Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

On Friday we asked Fixistas to offer up their most creative caption to the photo above. We filed through the entries over the weekend and came up with a few of our favorites.

The winner?

It's "jrosco3" with this gem: "Speaker Pelosi flashes the first ever trillion dollar smile."

Well played sir.

Others we really enjoyed:

"(Sung)
Just keep smiling...
Just keep smiling...
Just keep smiling, smiling, smiling..."
Posted by: Blake83

"We're not really gloating. Honest. It would be unseemly, unprofessional, and unhelpful."
Posted by: Rivery

"Psst, Nancy, you're partisanship is showing!"
Posted by: codeker

"Yes, that's right Mr. Boehner, NONE of us read the bill. What's your point?"
Posted by: rjjrdq

President Obama will sign the economic stimulus bill that passed Congress late Friday into law tomorrow in Colorado, the first -- and perhaps most easily accomplished -- of a series of ambitious initiatives the president is set to undertake in his first 100 days in office.

Obama and his senior advisers lauded the passage of the $787 billion stimulus bill during a slew of media appearances over the weekend but also made clear that the legislation was simply a first step in a broad-scaled campaign to -- among other things -- restructure the automobile industry, re-start the housing market, firm up banks, and begin to reduce a burgeoning debt.

"This historic step won't be the end of what we do to turn our economy around, but rather the beginning," Obama said in his Saturday radio and You Tube address. "The problems that led us into this crisis are deep and widespread, and our response must be equal to the task."

White House senior adviser David Axelrod echoed that sentiment during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Said Axelrod:

"We're faced with an economic emergency here, and we're going to have to move forward quickly on, on a number of things: on financial regulatory reform, so we have some rules of the road governing the markets; on financial stability, we have to move forward on that. There are a range of things we have to do, because the country's in trouble right now."

Obama's schedule this week bears out the fact that he will not linger on his stimulus success for long.

Today the White House announces the formation of a Presidential Task Force on Autos designed to oversee the re-structuring of the flailing American automobile industry. The group includes officials across a wide variety of government agencies but will be led by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner as well as Ron Bloom who is joining the administration as a senior adviser at Treasury, according to White House officials. Bloom previously worked at the investment bank Lazard Freres before signing as a special assistant to the president of the U.S. Steelworkers, a perch from which he has played a critical role in the re-shaping of the organization. (White House officials insisted that Bloom will not be the "car czar" but rather a key member of the task force.)

On Wednesday -- roughly 24 hours after formally signing the stimulus bill in Denver -- Obama will be in Phoenix to roll out his legislative plans to limit home foreclosures and encourage Americans to begin buying houses again.

A week from today Obama will convene a fiscal responsibility summit in Washington designed to examine entitlement reform -- perhaps the stickiest wicket of all policy proposals made during the early days of his presidency.

"Now comes the hard part," wrote the Post's David Broder in his Sunday column, adding that the stimulus plan was relatively "easy pickings" compared to the other major initiatives Obama has in mind.

Broder is right. And, the president seems to know it -- telling a group of Post reporters and editors last month that "we have to signal seriousness in this by making sure that some of hard decision are made under my watch and not under somebody else's."

The next few weeks -- and months -- seem destined to be make or break moments for the president's first four years as he seeks to tackle a series of intractable problems without obvious solutions.

Sked Stuff: President Obama and his senior aides have obviously concluded that the less time he spends in the White House, the better for him politically. Obama was on the road all but one day last week and keeps up that frenetic (for the Fix at least) pace again this week. After returning later today from a long weekend in Chicago, Obama sets out for Denver, Phoenix and Canada -- his first trip outside the country since being sworn in -- later this week.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Earlier this afternoon, the House passed President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package -- without a single vote in favor of the plan from a Republican. Tonight, the Senate is expected to approve the legislation thanks to continued support of three Republicans -- Sens. Olympia Snowe (Maine), Susan Collins (Maine) and Arlen Specter (Pa.) -- for the bill.

The photo above was taken shortly after the House passed the bill this afternoon. Offer your best caption in the comments section below. We take all kinds of captions -- from the serious to the silly to the sublime. We'll sort through them and post the best of the best this weekend.

Incumbent Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) could all face serious challenges in 2010.

The withdrawal of Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) as President Obama's commerce secretary nominee on Thursday was initially greeted with relief by Senate Republicans who believed that the incumbent might now stay on and seek reelection in 2010.

That relief quickly turned sour, however, as Gregg made it clear that despite the fact he was returning to the Senate for the moment, he would not be running for reelection next fall.

Gregg's decision leaves Senate Republicans right where they started last week -- with yet another highly competitive open seat to defend. If you're counting that's five open GOP seats -- New Hampshire, Missouri, Florida, Kansas and Ohio -- all before the first congressional recess, which begins today.

The good news for Republicans is that it's hard to see any other retirements in their ranks beyond Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), which would be greeted with a massive sigh of relief within the strategist community given the incumbent's poor fundraising and dismal poll numbers.

But, any other retirement surprises for Republicans (and there always seems to be one or two every election cycle) would further hamstring GOPers before 2010 even arrives.

As always, the number one ranked race on the Line is the most likely to switch parties in 2010. Kudos or complaints are welcome in the comments section below.

To the Line!

10. Connecticut (D): It's hard to describe how shocked we were about the extent of the political damage Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has incurred in the Fix's home state over the past few years. The recent Quinnipiac poll was an eye-opener about the depth of Dodd's Countrywide problems, and even Democrats we talk to in the state acknowledge that this race has trouble written all over it for Dodd. Still, Republicans don't yet have a candidate -- former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) is the most likely -- and Dodd should benefit from the significant Democratic underpinnings of Connecticut. One to watch for sure. (Previous ranking: N/A)

9. Nevada (D): The obvious parallel for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D) 2010 reelection race is the 2008 Kentucky Senate race. Democrats watched a series of top-tier candidates take a pass on a race against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) before convincing wealthy businessman Bruce Lunsford to run. Lunsford didn't win but he made life very uncomfortable for McConnell for all of 2008. Ditto Republicans and Reid. Rep. Dean Heller and former Rep. Jon Porter are taking a look at the race for Republicans but even if neither runs, Republican strategists will find someone to make a real run at Reid. Beating him is an entirely different discussion as Reid is a very crafty politician. (Previous ranking: N/A)

8. Pennsylvania: Sen. Arlen Specter (R) got good news and bad news since the last Line. The good: former Rep. Pat Toomey, who very nearly ousted Specter in the 2004 Republican primary, is focused on running for governor. The bad: Democrats landed a solid recruit in Joe Torsella, the former head of the National Constitution Center and a close ally of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D). It's not clear whether national Democrats have settled on Torsella as their candidate but there is a widespread belief that Specter can be beaten next November. Of course, that's been the widespread belief since Specter was elected to the Senate in 1986 1980. (Previous ranking: 8)

7. Louisiana (R): Political races in Louisiana tend to be slow to develop and this cycle is playing out according to form. It's a certainty that Sen. David Vitter (R) will face a serious race -- perhaps in a primary and a general -- after his acknowledgment of involvement in the "D.C. Madam" prostitution ring. The media stunt campaign of a adult film star further complicates Vitter's attempts to distance himself from the problems in his past. Democrats would like Rep. Charlie Melancon to run but the Congressman has not said anything publicly about whether he is interested in a statewide contest. Other Democrats mentioned include former Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Shaw Group CEO Jim Bernhard. (Previous ranking: 5)

6. Illinois (D): This race's spot on the Line is entirely dependent on whether appointed Sen. Roland Burris (D) runs for reelection. If he does, expect Republicans to make a major push here -- tying Burris to disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. If Burris steps aside, this contest will likely disappear from the Line entirely as Illinois is a strongly Democratic state and any number of qualified candidate -- state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Rep. Jan Schakowsky -- would step forward and run. (Previous ranking: 6)

The withdrawal of Sen. Judd Gregg as President Obama's nominee for commerce secretary stunned the political world and provided yet more evidence of the challenges inherent in fulfilling the chief executive's pledge to fundamentally alter the capital's partisan calculus.

In naming Gregg to Commerce, Obama had landed something of a coup by putting a conservative Republican (certainly on fiscal matters) in a Cabinet position -- a visible symbol that he was genuinely committed to doing things differently.

But, Gregg's withdrawal -- and his statement that he was simply too ideologically out of step with the administration to serve -- is clearly a setback for Obama and the cause of bipartisanship in Washington more generally.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel pledged in an interview with reporters late Thursday that while Gregg's move was a disappointment, it would not discourage Obama's outreach to Republicans.

"The president is always going to reach out to people of both parties," Emanuel told the Post's Mike Shear and Alec MacGillis. "That's what he's always wanted. He wants a lot of ideas."

Others, however, pointed to Gregg's decision as a sign that bipartisanship is simply not an achievable goal, that the differences between the two parties are significant and deep, and can't (and shouldn't) be reconciled by any political figure.

"We can talk about bipartisanship all day, but almost no one gets elected to be bipartisan and we have a system that does not foster cooperation," said Terry Nelson, a longtime Republican operative and one-time campaign manager for Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) presidential bid.

Donna Brazile, campaign manager for then Vice President Al Gore's 2000 presidential bid, sounded a similar note. "I don't believe that most D.C. politicians have the 'stomach' for bipartisanship because they don't know how to define it," she said.

Among others on both sides, the finger pointing over the Gregg withdrawal was underway in full force.

"The longer the Washington Republican Party holds on to old plays from an old political playbook, fighting a popular Democratic President and a whole new set of 21st century political realities, the more likely they are to suffer in the eyes of the American people," predicted Simon Rosenberg, the head of NDN, a progressive think tank.

Not so, retorted Republican lobbyist Alex Vogel. The Gregg decision "highlights that hyper-partisan actions like taking the census and moving it into the White House are inconsistent with campaign messages about being post-partisan," he said.

What's clear is that the immediate impact of the Gregg withdrawal will be to harden partisans of both sides in their entrenched positions. Its long term impact on Obama's presidency is far more of a guessing game as, if the president makes good on his pledge to continue to reach out, the political landscape might look very different in a year's time.

For the moment, however, Gregg stands as a visible symbol of just how tough it is to break the partisan gridlock that grips Washington.

Sked Stuff: The Obamas head back to Chicago for the long holiday weekend -- the first time the First Family has been to the Windy City since early January. Obama is at his best (as this week demonstrated) when he is out of Washington as it allows him to paint the nation's capitol as part of the problem. David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the president, told the Post's Lois Romano that he thinks of himself as a "Chicagoan on assignment," adding: "I think Washington in many ways is a very insular place, a kind of echo chamber."

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, had harsh words for some of former President Bush's closest advisers during an interview with the Post's Lois Romano yesterday, dismissing as "intramural stuff" the critiques offered by the former Administration.

Axelrod praised Bush for his handling of the transition while sharply criticizing some of the former president's advisers.

Axelrod said he was "disappointed" by former Vice President Dick Cheney's comments regarding the planned closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison and the suggestion that it would increase the likelihood of a terrorist attack; he described himself as "surprised" by former White House chief of staff Andy Card's remark that not wearing a jacket in the Oval Office was disrespectful. (Make sure to read the Post's Dan Eggen's terrific piece on the variety of criticism from former Bush aides toward the Obama White House.)

But, Axelrod saved his strongest condemnation for the man who held his job in the Bush White House: Karl Rove. Of Rove's criticism of Obama's economic stimulus plan, Axelrod said: "The last thing that I think we are looking for at this juncture is advice on fiscal integrity or ethics from Karl Rove -- anyone who's read the newspapers for the last eight years would laugh at that."

Rove did not return an email seeking comment. But, he did pen an op-ed today in the Wall Street Journal in which he starkly criticized the way Obama has gone about addressing the financial crisis and heaped praise on congressional Republicans for how they have handled the matter.

"Mr. Obama, for all his talents, has already re-energized the GOP and sparked a spending debate that will last for years," wrote Rove. "The president won this legislative battle, but at a high price -- fiscally and politically."

White House officials have generally been loathe to criticize the Bush administration directly -- believing that the American people want to move forward, not look backward.

But, Axelrod's comments show the disdain that he clearly holds for some within Bush's inner circle.