From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A liberal coalition that has been highly critical of the Senate health care legislation has launched a campaign to prod Congressional negotiators to adopt a final measure that resembles the more expansive House version," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Health Care for America Now, which has already poured millions of dollars into advertisements that promote health care reform, Tuesday began running ads on cable television that tout the House bill."

• "The 2010 federal spending bills disclose $10.2 billion for pet projects inserted by members of Congress, a drop of nearly a third since 2008, an analysis of the bills shows," USA Today reports. "The 9,297 'earmarks' reported in spending legislation for 2010 were down from 11,282 reported for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to data compiled by the non-partisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. The 2009 earmarks were worth $14.3 billion."

• "A Pennsylvania defense contractor that received earmarks from Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has been barred from receiving further government contracts after allegedly offering kickbacks to another federal contractor," Politico reports.