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, jumped 7.1 percent worldwide.

The results were a bright spot in what was a dismal month for most restaurant operators. Many sit-down chains have reported steep declines in same-store sales during October as consumers grew more anxious about the possibility of a prolonged recession.

But U.S. consumers kept spending at McDonald’s, even as Congress passed a bill to bail out the economy and credit markets froze.

Same-store sales rose 5.3 percent in the United States, helped by new menu items, including the Southern Style Chicken sandwich, and continued demand for breakfast items. The company’s popular Dollar Menu and its annual Monopoly promotion also drew in value-hungry consumers.

Frankly, the recession isn’t going to be sending me to the drive through at McDonald’s. As a vegetarian, I’m relegated to salads, apple pies and sodas at Mickey-D’s. I mean, do you know that they put beef fat in french fries to make them taste better? I know I’m a leaf-eater, but that’s just gross anyway you cut it.

Now, In-N-Out Burger, that’s a fast food chain I can get behind in a recession (too bad I’m thousands of miles away from the nearest location.