These are the talk shows for Sunday, January 11, 2009:

PREFACE:

Obama went on ABC’s This Week this morning, where he and host George Stephanopoulos demanded a sacrifice. From each and every American. For the common good, says he, The once we’ve appeased them, I suppose they’ll demand a second shrubbery, only slightly higher so you get a two-level effect with a little path running down the middle..

David Gregory, on MTP, killed time with tedious roundtables.

On FNS, Brit Hume interviewed the two Presidents Bush.

On FTN, Dick Durbin said that Roland Burris’s paperwork from the Secretary of State was strange; Burris said that it was fine and that he is the junior Senator from Illinois. John Boehner was confident that there will be no tax increases in Obama’s economic scheme.

And on Late Edition, Dick Cheney said that as a conservative, he would always like to see less government spending, except in wartime and in periods of national crisis.. Up next, Nancy Pelosi blamed Bush and the Republican Congress for last and this years’ huge deficits but promised that she will fix everything.

Read on for the show-b-show review:

OBAMA ON THIS WEEK On ABC, host George Stephanopoulos spent some time talking to Obama. He asked such hard ball questions as: “Does it feel like you’re President yet?” (Obama answered: No.)Something about “bells and whistles.”

Steph took questions from his viewers for to ask Obama, and he reported that most of them were versions of: “Can you fix this?” Obama’s answer was yes, but it will take a while. He maintained that this was the “worst recession since the Great Depression™.”

Steph asked Obama, who has promised some tax cuts in his package, if he really believed in that trickle-down nonsense or were these tax cuts really just a sop to the Republicans? Obama assured Steph that the vast bulk of his economic recovery program was comprised of new government spending, but that even though they will not help as much as this spending, the tax cuts do provide some sort of stimulus.

“We don’t want this to be a Christmas Tree.”

Obama declared that his spending plan must be passed by Presidents’ Day (February 16) or “Congress is going to hear from me.” (I’m sure Nancy likes Presidential threats.)

Steph asked Obama if everyone in the country is going to have to sacrifice something for “the greater good.” Obama answered in the affirmative, adding: “Everybody’s going to have to give.”

Obama told Steph that he thinks our country’s “basic principle” is protecting its citizens.

Obama said that Iran has been supporting terrorism and trying to build nukes, so he is going to try to “engage” them. (Predictions: The Mullah’s won’t marry him.) Obama also promised that Janet Napolitano, as DHS secretary, will help to keep us safe.

Obama promised to close Gitmo, but he explained that this cannot be done immediately. After all, he claimed, there are dangerous people imprisoned there. “It’s going to take time.”

A viewer wrote to ask if Obama would demand a special prosecutor for President Bush’s most severe war crimes, like torture and wiretapping. Obama admitted that he doesn’t “believe that anybody’s broken the law,” and that he is looking towards moving forward rather than dwelling in the past.

ROUNDTABLE ON MTP. David Gregory, host of Meet the Press, had as his opening guest, five notable journalists, et al., to discuss the economy.

TWO BUSHES ON FNS. Brit Hume hosted FOX News Sunday this morning, and he spoke to the two President’s Bush. The show will re-air on the FOX News Channel this afternoon.

DURBIN ON FTN. On CBS’ Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer spoke to Senator Dick Durbin about Roland Burris. He demands the Illinois Secretary of State’s signature on a Burris document. There are new, different documents which had been filed Friday which might or might not” comply with Senate rules.” He declared that the Senate has the power to stand in judgment of its members and decide who is seated.

Schieffer switched to Obama’s hugely expensive stimulus package, asking if it can pass. Durbin answered that this is the worst economic crisis since forever. They will act like quickly but prudently. Schieffer asked her about Nancy’s demand that there be no tax cuts for the “rich,” and Durbin said that he hadn’t heard that from the Senate.

ROLAND BURRIS ON FTN. Schieffer explained that he wasn’t sure what Durbin had just said, and Burris said that is appointment was valid through the law of the State of Illinois, everything was in order and in compliance with Senate rules.

He declared that he is “now the junior Senator from Illinois.” He did not dismiss the question of whether his attorneys will take this to court if they have to do so.

Schieffer asked Burris how he could accept an appointment from such a strange and corrupt character as Blago and expect to be taken seriously. Burris answered that he had nothing to do with Blago’s problems but that Blago’s choice of him was good for the people of Illinois.

BOEHNER ON FTN. Schieffer’s last guest was House Republican leader John Boehner. Asked about Burris, he said that he would not tread those waters. He wished the Senate the best.

Boehner said that in a time of great economic crisis, they don’t want to raise taxes on anyone; he is confident that there will be no tax hikes in the Obama scheme. He said that the plan needs to be done quickly but in a responsible way. He had hoped to have it done by mid-February, but when he hears concerns from people like David Obey, he sees that this may not be possible

He wants to lower taxes on families and small businesses .

Boehner asserted that no one has really seen this package, so no one really knows what they’re talking about.

CHENEY ON LE. On CNN, Late Edition host Wolf Blitzer interviewed Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney said that we “are in the middle of a serious recession.” He said that they have committed about half of the TARP funding; not half has been spent.

Cheney said that as a conservative, he would always like to see less government spending, except in times of war on national crisis, when we have no choice.

Blitzer suggested that the Bush Administration was complicit in the banking crisis for talking about an “Ownership Society” in the 2004 election. Cheney said that though he’s not an economist, he thinks that situation called for more federal regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Max.

Blitzer asked Cheney if this were the worst economic crisis we’ve face since the Great Depression, and Cheney responded that we cannot really say that.

NANCY ON LE. Wolfe talked to Nancy Pelosi about her plans to fix everything. She vowed to change the priorities in Obama’s legislation but she’s “proud” of the “dialogue” that’s taking place, including with some Republicans. She said that this must be done quickly, as the economy is worsening “by the day.”

Blitzer pointed out that the deficit last year will be a record $1.2-trillion. She blamed President Bush and “Republicans in Congress” for last year’s debt. (She’s run the show since 2007.) She said that repealing the Bush tax cuts would not be the wrong thing to do in a time of recession, as warned by economists; rather, it would be “correcting a mistake” which has led to the crisis.

She agreed with Blitzer that her majorities are so huge in the House that she doesn’t need Republican support, but that she wants it, basically, so she can say she has it. (The terms she used were “legitimacy” and “sustainability.”

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Have at it.