From this morning's Earlybird:

• "President Obama and his allies in Congress have given the gun lobby a string of victories - from forgoing new gun laws to easing restrictions already on the books - since Mr. Obama took office and Democrats assumed complete command of political power in Washington," the Washington Times reports. "Gun-control groups blame the Obama White House for the setbacks, saying the administration kept mum on firearms issues even when shooting incidents killed six at a North Carolina nursing home in March and left 13 dead at an upstate New York immigration center in April."

• "The White House has yet to nominate anyone for the top food safety slot at the Agriculture Department, but public health and consumer advocates have already started a quiet campaign against the job's frontrunner," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Michael Doyle, a professor at the University of Georgia and director of the school's Center for Food Safety, is certainly no registered lobbyist. But his critics charge that he's too cozy with the meat industry that he would be in charge of regulating as undersecretary for food safety at USDA."

• "A battle royal is brewing on Capitol Hill for an already bruised business community," Politico reports. "The Treasury Department this week is expected to unveil its plan for revamping the patchwork of agencies that oversee the financial industry. Judging from the talk of add-ons from Congress and even the White House, some business lobbyists figure the package might as well come with Santa wrapping, tinsel and lights."

• "The definition of renewable energy seems clear cut: The sun continues to shine, so solar energy is renewable. The wind continues to blow, so wind turbines churn out renewable power," the New York Times reports. "But industries are now pushing to have a growing number of other technologies categorized as renewable -- or at least as environmentally advantageous. They include nuclear power plants and the burning of garbage and even the waste from coal mines."