From this morning's Earlybird:

"Retail associations, anti-tax groups and even some progressive organizations are dusting off battle plans to fight a potential new tax they say would cripple the economy and unfairly target the poorest Americans," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The idea of a value-added, or national retail, tax has quietly been floated by some Democrats as a possible way to raise revenue. And last week after reports surfaced that the Obama administration might be eyeing the idea more seriously, groups that oppose the tax kicked into gear."

"Hospitals plan to begin a lobbying campaign this week to prevent Congress from including charity care requirements in legislation to overhaul the health care system," the New York Times reports. "The Senate Finance Committee is considering a bipartisan proposal that would require hospitals to provide 'a minimum annual level of charitable care' as a condition for getting or keeping the tax-exempt status available to charitable organizations."

"Billing it as their largest health reform campaign ever, progressive leaders are planning to spend at least $82 million to push reforms that include a public health insurance plan option," Politico reports. "The campaign, expected to be announced Monday, is designed to put public plan opponents on notice that supporters are ready for a fight."