From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Despite being at the center of a racial firestorm last month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scored an A on the latest report card from the NAACP," the Washington Post reports.

• The New York Times reports on how an "aggressive lobbying campaign" by lenders has jeopardized Democrats' plan to overhaul "the student loan business and ending government subsidies to private lenders."

• "The recession has battered the U.S. economy, but the lobbying industry is humming along in the nation's capital, even for companies that have shed thousands of jobs in the past year," USA Today reports. "The 20 trade associations and companies that spent the most on lobbying increased their spending by more than 20% in 2009 to $507.7 million, up from $418.2 million a year earlier, according to a USA TODAY analysis of reports compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics."

• "Chief executives at some of the biggest financial institutions are on a mission to repair their image with Congress and the public, part of a strategy to gain more influence over legislation that would overhaul financial regulations and intrude further into their business," the New York Times reports.

• "National Football League players have hired a new union chief from Washington's top lobbying firm and hired his former colleagues to help influence Congress," Bloomberg News reports.