**President Obama
*Address to Congress: "Obama aides say he'll use the prime-time setting -- his most high-profile platform since being sworn in last month -- to delve into a broader range of issues that he has not yet devoted significant attention to because of the focus on the stimulus package." Education, health care, energy and the budget deficit will be tied together "into a larger discussion about his vision for the economic growth of the country," Politico's Martin reports.

*Ahead of that speech, new polls find that the president "is benefiting from remarkably high levels of optimism and confidence among Americans about his leadership, providing him with substantial political clout as he confronts the nation's economic challenges and opposition from nearly all Republicans in Congress," the New York Times reports.

*Obama-McCain Interaction: The highlight of yesterday's fiscal responsibility summit was the back and forth between Obama and John McCain over Pentagon procurement. McCain said the Marine One contract was a "graphic demonstration of how good ideas have cost the taxpayers an enormous amount of money." And Obama said it was an example of procurement "gone amok" and that he thinks the existing White House helicopter fleet "seems perfectly adequate."

*The L.A. Times: "After eight years of budget practices that often camouflaged federal spending, President Obama is planning a new strategy of putting on the books as many costs as possible to demonstrate the extent of the nation's economic troubles, senior White House officials say."

*Bank Takeover?: "The Obama administration yesterday revamped the terms of its emergency aid to troubled financial firms, setting a course that could culminate with the government nationalizing some of the country's largest banks by taking a controlling ownership stake," writes the Washington Post. "Administration officials said the change, which allows banks to repay the government with common stock rather than cash, is intended to give banks more capital to withstand a continued deterioration of the economy, and not to nationalize the banking system."

*Commerce Secretary?: "The White House could soon announce that former Washington Gov. Gary Locke has been tapped as the Commerce secretary -- the third choice, and they hope the last. "Locke spent two terms governing Washington during a period of economic expansion, though his popularity waned during his final years in office. The first Chinese-American governor, Locke gave the Democratic response to President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address."

*Rahm's Living Quarters: "White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's Washington lodging arrangements, a rent-free basement room in a Capitol Hill home owned by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and her pollster husband, have inspired debate among tax experts and in Republican-leaning parts of the blogosphere," reports the Hartford Courant.

**Polls
*WashPost-ABC Poll: Approval Ratings -- Obama 68%, Dems in Congress 50%, GOP in Congress 38%.

*CBS News-NYTimes Poll: 63% Obama approval rating.

*Gallup: 74% of Americans want Obama to mention some aspect of the economy in his speech tonight -- 18% jobs, 15% banking situation, 14% stimulus package, 11% housing crisis, 10% healthcare.

*For all of Obama's approval ratings polls, go to the RCP Polls page.

**Congress
*$410 billion omnibus spending bill: "The 'omnibus' spending package unveiled today by House Democrats would combine nine annual appropriations bills left over from last year that are needed to fund programs such as NASA and the national parks through September, the end of the fiscal year. Total spending on the programs would grow by $32 billion, or about 8.5 percent, from last year. The House plans to vote on the measure later this week, and the Senate will consider it later," reports Bloomberg.

*D.C. Voting Rights Bill: "District of Columbia voting rights advocates say they are poised to win a crucial vote Tuesday in the Senate, following a day of last-minute lobbying for a bill that would provide the federal city with its first full seat in the House."

*Hoyer-Cantor Feud: "In a town where dogs are offered as the best substitute for friends, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer and House Minority Whip Roy Blunt always appeared to be the rare exception. No one is saying the same about Hoyer and Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, Blunt's successor," writes Politico's O'Connor.

*The Hill: "House Democrats unveiled a wide-ranging bill on Monday evening to prop up the housing market and most contentiously, empower bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages."

**Campaign Stuff
*WashPost's Philip Rucker writes that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is "the anointed boy wonder of a Republican Party left battered by the 2008 election and hungry for new leadership. Jindal's audition on the national stage is tonight, when he delivers his party's response to President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress."

*NY-20: "The biggest political matchup in the country right now pits a seasoned Republican lawmaker against an unknown Democrat in one of New York's most traditionally conservative Congressional districts," writes the NYTimes.

**Pop Culture Alert: Mos Def, two and a half hours late to his show at the 9:30 Club in Northwest D.C. last night, in a quick freestyle explaining his tardiness: "May not be on schedule/But I'm right on time/It's not my fault/It's Continental Airlines."

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli