From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and ranking member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) continue closed-door negotiations on financial regulatory reform, activists are ramping up their lobbying campaign against Wall Street," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "When Congress overhauled the nation's telecommunications law in 1996, it happened only after an eight-year knock-down, drag-out battle among powerful stakeholders, including the cable and phone companies," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Today, another telecommunications lobbying slugfest looms with even more sharp-elbowed industry players, as lawmakers and federal agencies grapple with how to oversee the growing use of broadband technology."