From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Financial services lobbyists have moved into hyperdrive, engaging in a behind-the-scenes counterattack after lawmakers trained their eyes on all bonuses paid out by struggling banks," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The Obama administration's threatened cuts in weapons systems and military hardware have defense contractors chugging Maalox and adjusting their business plans for a new era of slow-growing budgets," Politico reports. "But as they watch for exactly where" President Obama's "budget ax will fall, they also are exploring new areas of opportunity, guided by Defense Secretary Robert Gates' goal to shift spending away from massive weapons systems and toward the sorts of materials needed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

• There was lots of chatter yesterday over which lobbyists got language added to the federal stimulus bill to make sure that already-existing contracts for bonuses at companies receiving federal bailout money were honored. Turns out it wasn't a lobbyist. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., "told CNN Wednesday that he was responsible for the language.  Dodd said that "administration officials pushed for the language to an amendment designed to limit bonuses and 'golden parachutes' at those companies."

• "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Wednesday got drawn further into the drama over Sen. Roland Burris' (D-Ill.) controversial appointment, as they found themselves in the uncomfortable position of giving information to the Senate Ethics Committee about the embattled Senator's questionable push to join the world's most exclusive club," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "A proposal to boost auto sales by offering government-funded discounts to consumers who trade in old cars for new, more efficient models got a boost Wednesday from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi," D-Calif., the Wall Street Journal reports. "But the proposal, which also is supported by Detroit auto makers and the United Auto Workers, is coming under fire from some foreign auto makers critical of a provision limiting the vouchers to vehicles built in North America. That limitation would exclude some of the most fuel-efficient cars and trucks sold in the U.S., including the Prius from Toyota Motor Corp."