From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Political fund raising has suffered a rare decline since Election Day as corporate political-action committees have trimmed campaign donations amid an economic slump," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Contributions from company PACs fell 6% to $8.2 million in the first two months of the year, compared with the same period in 2007, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of the most recently available fund-raising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission."

• "Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) on Monday became the first Senate Democrat to oppose the card-check bill heavily backed by unions," The Hill reports. "In a statement, Lincoln pledged to vote against legislation formally known as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would allow workers to organize into unions more easily. She said she could not vote for the bill in its current form."

• "Retailers and merchants upped the ante last week in their long-standing fight against credit card interchange fees, barnstorming the House and Senate financial committees long considered the home turf of their foes," Roll Call (subscription) reports.