Saturday is the slowest news day, the weakest readership day. Naturally, the Saturday during a holiday weekend has to be even deader than the typical saturday. When Bush was governor his announcement that he had appointed an African-American to a top Texas post came on the Saturday right before Christmas. Politicians are always trying to have it both ways. Bush attempted to get brownie points from the African-American community while trying not to rile the racists.
Old habits die hard.
Cheney quit working for Halliburton in August to run for office. Halliburton, by the way, is in Texas, not Wyoming. Bush, on the other hand, seldom worked at all last year but kept his title as Governor of Texas without pay. Since he really didn't do anything meaningful in an official capacity during that period, it was the politically wise thing to do. He also lived at the Governor's Mansion in Austin, so he saved some money there.