In the past year, top bailout recipients including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have dispatched dozens of former congressional staffers and ex-government officials to lobby their former bosses on the financial rescue package.

North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad is perhaps the most unusual of the so-called Friends of Angelo, who received favorable mortgage rates and VIP treatment from Countrywide Financial and its boss, Angelo Mozilo.

The campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have tried to get the endorsement of former Vice President Al Gore, but the Nobel Peace Prize winner is refusing to indicate a preference.

In fact, in the past week, Gore and Democratic party leaders have held private talks because some Democrats fear a bitterly divided convention could end up hurting the party in the general election, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Say “Bueller, Bueller” in a monotone and just about everybody in the free world knows you’re echoing Ben Stein as the drone of an economics teacher in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

But while Ferris gave himself a day off, it would seem that Stein just can’t stop doing something.

Lawyer, actor, author, economist, television performer, talk show guest, presidential adviser, Stein, 63, belongs in the multi-tasking hall of fame.

The story on Thanksgiving Day began bravely (ironically?) with five simple words: “Even lawyers need a hug.”

But if they’re a recent law school graduate already making well over $100,000 a year do they also need free milkshakes brought to their desks?

The “happiness committee” at the Washington office of the law firm Perkins Coie has answered that question in the affirmative, according to The New York Times.