This Week's Burning Questions

(Feb. 8) -- Take a news break over the snowy Super Bowl weekend? AOL News' guide to what you missed -- and a look at the questions plugged-in people will be pondering this week:

What's President Obama's Real Goal for His Bipartisan Health Care Summit?

President Barack Obama's announcement on Sunday that he would invite Republican leaders to a health care summit later this month shakes up the stalemate on health care, suggesting that the president is willing to "start over" on his top domestic priority in order to win bipartisan support. But the move comes as the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress continue to look for a way to pass the comprehensive package that was sidetracked with Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts as the "41st" Republican senator. Seen in that light, the presidential invite could be a mere political ploy -- a strategy of publicly reaching out to the GOP for the sake of appearances while still moving ahead with the Democratic bill that has been in the works for months. The Washington Post quoted a White House official as emphatically denying that the president was "starting over" on health care and indicating that Democrats could still move forward on health care without GOP support. Obama's gambit, disclosed in a pre-Super Bowl CBS interview with Katie Couric, could help him buy time and win cover for passing an increasingly unpopular health care bill over Republican objections, or it could push the process into the political meat-grinder that will be the 2010 midterm elections, killing any lingering momentum from 2009 and with it, any chance of achieving far-reaching reform.

Will the GOP Embrace Sarah Palin as Its Leader for 2010?

The headlines coming out of Sarah Palin's fiery speech to the Tea Party convention on Saturday addressed her appearance in the context of 2012 -- and indeed, Palin told Fox News that she would consider running for president in two years. But the biggest immediate question from Palin's political re-emergence concerns 2010. Since her ill-fated vice presidential run in 2008, Palin has maintained a large and enthusiastic GOP following, but some Republican leaders have been reluctant to embrace her. The victorious Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, Bob McDonnell, did not seek her help in his 2009 race, and newly elected Sen. Scott Brown claimed to have forgotten ever speaking with her on the night of his win in Massachusetts. So will Palin's bold turn in Nashville vault her back into the Republican establishment's good graces as it tries to win back Congress, or will it push her further toward the realm of an outsider who prefers to buck the party as much as lead it? Palin left her preference vague, saying that while the GOP and the Tea Party movement should merge, neither needed a single leader to thrive. The answer could come quickly as Republican hopefuls for the House and Senate decide how to frame their candidacies and which leaders to rally around.

Who'll Get the Tougher Grilling: Toyota or Ray LaHood?

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Toyota North America chief Yoshimi Inaba will each testify Tuesday in the first of a series of congressional hearings on Toyota's major safety recalls, which continued Sunday with news that the 2010 Prius hybrid will be added to the list. Inaba will surely come under fire from lawmakers for Toyota's response to the crisis, but LaHood will also have to answer questions about whether government oversight of Toyota was strong enough following the first announcement of recalls last fall. While LaHood has been the front man for the Obama administration's response, he stumbled last week when he said Toyota owners should stop driving their cars, only to backtrack on his comments hours later. This will be the first chance lawmakers have to channel consumer outrage at the recalls, so expect both officials to get a dressing-down.

Will Super Bowl Ad Backfire on the Census Bureau?

Speaking of congressional hearings, what would normally be a dry check-up on the 2010 Census could become much livelier following the Census Bureau's decision to spend a reported $2.5 million to air a celebrity-filled ad during the Super Bowl. Census officials are due to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, but with Washington in full budget belt-tightening mode, Republicans were criticizing the bureau for the ad even before Sunday's game. Responding to criticism in real time on Sunday, the Census Bureau sent out the following tweet defending the ad during the game: "If 1% of folks watching #SB44 change mind and mail back #2010Census form, taxpayers save $25 million in follow up costs."

What Does the New York Times Have on David Paterson?

That question burst out into the open over the weekend as rumors rippled through the blogosphere that the Times was preparing a damaging article on New York Gov. David Paterson. One thinly sourced account claimed Paterson would resign today following publication of the article, much as Eliot Spitzer did nearly two years ago after the Times disclosed his involvement with a prostitution ring. The governor's office vehemently denied that account -- but the Associated Press is reporting that Paterson met over the weekend with Democratic leaders to discuss his "political future." Paterson has suffered from anemically low approval ratings and some state Democrats want him to drop his plans for a re-election bid and allow popular state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to run in his place. Oh, and the Times article that started the scuttlebutt? It hasn't run...yet.