From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A lively mix of regulars and families with small children ate lunch at a kosher pizzeria in northwest Baltimore on Wednesday, and several said they have no problem with the restaurant's new employee: ex-Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• The Federal Communications Commission "came under fire Tuesday from public-interest groups demanding that the agency -- which regularly trumpets its openness -- disclose its private meetings with telecommunications industry lobbyists," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "A handful of Members of Congress have accepted more than $100,000 worth of free international travel from the religious organization affiliated with the 'C Street house,' a Capitol Hill townhouse linked to recent Congressional sex scandals," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The chairman of the Business Roundtable, an association of top corporate executives that has been President Obama's closest ally in the business community, accused the president and Democratic lawmakers Tuesday of creating an 'increasingly hostile environment for investment and job creation,'" the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Non-profit groups and special interests spent 73% more in the first three months of the year jetting members of Congress on domestic and foreign trips, a USA TODAY review of records compiled by CQ MoneyLine shows," USA Today reports.

• "Companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are hiring a bevy of high-priced Washington lobbyists and consultants to help them weather the crisis, as investigations heat up and calls for policy changes intensify," the Washington Post reports.

• "Business and advocacy groups eagerly await the release of the government's first-ever strategic plan for intellectual property enforcement, as a Senate panel prepares to assess the performance of the post tasked with coordinating enforcement efforts and drawing up the plan," The Hill reports.

• "As Congress rushes this week to complete the most far-reaching financial reform plan in decades, the banking industry is mounting an 11th-hour end run," the New York Times reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The labor federation Change to Win today is launching a group called U.S. Chamber Watch, a new organization to put pressure on one of labor's top opponents, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Displaying its remarkable clout, the National Rifle Association agreed on Tuesday to permit House passage of tougher disclosure requirements on campaign advertising and other political activity, one day after Democrats pledged to exempt the gun-owners' group from the bill's key provisions," AP reports.

• "Under pressure from the FCC, the communications industry is lobbying Congress to pass narrowly focused legislation to blunt two contentious, game-changing proposals championed by Chairman Julius Genachowski," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "This appropriations season is even more precarious," for lobbyists "than past years with new earmark bans in place," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Wall Street's lobbying army is marching around Washington in a push to shape the final financial-overhaul bill," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "But it has gotten harder to get through the door with some lawmakers."

• "National Association of Convenience Stores lobbyist Lyle Beckwith had some sharp words for Members of Congress on a credit card interchange fee proposal," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As BP ramps up its public relations effort to stem the fallout of the oil spill crisis that has badly stained its reputation, the company faces another big hurdle this week when its gaffe-prone chief executive, Tony Hayward, testifies before a House panel" Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Congress' final tinkering with Wall Street overhaul this month offers lobbyists a last-ditch shot to reshape the package on behalf of clients with billions at stake," AP reports.

• Roll Call (subscription) profiles the advocacy group CodePink: "What started in 2002 as a small group of women staging anti-war protests has become an international organization that raises about $500,000 each year from its more than 200,000 members."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Health care industry leaders are pressing the White House to get more involved with promoting health care innovation, saying the U.S. leads the world but faces growing challenges," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The battle over interchange fees assessed on debit and credit card purchases has been a knock-down, drag-out lobbying war for years between banks and retailers. But the lobbying fight has turned from those behemoth industries to a smaller scale, pitting state treasurers and a hip-hop impresario against colleges and the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "This week, K Streeters are expected to cut checks in droves for the chance to mingle with about 50 senior House staffers who are headlining a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Individual attendees are expected to shell out $1,000, while political action committees need to come up with $2,500 to score a seat ... but lobbyists say it's worth the price tag to get a rare kind of access with high-level staffers."

• "A push to require bank-holding companies to hold better capital has sparked a lobbying drive because it would force the industry to raise as much as $1.3 trillion from its balance sheet if the changes were to be enacted, according to one estimate," CongressDaily (subscription) reports. "Banking groups are concerned an amendment attached to the Senate-passed financial regulatory revamp would force them to raise additional capital in the midst of a credit crunch."

• "Ten Washington lobbying firms have represented a whopping 130 different clients in the financial regulatory reform debate -- raking in millions of dollars as the bill heads for final passage," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The 'card check' bill shows no signs of life, at least not in this Congress. But that doesn't mean the groups that sprang up to fight the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize, are disbanding," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "At least three business groups -- the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Workforce Freedom Initiative, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and the Workforce Fairness Institute -- are all continuing the fight."

• "Big banks and other financial interests will launch a final push to influence the Wall Street reform bill when Congress returns this week, but it won't be the kind of scorched-earth lobbying blitz that traditionally accompanies final negotiations," Politico reports.

• "Democratic lawmakers are pushing the White House to force federal contractors to pay their employees a 'living wage,' setting the stage for another summertime showdown between organized labor, government watchdog organizations and the business community," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Thursday that his organization "will partner with the Democratic Party when they operate in the best interests of working people, and we will not when they don't," The Hill reports.

• "Armed with a survey that showed doctors are limiting the number of older patients they are seeing and cutting office expenses, the American Medical Association on Thursday launched a national ad campaign to pressure Senators to reverse cuts in Medicare physician payments," Roll Call reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Interest groups are gearing up to spend record amounts of money on this year's congressional and state elections, as liberals seek to shore up Democratic defenses and conservative and business groups plan a well-funded push on behalf of Republicans," the Washington Post reports.

• "The American Medical Association will unveil" today "a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at pressuring waffling senators to approve a $23 billion freeze on scheduled Medicare cuts to physicians," The Hill reports.

• "Environmental activists have taken their campaign for climate change legislation to the states, prodding Senators with television and radio ads and trying to gin up grass-roots support with direct-mail pieces," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• The FCC "is being urged to monitor 'hate speech' on talk radio and cable broadcast networks," The Hill reports. "A coalition of more than 30 organizations argue in a letter to the" Federal Communications Commission "that the Internet has made it harder for the public to separate the facts from bigotry masquerading as news."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A congressional ethics office asked the Justice Department on Thursday to review documents that it said suggested companies are providing campaign cash to lawmakers for no-bid contracts, and to consider a criminal probe of the matter," the Washington Post reports. "The Office of Congressional Ethics' investigation focused on companies that were clients of the once-powerful lobby firm PMA Group and sought earmarked contracts from lawmakers who sat on the House Appropriations Committee."

• "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will grade lawmakers' votes on a campaign finance bill that may reach the House floor before Members depart for the Memorial Day recess," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With House Republicans poised to make major gains in November and Minority Leader John Boehner working to become the next Speaker, lobbyists are not-so-quietly cozying up to the Ohio Republican," Roll Call reports.

• "Now that Congress is moving to consider an economic package with those tax extenders, many business groups, including the technology council, aren't rejoicing," Roll Call reports. "The reason is that the Democratic leadership, under pressure to offset costs, has tacked on revenue-raising tax changes that business leaders complain could cut their bottom lines."

• Google "is building an unconventional presence in Washington, with connections to think tanks, education sessions on high-tech issues for legislative staff members and charitable efforts on behalf of high-profile causes," the Washington Post reports.

• "Boeing is painting its rival, EADS North America, as a potential security threat in the competition to win a $35 billion Air Force tanker aircraft," The Hill reports.

• "Comcast Corp. has been snapping up ex-government officials to help win approval of its proposed takeover of NBC Universal Inc., including former congressmen and congressional staff members, ex-government antitrust lawyers and former aides to the Federal Communications Commission's most impassioned critics of media mergers," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined a federal lawsuit Monday against a new union-organizing rule," The Hill reports. At issue is a rule under which "workers who don't vote in a union election are not counted as votes either for or against forming a union. Such non-votes previously were counted as votes against forming a union, and labor organizers needed to win a majority of a company's employees' votes to form a union."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• In Florida, the AFL-CIO "gave Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek its full endorsement," the Palm Beach Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "At least two influential unions will spend close to $100 million on the 2010 election, with most of those funds going to protect incumbents," The Hill reports.

• "According to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, 850 businesses, trade groups and other corporate interests have hired more than 3,000 lobbyists to shape" the regulatory reform bill -- "roughly five lobbyists for each member of Congress," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Major transportation industry groups have 'grave concerns' about a draft Senate climate and energy plan because it imposes new fees on the industry and diverts too much of that revenue elsewhere," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "Although 'K Street' is virtually synonymous with the lobbying profession, most of Washington's major firms are not on K Street anymore," the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The American Medical Association is opposing the Medicare 'doc fix' included in the tax extenders bill House Democrats are preparing," The Hill reports. "AMA argues the proposed fix to the Medicare payment system for physicians doesn't address the program's solvency issues and only pushes the problem five years down the road."

• "Unions are claiming credit for Sen. Blanche Lincoln's (D-Ark.) tough derivatives bill, saying their support for her primary challenger pushed her to the left," The Hill also reports.

• "Backed by Beltway-area Members, labor unions representing federal employees are pressing for temporary health insurance coverage for college-age students who will otherwise be thrown off their parents' health insurance plans when they turn 22 years old," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird.

• "The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is putting the petroleum industry and its top lobbyist, Jack Gerard, on the defensive after months in which the industry appeared to have the political wind at its back," the Wall Street Journal reports.

• "An offshore drilling company tied to the massive Gulf oil spill," Transocean Ltd., "is boosting its lobbying and public-relations team as the number of congressional inquiries expands," The Hill reports.

• "Lobbyists who pursue congressional earmarks are planning a public-relations campaign to defend the practice, as voters signal they no longer want lawmakers to direct millions of federal dollars to pet projects back home," The Hill also reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote as early as this week on legislation rewriting the rules for Wall Street, the financial industry is holding fundraisers for lawmakers at a rate of almost one every business day this month," Bloomberg News reports.

• "Thousands of protesters are expected to march on K Street" today "in support of financial regulatory reform legislation," The Hill reports. "About 2,000 people from 20 states are expected to hold a series of demonstrations against lobbying firms in area of Washington where lobbyists have their offices, according to a release by several labor unions."

• "With health reform in the books, some of the most powerful industry groups that battled against each other during the epic debate have now teamed up and raised $450,000 to explore the idea of creating a national nonprofit that would help implement key parts of the law," Politico reports.

• "The National Beer Wholesalers Association has mounted a full-court lobbying offensive to find co-sponsors for legislation that supports state-based alcohol regulation and makes it much tougher to file legal challenges to states' distribution laws," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Businesses far from Wall Street have intensified their efforts to kill a largely overshadowed provision of the Senate's financial regulation bill giving shareholders more ammunition to shake up corporate boards," the Washington Post reports.

• "The highly contentious lobbying battle between merchants and banks over Sen. Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) amendment on 'interchange fees' is reaching new heights, as several trade groups are planning to declare the measure a 'key vote' for their membership," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The nation's most influential small business lobby is joining a court challenge to President Obama's health care overhaul, arguing that Americans cannot be required under the Constitution to obtain insurance coverage," AP reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Taking part in an annual budget tradition, health advocacy organizations moved through the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee room Wednesday, pleading for increased funding for programs under the panel's jurisdiction," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "Defense hawks, defense industry lobbyists and veterans groups are predictably mobilizing against a shift in how the Pentagon spends its billions," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "In an interview Tuesday, new SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said she is conducting a monthlong review of her top deputies, including Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, Henry's main opposition in the union's recent election to replace longtime head Andy Stern," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Wall Street banks and allied interest groups have spent $600 million and hired 243 political insiders to represent their interests before Congress and U.S. policymakers since early 2008, a study said on Tuesday," Reuters reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The nation's six largest banks and their trade associations have hired more than 240 former government officials-turned-lobbyists to represent them in the fight over Wall Street reform, according to a new report by several progressive groups," Politico reports.

• "A proposed amendment to the Senate's Wall Street reform legislation has prompted a lobbying fight that will test the oil industry's political clout following the Gulf of Mexico spill," The Hill reports.

• "Hundreds of veterans" today "will urge lawmakers this year to repeal the ban on openly gay personnel serving in the military," The Hill reports. "The approximately 350 veterans from 44 states will lobby lawmakers as the House and Senate Armed Services committees prepare to write the 2011 national defense authorization bill."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With millions of dollars invested in campaign donations and an all-star lobbying team, BP executives could give an advanced class in how to build influence in Washington. But with millions of gallons of leaking oil bearing down Gulf Coast beaches and bayous, they could also teach how to lose it," AP reports.

• The New York Times reports on how banks are lobbying against the derivatives trading ban.

• "Mary Kay Henry, the new president of Service Employees International Union, said on Saturday that she will continue outgoing SEIU head Andrew Stern's close relationship with the White House between now and the next presidential election," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The newly elected head of the powerful Service Employees International Union pledged to focus more on private-sector organizing, including workers in banking and biotechnology, as well as on gubernatorial elections and mending ties with other unions," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Citing research showing that fatal motorcycle accidents could be reduced by more than a third, an insurance industry group has asked for a federal mandate to require anti-lock brakes on all new motorcycles," the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has energized environmental groups that believe they may finally gain some traction on Capitol Hill after a frustrating stretch in which their major issues have languished in the 'drill, baby, drill' era," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• The oil spill "is causing a rift among once-friendly downtown trade associations that are now at odds over whose members caused the disaster," Roll Call (subscription) also reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Environmental groups want language encouraging offshore drilling removed from climate legislation in light of the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that poses a potentially historic hazard to fragile coastal ecosystems," The Hill reports.

• "BP and its allies are drawing on their considerable resources and deep lobbying teams in Washington as they seek to mitigate the fallout -- including Congressional grillings and possible legislative action -- from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Ahead of the expected release today of a House bill on data privacy, a group of public interest and privacy-rights groups wrote House members Monday calling on them to support the inclusion of principles aimed at giving consumers more control over their personal information," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Television station owners are mobilizing against a new Democratic campaign finance bill that would force them to slash prices for many political advertisements," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Wall Street has taken its lumps in Washington recently and Goldman Sachs has become everyone's whipping boy, but hedge funds and private equity firms have escaped relatively unscathed," Politico reports.

• "When President Obama declared in his first address to Congress that health care reform 'must not wait,' he sparked a lobbying spree that kept medical stakeholders hustling while fattening the bottom lines of K Street firms," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Medical interests alone shelled out more than $876 million in lobbying expenses during the 15 months beginning in January 2009 and ending in March, when Congress passed the sweeping overhaul."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Reps. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Paul Hodes, D-N.H., "submitted a letter Thursday to the Office of Congressional Ethics, asking the investigative body to release documents collected during its probe of the now-defunct lobbying firm PMA Group," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., "introduced a K Street reform bill Wednesday that would place a lifetime ban on Members of Congress from entering the influence business," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is lobbying hard to kill a provision in financial industry overhaul legislation requiring big banks to sell off their derivatives-trading businesses, and rival banks are welcoming the help, shrugging off attacks on the firm by lawmakers and securities regulators," the Wall Street Journal reports.

• "While the Obama administration's embrace of nuclear energy has angered some environmental groups, it has won solid support from the labor movement," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., "said Tuesday he will ask the Office of Congressional Ethics to disclose more than 200,000 documents from its investigation of the PMA Group, a day after the House ethics committee publicly rebuked his efforts to expose the details of its probe into the now-defunct lobbying firm," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "EADS may not have a U.S. partner in the Air Force tanker competition, but the European conglomerate has plenty of big political guns at the ready as they go head-to-head with rival Boeing Co. for a contract potentially worth $40 billion," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "A collection of retailers is lobbying to get its signature priority, a credit card interchange fee measure, added to the Wall Street reform bill," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Passage of hard-line immigration legislation in Arizona makes it imperative for Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform before November's elections, a group of advocates said" Monday, CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports.

• "House ethics leaders Monday publicly rejected Rep. Jeff Flake's (R-Ariz.) ongoing attempts to force their committee to release details of its investigation into Members' interactions with the now-defunct PMA Group lobbying firm," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which for years saw no need to play a traditional Washington lobbying game, is deploying former lawmakers and crisis specialists as it tries to tamp down the political firestorm threatening its well-honed brand," Bloomberg News reports.

• "Major business trade groups urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to think twice before continuing its pursuit of net neutrality," The Hill reports. "In filings with the FCC on the open Internet proceeding, which are due Monday, the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the FCC should resist the urge to interfere with broadband until they have thoroughly examined all of the ramifications."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "America's largest labor unions are withholding their support for now of legislation that would restrict corporate spending on political campaigns," The Hill reports. "Officials with both the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said their unions have not decided yet on whether or not to support the legislative response to the Supreme Court's recent ruling in the Citizens United case."

• "With the legislative year truncated by the health care debate and midterm elections, lobbyists say sweeping updates to the federal tax code are on hold while they fight for smaller tweaks that must reach President Obama's desk by Jan. 1," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The food industry and major business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are threatening to withdraw support for a long-pending bill to improve food safety, saying they are upset by a proposed amendment that would ban bisphenol-A, a controversial chemical, from food and beverage containers," the Washington Post reports.

• "The nation's auto dealers head to the U.S. Senate" today "to play man-to-man defense to stop a bill that would for the first time put their lending business under a single federal watchdog," the Detroit Free Press reports. "Even though the plan has the support of the Obama administration and key Democrats, past showdowns suggest it's never wise to bet against car dealers."

• Roll Call (subscription) reports on the lobbyists Comcast has hired to help with its merger with NBC.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Anti-abortion groups are poised to launch a multimillion-dollar offensive against a collection of former allies -- House Democrats who also oppose abortion -- in an effort to discredit their credibility with anti-abortion voters and oust them from office," Politico reports.

• "Democrats plan to introduce legislation next week that would sharply limit the ability of foreign-connected companies to participate in U.S. politics and require greater transparency from corporations, unions and nonprofit groups that pay for political advertising, according to a confidential summary of the bill," the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd," D-Conn., "and ranking member Richard Shelby," R-Ala., "attempt to close a deal to revamp the nation's financial regulatory system, lobbying groups are facing the likelihood that they will have to make their case through amendments on the Senate floor," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "Despite passage of sweeping health-care legislation and an epic fight over Wall Street regulation, lobbying expenditures dropped for many major firms and trade organizations during the first quarter of 2009, according to disclosure forms filed in Congress this week," the Washington Post reports.

• "Anti-abortion groups are poised to launch a multimillion-dollar offensive against a collection of former allies -- House Democrats who also oppose abortion -- in an effort to discredit their credibility with anti-abortion voters and oust them from office," Politico reports.

• "Environmentalists are using the 40th annual Earth Day today to step up the pressure for sweeping climate change legislation, but industry stakeholders representing coal, gas and Big Oil plan to be largely silent," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Lobbying firms "were required to release first-quarter revenues on Tuesday, and some reported record earnings over the past three months as Congress considered major healthcare, energy and financial reforms," The Hill reports.

• "As Senate Democrats target the biggest banks with sweeping financial regulatory reforms, Wall Street is attempting a bank-shot attack, relying on third-party lobbyists not blamed for causing the economic crisis to make its case to Congress," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Even as it waged major battles on health care and financial reform, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday reported a dramatic drop in lobbying expenditures for the first three months of this year compared with the last two quarters of 2009," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With so much money at stake, it is not surprising that more than 1,500 lobbyists, executives, bankers and others have made their way to the Senate committee that on Wednesday will take up legislation to rein in derivatives," the New York Times reports.

• "EADS is planning to announce as early as today that it will submit a solo bid for a lucrative Air Force contract for aerial refueling tankers," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports, citing Reuters.

• "House Republicans, seeing scores of seats within their grasp, are turning up the fundraising heat on corporations and trade associations, groups they hope will push their party over the finish line on Election Day," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Gun-control proponents, outspent and outmaneuvered on Capitol Hill, are pushing back this week using the anniversaries of two high-profile tragedies to make the case for legislation that would close gun show loopholes," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Some gun owners, saying that the National Rifle Association isn't battling hard enough for their rights, are taking the fight into their own hands," the Wall Street Journal reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "FedEx Corp. and the Teamsters union are battling over whether wide-ranging aviation legislation will contain provisions to make it easier for unions to organize airline employees and harder for carriers to cut costs by allying with rivals or outsourcing maintenance," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports.

• "Lithium batteries that power a host of electronic devices from laptops to pacemakers and mobile phones have become the focus of a fierce debate over how strictly the federal government should regulate their delivery by air," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "With Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) expected to introduce financial regulatory reform legislation this week, AARP is launching a 12-state television advertising campaign today pushing for enactment of the bill," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Six Democratic lobbyists with deep ties to the Blue Dog Coalition, including" former Reps. Bud Cramer of Alabama and Charlie Stenholm of Texas, "unveiled Tuesday a new nonprofit called the Blue Dog Research Forum," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Broadband and Web service companies are beefing up their lobbying forces in Washington as the multibillion-dollar battle over Internet regulations gathers momentum," The Hill reports.

• "Well before Justice John Paul Stevens officially announced his retirement, staffers for the anti-abortion-rights group Americans United for Life were compiling dossiers on his prospective replacements," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The retirement of Andy Stern, one of America's most powerful union leaders, will send ripples through the divided labor movement, setting the stage for new leaders and new directions for the nation's largest union and the movement as a whole," Politico reports.

• White House ethics adviser Norm Eisen is President Obama's nominee for ambassador to the Czech Republic, the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Andrew L. Stern, the most politically influential and controversial union official in the country, is preparing to resign his position as president of the Service Employees International Union, a union official and a senior Democratic official said Monday," the Washington Post reports.

• "The White House and leading Democrats in Congress are close to proposing legislation that would force private companies and groups to disclose their behind-the-scenes financial involvement in political campaigns and advertising, officials involved in the discussions said Monday," the New York Times reports.

• "Business giants General Electric, Toyota and dozens of others are on the verge of a major victory over President Obama's push to rein in their financial arms," The Hill reports.

• "According to a review of Federal Election Commission records, the nation's 10 richest hedge fund managers have dumped nearly $1 million into campaign accounts over the past several years -- with much of it going to senators who've given them a friendly reception on Capitol Hill," Politico reports.

• The Washington Post reports on the PR battle brewing among the administration, Wall Street and union leaders to shape financial regulatory reform on the Hill.

• Heath Care for America Now, the progressive coalition formed in the summer of 2008 to lay the groundwork for passing reform legislation, has decided not to pack up its tent and go home just yet," Politico reports. "With health reform now law, the group will join a long line of interest groups that hang around Washington after their original reason for forming has passed."

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."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A group of public interest groups" on Thursday "urged the" Federal Trade Commission "to investigate two emerging trends in online advertising that critics say pose growing threats to consumer privacy," CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports. "At issue is the auction of individual Internet users for targeted advertising opportunities and the combination of online and other sources of data about Internet users."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Best Buy recently hired "its first in-house lobbyist based solely in Washington," CNNMoney.com reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Organizations representing the nation's military veterans are keeping up pressure on Congress to prevent the landmark healthcare law from shortchanging veterans and other military personnel," CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Two dozen employees out of nearly 2,900 high-level political appointees worked as registered lobbyists during the two years prior to joining President Obama's administration, a report by the federal Office of Government Ethics finds," USA Today reports.

• "Karl Rove, the former political adviser to President George W. Bush, is appearing in a public service announcement asking people to fill out and mail back their 2010 census forms," AP reports.

• In light of Obama throwing the first pitch at Nationals Park on Monday, CNN.com reports on how Nationals President Stan Kasten has "actively encouraged political operatives of all ideological stripes to hold their fundraisers and receptions at the ballpark, as opposed to more conventional venues such as restaurants or hotel ballrooms."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Labor unions, corporations and wealthy individuals are preparing to break spending records to influence the November elections," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "But more than in recent years, they will be focusing on races for governor and state legislatures."

• "Lawmakers in both the House and the Senate are pressing the Obama administration to resolve discrimination claims for several different minority farmer groups," The Hill reports. "Hispanics, Native Americans and women farmers have all found champions on Capitol Hill who are trying to work out compensation with the White House, which includes writing letters to administration officials or introducing legislation."

• "The Kansas City, Mo., firm Polsinelli Shughart has scored five lobbyists from Bryan Cave, including three health care specialists," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Bread for the World, a Christian nonprofit organization, is calling on congregations to pray for tax breaks helping low-income taxpayers," The Hill reports. "The group is asking those attending services to observe the Sunday following Easter as 'Tax Day.'"

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank," D-Mass., "has banned a former staff member who became a banking lobbyist in February from lobbying his committee as long as Frank is chairman," CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports.

• "A group of Ohio ministers and an ethics watchdog group... have separately asked federal investigators to examine whether four House members and four Senators received what amounts to illegal gifts for paying $950 a month, including housekeeping, to stay at the C Street house. But the tenants deny that they are getting breaks on the rent," the New York Times reports.

• "The next battles over President Obama's sweeping revamp of the nation's health care system will be waged in the states -- where health care interests are heavily invested," USA Today reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it would extend the bidding deadline for the Air Force's new refueling aircraft by 60 days if EADS North America formally notifies the Defense Department that it wants to compete," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is planning a broad effort to blunt the health overhaul by trying to shape its regulatory language and spending heavily to unseat vulnerable Democrats who voted for it," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports.

• The chamber also "gave its seal of approval to the" Education Department's "awarding its initial Race to the Top grants for public education to Delaware and Tennessee," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "James Hoffa, general president of the Teamsters union, praised President Barack Obama's recent recess nominations to the National Labor Relations Board," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The European aircraft consortium EADS will likely decide within the next two to three weeks whether it will bid for a contract to build aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force, Thomas Enders, chief executive of EADS' Airbus aircraft division, told the Financial Times Deutschland" on Monday, CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Lawmakers returning home for their spring recess won't be able to escape the burning issues on Capitol Hill," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "That's because many Washington, D.C., interest groups will continue their lobbying fights on financial reform, gays in the military and the new health care law back in Members' districts."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Business associations and unions are preparing for a possible recess appointment by the White House of a controversial nominee to the National Labor Relations Board," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

"Many activists on both sides of the health care issue... have no plans to disappear even as the Congressional fight over health care may be finally coming to a close," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

"State are scrambling to the Supreme Court's landmark campaign finance ruling that would allow corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections, theWashington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Roll Call (subscription) reports on the errors in the lobbying disclosure forms of companies, unions and other groups a new report by CQ MoneyLine has found. The report shows that at least $338 million worth of lobbying during the last 12 years has been underreported.

• "Interest groups that spent the past year fighting over President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul are quickly transforming themselves for battle in a new arena, working to sway the law to their benefit while helping the lawmakers who supported them during the bruising legislative debate," the Washington Post reports.

• "Unions are likely to rescind their backing of labor-friendly lawmakers who voted against the healthcare bill and may support challengers," The Hill reports.

• "College students swarmed Capitol Hill on Tuesday to plead for more financial aid as private lenders made a last push to preserve their endangered role in making federal student loans," the Washington Post reports.

• "Industry groups, labor unions and other stakeholders in health care reform offered up their parting shots on Monday," Roll Call reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Some analysts said as the" health care "vote neared that the final legislation was shaping up as much kinder to the industry than many initially feared," the New York Times reports. "Hospitals and drug makers, which supported the final legislation, would be clear beneficiaries, analysts say, even if the outlook for insurers was less certain."

• "Larger businesses worry the Obama administration's health-care overhaul could do too much -- and too little," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "The legislation hits companies in myriad ways, from stricter coverage rules to new taxes, which could change how they offer health care to employees. Yet, many larger businesses worry the measure will do relatively little to hold down their overall health-care costs, once a primary goal of the legislation, and could even force them up."

• "Even as the health care debate grips Capitol Hill, more than half of the Members of Congress still have carved out time this evening to mingle with thousands of mostly Jewish activists and donors," Roll Call reports. "The lawmakers will be making their annual pilgrimage to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's conference banquet at the Washington Convention Center, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be the featured speaker."

• "Immigration reform advocates are keeping the heat on key Senators to act quickly on a new legislative package, saying time is short to get anything done this year," Roll Call reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor federation, is the latest lobbying heavyweight to formally give its seal of approval to Democrats' $940 billion health care reform legislation, urging House Members on Thursday to vote for the measure," Roll Call reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Labor unions are flexing their muscle this month in scores of protests against the country's largest banks, which are lobbying heavily to influence financial overhaul legislation," The Hill reports. "Unions will hold roughly 200 events by March 26 aimed at Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo."

• "A Pennsylvania lawmaker whose parents recently died of cancer is among the targets of an ad campaign by a conservative group that questions congressional Democrats' interest in preventing the disease," AP reports.

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports on President Obama's lobbying style, specifically how it pertains to the health care debate: "The strength of Mr. Obama's personal lobbying is being put to a severe test this week in a string of closed-door sessions with House Democrats as the president tries to find the final votes needed to secure passage of his top priority. His arguments range from sweeping points about the state of the nation to a nitty-gritty understanding of legislative details."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Lobbyists are scurrying to make major changes to the 1,336-page financial overhaul legislation Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) released this week," The Hill reports. "Everyone from consumer advocates to executives at big banks want changes to the long-awaited bill, which aims to prevent future financial crises."

• "With the final showdown over health care reform looming, conservative activists Tuesday descended on Capitol Hill to press lawmakers to spike the measure while medical stakeholders worked behind the scenes to protect their interests," Roll Call reports.

• "House phone lines were nearing capacity on Tuesday as conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh encouraged fans to call in their objections on healthcare legislation," The Hill reports. "The House e-mail system was also deluged in what the House's technology office called 'a very significant spike' in traffic."

• "A new federal tax requirement is exposing sensitive salary information of trade association lobbyists and other senior employees, setting off alarms downtown over how the information will be used," Roll Call reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The yearlong legislative fight over health care is drawing to a frenzied close as a multimillion-dollar wave of advertising that rivals the ferocity of a presidential campaign takes aim at about 40 House Democrats whose votes will help determine the fate of President Obama's top domestic priority," the New York Times reports.

• "A coalition of business groups is hoping geeks rule the school in the next decade. To help make that happen, the new group launched a lobbying campaign late last week to press lawmakers for more federal dough for math and science education programs," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The senior attorney at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the Supreme Court's loosening of campaign finance restrictions will have little effect on the group's politicking," The Hill reports. "Steven Law, chief legal officer and general counsel for the Chamber, said the biggest beneficiary of the Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission decision would be the labor movement."

• "Spending records indicate the House's two-tier ethics process spent a combined $3.76 million in 2009, with both investigative bodies reporting spending less than their authorized budgets even as the number of inquiries appears to have significantly increased over the previous Congress," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The American Future Fund, a conservative advocacy group, has placed a new $250,000 television ad buy targeting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) over Democrats' procedural maneuvering on the health care bill," Roll Call reports.

• "As lawmakers imposed another restriction Thursday on congressional earmarks, private companies and lobbyists defended their work in securing federal money for what they deemed worthy projects," the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Washington's biggest lobbying firm is on the verge of getting even bigger. Patton Boggs LLP, which rang up nearly $40 million in lobbying last year, is in negotiations to purchase the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, according to sources familiar with the talks," the Washington Post reports.

• "Previously undisclosed e-mail messages turned over to the F.B.I. and Senate ethics investigators provide new evidence about" efforts by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., "to steer lobbying work to the embittered husband of his former mistress and could deepen his legal and political troubles," the New York Times reports.

• "Frustrated at seeing their legislative agenda stymied, unions are becoming increasingly active in competitive Democratic Senate primaries," The Hill reports. "Across the country, labor groups are using their organizational muscle early against candidates whom they see as having walked away from their agenda."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of other business interests launched a multimillion-dollar television ad campaign Tuesday attacking Democrats' latest health care reform plans," Roll Call reports.

• "In a reverse twist on the old protesters' tactic of getting arrested to make a point, union leaders and other backers of President Obama's healthcare plan issued 'citizen's arrest' warrants for health insurance executives Tuesday -- accusing them of exploiting consumers," the Los Angeles Times reports.

• "The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is ramping up an already attention-grabbing effort to get senators to publicly support pushing a public option through reconciliation," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "The debate over financial regulatory reform sparked an industry feud on Tuesday as credit unions and community banks lodged complaints that payday lenders and other nonbanks would be treated more favorably than them under a proposal the Senate Banking Committee is considering," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Financial services lobbyists are upping the pressure on Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), a key Republican on the panel, to limit the scope of a proposed consumer protection agency," Roll Call reports.

• Leaders of nearly a dozen grass-roots immigrant rights groups excoriated President Obama and congressional Democrats on Monday, accusing them of moving too slowly to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants and citing a record number of deportations in 2009," the Washington Post reports.

• "In a bid to secure a much-needed bipartisan victory, the Obama administration is trying to secure passage of protections for government whistleblowers. But some advocacy groups are complaining that the legislation does not go far enough to protect government employees in the national security field and, in fact, would roll back protections that FBI whistleblowers now have," Politico reports.

• "Insurance industry executives sat down with administration officials in the White House last week to justify their rising premium costs, attributing them to increasing medical costs," Politico reports. "But it's an answer" Obama "apparently wasn't buying."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Industry stakeholders that have spent the past year working overtime to influence almost every aspect of the massive health care reform bill are now struggling to put their imprint on a final product that likely will be shaped by the arcane budget reconciliation process," Roll Call reports.

• "A trade association for foreign-owned U.S. subsidiaries has hired a former Democratic Party lawyer to lobby on campaign finance reform legislation working its way through Congress," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As negotiations continue in the Senate over the financial services regulatory overhaul, non-banking entities are pressing Congress to leave them out of the final package," Roll Call reports.

• "The Senate's top Democrat on military matters," Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., "is pressing the Department of Justice to investigate whether the company formerly known as Blackwater and Raytheon Co. made false or misleading statements when bidding for an Army contract in Afghanistan," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "It doesn't matter who the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee is to K Street, because Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been the de facto power behind the panel for some time, according to lobbyists and congressional staffers," The Hill reports.

• "In an action it hopes would create jobs and increase economic fairness, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. announced on Wednesday that it will sponsor two 'Weeks of Action' against the nation's major banks," the New York Times reports.

• "Pressure is building on the White House and Congress to resolve an almost year-old dispute over Mexican truck access to U.S. highways, which has led to costly tariffs on U.S. exports to that country," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "Interest groups are ramping up in advance of" next Wednesday's "anniversary of Congress' move to block the cross-border trucking program that was part of the North American Free Trade Agreement."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The nation's biggest bank lobbying groups are calling on senators to support the Federal Reserve's power to supervise small and large banks," The Hill reports.

• "Natural gas lobbyists, who felt their industry got the short shrift in climate legislation, are pushing new incentives to encourage utilities to switch from coal to natural gas," The Hill reports.

• "Business groups are reacting with frustration and caution to the somewhat chaotic and piecemeal way in which Congress is handling jobs legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "And the rancorous debate over the bills may be straining relations between some Republican Members and their traditional downtown allies."

• "Eleven CEOs from the largest property casualty insurance companies in the country have formed a new coalition to urge Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to leave them out of the financial services overhaul legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "House Republicans are renewing their drive to force embattled Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) to surrender his gavel in the wake of his ethics wrist slap last week," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "And with politically vulnerable Democrats starting to peel off and join the call, top party strategists are wondering how long the Harlem Democrat can maintain his perch atop the tax-writing panel."

• "Two politically vulnerable Democrats on Monday called for" Rangel "to step down, The Hill reports. "Reps. Betty Sutton (Ohio) and Harry Mitchell (Ariz.) have joined the ranks of Democrats calling for the New York Democrat to relinquish his gavel in the wake of the ethics committee finding that Rangel violated House rules."

• "David H. Lynch, the top lobbyist for Freddie Mac until the government takeover of the mortgage-financing giant in 2008, has joined the Independent Community Bankers of America as vice president for congressional relations," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "Defense company BAE Systems PLC pleaded guilty to conspiracy on Monday and a judge imposed a $400 million fine, among the largest in the Justice Department's efforts to combat overseas corruption in international business," AP reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Natural gas lobbyists, who felt their industry got the short shrift in climate legislation, are pushing new incentives to encourage utilities to switch from coal to natural gas," The Hill reports. "In doing so, the sector is starting a lobbying fight with the coal industry, which has long and deep ties on Capitol Hill and is determined to hold onto its role as the dominant source of electricity in the United States."

• "The House ethics committee report issued Friday on the PMA Group lobbying firm's relationship to Members of Congress included this odd nugget: Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) was probed by Congressional investigators for nine months despite the fact that there was never a specific allegation that he had done anything wrong," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• As union leaders "meet in Orlando, Florida, this week to plan their 2010 political campaign," they're "reeling from a succession of defeats they never expected after helping President Barack Obama and the Democrats win elections in 2008," Bloomberg News reports.

• "More than half of the panel members appointed to review the Pentagon's latest four-year strategy blueprint have financial ties to defense contractors with a stake in the planning process, a USA TODAY analysis shows," USA Today reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel," D-N.Y., "is being admonished by the House Ethics Committee for violating a House gift rule by accepting trips to conferences in the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008 that were paid for by corporations, the committee announced Thursday night," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• Rangel "denied wrongdoing on his part," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The Office of Congressional Ethics" on Thursday "criticized the House Ethics Committee for not fully investigating an allegation against Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif.," CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports. "In a pointed memo that exposed growing friction between the two bodies, the OCE took exception to the Ethics Committee's claim last month that OCE erred by referring a tax-related allegation about Stark to the panel."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Senate Democrats fired off their first legislative response Wednesday to a recent Supreme Court decision overruling restrictions on outside political spending," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The proposal introduced by Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) would grant lawmakers the sole constitutional right to set federal campaign finance standards."

• "After clashing with business interests over compensation, health care, energy policy, spending and taxes, President Obama sought Wednesday to mend ties with CEOs, arguing that his policies have been distorted by political opponents," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• A report by nonprofit watchdog Global Integrity "notes the administration has not taken bold action on... money in politics," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "After a short pause in their high-profile lobbying campaigns, stakeholders in the health care reform debate resumed their noisy effort Monday as they drew clear battle lines over President Obama's new blueprint for an overhaul," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Lobbyists for healthcare, energy and financial interests had a banner year in 2009, with the average payout for each reaching as high as $177,000," The Hill reports. "Despite his push to rein in special interests," Obama "sparked a boom on K Street with major new proposals on healthcare, climate change and financial policies."

• "As Congress prepares to open hearings" today "into Toyota's rash of safety problems, government watchdog groups are questioning whether the deep financial and personal connections between lawmakers and the carmaker could taint the inquiries," the New York Times reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Unions and liberal groups have dismissed Sen. Harry Reid's $15 billion jobs bill as 'puny' while calling for larger stimulus measures," The Hill reports. "More than two dozen organizations, including the AFL-CIO," the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People "and the National Council of La Raza, warned Democratic leaders in Congress to avoid tackling the troubled economy through incremental action."

• "When President Obama announced last year a plan to have the federal government assume direct control of all student loans, Sallie Mae, the large student lender, moved quickly to step up its lobbying game," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Fearful that the administration's plans could dramatically reduce its operations, the company sought some well-connected help, including the lobbying firm Podesta Group, and Jamie Gorelick, a partner at Wilmer, Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr -- and a deputy attorney general during the Clinton years."

• "As Toyota braces this week for its first round of congressional hearings, the automaker and its affiliates have assembled a formidable lobbying force to build support on Capitol Hill and leverage longstanding relationships with key lawmakers," the Washington Post reports.

• "Toyota estimated that it saved $100 million by negotiating with regulators for a limited recall of 2007 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES models for sudden acceleration, the same problem that has since prompted it to recall millions of cars, documents turned over to a Congressional committee showed Sunday," the New York Times reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Defense Department officials are trying to be 'as fair as humanly possible' in the competition to replace the Air Force's refueling tanker aircraft, " said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell on Thursday. "Boeing and Northrop Grumman have been going head to head for several years to win the approximately $35 billion tanker contract," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The American Conservative Union" today "will kick off the 37th annual Conservative Political Action Conference -- an event long known for red-meat rhetoric and patriotic fervor," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• On the eve of the conference, "several well-known Republicans, including Edwin Meese III, the former attorney general, have signed a new document called the Mount Vernon Statement," the New York Times reports.

• "Since Richard Nixon was president," CPAC "has provided the American Right with an annual occasion for self-evaluation," Politico reports. Today, "when some 10,000 activists gather in Washington for this year's conference, they will find themselves part of a conservative movement significantly different than it was during the Bush administration, or even in 2009."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Online gambling operatives and their backers in the financial services industry may have a new stumbling block in getting legislation passed that would reverse a ban on Internet gaming: the Morongo Band of Mission Indians," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Retiring lawmakers are entering a job market that has openings with some of K Street's biggest players -- jobs that include seven-figure salaries or the chance to rub elbows with Hollywood stars," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Former Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) is stepping down as the head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)," The Hill reports. "Tauzin, 66, has been a major player on healthcare reform during the 111th Congress."

• "Congressional Democrats outlined legislation Thursday aimed at undoing a recent Supreme Court decision that allows corporations and interest groups to spend freely on political advertising," the New York Times reports.

• "Lobbying by insurers and banks including Morgan Stanley may eliminate a proposed new standard that would make retail brokers more accountable to their clients," Bloomberg News reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "If there were any question where lobbying ranks in popularity these days, the attacks on former senator Dan Coats of Indiana over the past week provide a pretty clear answer," the Washington Post reports. "Coats, a Republican who served in Congress for nearly 20 years, is preparing a run to win back the seat occupied by Sen. Evan Bayh (D).... The problem for Coats is that he spent a good part of the past decade as a well-connected Washington lobbyist."

• "Labor groups are furious with the Democrats they helped put in office -- and are threatening to stay home this fall when Democratic incumbents will need their help fending off Republican challengers," Politico reports. "The Senate's failure to confirm labor lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board was just the latest blow, but the frustrations have been building for months."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "For years Northrop Grumman has been engaged in a seesaw competition with rival aerospace giant Boeing over" an estimated $35 billion contract for next-generation aerial refueling tankers, Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The protracted drama, however, may soon be coming to a close with the Pentagon expected to shortly seek final proposals for the fleet of in-air refueling tankers. As a result, Northrop Grumman and its allies have been waging a last-ditch public relations campaign and engaging in hardball political tactics to change the bidding process that it claims is tilted in favor of its rival."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As most of Washington, D.C., spent Monday digging out from the weekend's blizzard," "lobbyists continued to press ahead even though some of their signature issues are hanging in limbo," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "With its global reach, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee attracts as wide a swath of special interests as any on Capitol Hill," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "A group advocating the rights of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are on the Hill this week to press lawmakers on issues ranging from disability care to high rates of unemployment," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• The New York Times reports on how Wall Street has shifted its lobbying spending from Democrats to Republicans in light of President Obama's "proposals for tighter financial regulations."

• "Lobbyists for healthcare interests are eyeing the Senate jobs bill as a vehicle for several key priorities left behind when healthcare reform stalled," The Hill reports.

• "With renewed White House support but tough midterm elections expected this fall, the business community says this year's legislative window is closing quickly for a trio of trade deals still awaiting Congressional approval," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Republicans are hammering away at the Census Bureau's $340 million ad campaign, calling the 30-second $2.5 million Super Bowl Sunday commercial spot 'wasted money,'" The Hill reports. "But congressional Democrats and U.S. Census Bureau officials defended the ad campaign as necessary for outreach and saving money in the end, with some saying that even more money may be needed."

• AP reports on Toyota's ties to some of the lawmakers investigating the automaker's recalls.

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.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Washington lobbyists and lawyers helped launder millions of dollars for allegedly corrupt African politicians and their relatives, according to a two-year-long investigation by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations," The Hill reports.

• "A group of prominent Republicans is forming an organization to develop and market conservative ideas, copying a successful Democratic model and hoping to capitalize on the fund-raising and electioneering possibilities opened up by a recent Supreme Court ruling," the New York Times reports.

• "Some lobbyists are spending less time stalking members of Congress and more time reaching out to government bureaucrats as federal agencies regain some lost authority over spending," The Hill reports.

• "Consumers for Competitive Choice, a self-described grass-roots nonprofit representing mostly small-business owners, is storming Capitol Hill today in a push to lower the fees that credit card companies charge merchants," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "It appears that the public fight between Obama and the biggest business lobby of them all, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has come to a détente -- at least for now," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Grass-roots advocacy groups will kick off a national lobbying campaign later this week to rally support for a constitutional amendment that they hope will mute" the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Lobbyists in the healthcare industry say they must remain vigilant even as their focus narrows and their profiles diminish with healthcare reform on the back burner," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Twelve Democratic Senators spent last weekend in Miami Beach raising money from top lobbyists for oil, drug, and other corporate interests that they often decry," Politico reports, citing a guest list.

• "Law firms and lobbying shops are preparing for a flood of résumés from soon-to-be unemployed Members," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The White House has started a war of words with a trade association representing the U.S. subsidiaries of foreign-owned companies over new campaign finance reform legislation," The Hill reports.

• "Lehman Brothers, the securities broker and investment bank now in bankruptcy, briefly lobbied federal lawmakers in the last two months," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With their signature issue struggling for survival, liberal groups are now rallying behind the budget reconciliation route to pass health care reform, despite concerns about the practicality of the legislative maneuver and some skepticism on K Street about pursuing the politically troublesome issue," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "As President Obama vows to refocus Democrats' attention on jobs and the economy, advocates for overhauling the nation's immigration laws say they are still gearing up for a battle in the Senate in coming weeks, despite fading hopes for victory," the Washington Post reports.

• "Watchdog groups are scolding the House ethics committee for continuing to openly feud and rebuke the ethics office Democrats created in 2008 to help the panel police members," The Hill reports.

• "A Defense Department inspector general's report has stirred debate at the Pentagon over what constitutes a conflict of interest after the report determined that Pentagon test agencies gave $91 million in contracts for advice and assistance to corporations that helped develop the system," the Washington Post reports.

• The Post also reports on the new media strategies conservatives are using against Obama and other Democrats.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Democratic lawmakers said they were uncertain they could muster broad Congressional support for new lobbying rules" President Obama "proposed Wednesday night in his State of the Union address," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The White House is looking to expand lobbying registration requirements to those who spend less than a fifth of their work time lobbying," The Hill reports.

• "A day after bashing lobbyists, Obama's administration... invited K Street insiders to join private briefings on a range of topics addressed in Wednesday's State of the Union," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "At least 36 lawmakers -- about 8 percent of the House membership -- came under scrutiny by the ethics committee in the first half of the 111th Congress, Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) revealed Wednesday," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The financial services industry is scrambling to find its voice to rebut the president's assault while facing withering clout on Capitol Hill," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "'There's a real void in the financial services community,' said one banking lobbyist, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. 'The fray is coming to them quickly, and they don't have anything in place to fistfight with. I think the industry should be scared.'"

• AP reports on Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's negative reaction to President Obama's criticism of the high court's recent ruling on campaign finance.

• "Lobbyists should be required to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with lawmakers and the administration," Obama "announced in his state of the union speech Wednesday evening," NationalJournal.com reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• President Obama "in his first State of the Union address on Wednesday night will encourage Congress to pass legislation restricting foreign corporations from getting involved in federal elections, according to an administration official," Politico reports.

• "The head of a foreign subsidiaries trade group Tuesday lashed out at reports that congressional Democrats are looking to block foreign-owned corporations from seizing on the Supreme Court's campaign finance ruling last week to influence American politics," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• Business models vary widely among K Street's biggest 25 lobbying practices, Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Lobbyists and representatives for interest groups are engaging in last-minute conference calls and meetings with White House officials hoping to sway what President Barack Obama says to Congress and the nation during his State of the Union address Wednesday night," Roll Call reports.

• "House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson urged farm leaders Monday to use the hearings he will hold this year to take control of the farm bill reform movement," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Longtime K Street antagonist Fred Wertheimer may soon find that he has an unusual collection of supporters for his revived attempt to create a public financing system for Congressional races: fundraiser-weary lobbyists," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Energy companies significantly increased their lobbying expenditures last year as Congress considered controversial climate change legislation that promised to rearrange the nation's energy mix," The Hill reports.

• "The Senate Ethics Committee will continue its investigation of Sen. John Ensign's affair with an ex-staffer, despite a nascent Justice Department probe into the Nevada Republican," Politico reports.

• "China is hoping to close thousands of local government lobbying offices in Beijing to cut down on waste and corruption, official media reported" today, AP reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A divided Supreme Court on Thursday swept aside decades of legislative restrictions on the role of corporations in political campaigns, ruling that companies can dip into their treasuries to spend as much as they want to support or oppose individual candidates," the Washington Post reports.

• "The Supreme Court has handed a new weapon to lobbyists. If you vote wrong, a lobbyist can now tell any elected official that my company, labor union or interest group will spend unlimited sums explicitly advertising against your re-election," the New York Times reports.

• "Democratic leaders will push legislation to limit the impact of Thursday's Supreme Court decision that lifted restrictions on corporate spending in politics, The Hill reports.

• "Viewers in media markets nationwide are already well familiar with being bombarded with ads either supporting or criticizing candidates for Congress and the White House in the months before an election. But that could be nothing compared with what today's landmark Supreme Court campaign-finance decision appears to invite, experts say," the Los Angeles Times reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Scott Brown's "victory on Tuesday is sending shock waves down K Street, where trade associations, contract lobbyists and interest groups began frantically reconsidering their advocacy strategies in light of the GOP's new power to filibuster," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The labor movement plans to lend its considerable weight to help pass" Obama's "proposed bank fee this year," The Hill reports. "Envisioned as a tax on big banks to help recoup the government's losses from the 2008 bailout of Wall Street, the proposal has attracted labor support. Unions see the tax as a part of a broader agenda for financial regulatory reform."

• "K Street's top 25 firms cashed in on the aggressive legislative agenda unleashed by the new president and bigger Democratic majorities in Congress in 2009 to post double-digit growth of about 10 percent over the previous year," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Pro football players sought lawmakers' help Wednesday in preventing NFL owners from imposing a lockout after next season and said a league victory in a Supreme Court antitrust case could affect free agency and ticket prices," AP reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With fourth-quarter lobbying reports due to the Secretary of the Senate and Clerk of the House" Tuesday night, "a number of large companies and associations have already disclosed that their spending to influence federal officials was either equal to or greater than the previous year," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The financial industry won't be shy in fighting a new fee proposed by President Obama that could strip as much as $2 billion from some balance sheets," The Hill reports. "The industry sees the fee as an unjust punishment on firms that have paid back money received from the government under the $700 billion bailout with warrants and dividends."

• "While election-year restrictions on the Office of Congressional Ethics could create a bottleneck of its investigative referrals to the House, government watchdogs say the potential delays should not significantly impede the ethics process," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Twenty-two executives and employees at suppliers to the military and law enforcement agencies were arrested on the eve of their industry's annual trade show in Las Vegas after a 2 1/2-year undercover sting operation aimed at schemes to bribe a foreign official," AP reports.

• "The Justice Department and the FBI have begun a preliminary investigation into actions by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), who arranged to provide money and career assistance to the husband of his mistress, sources familiar with the case said Tuesday," the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Several high-profile Democrats, including North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy and former Sen. Bob Kerrey (Neb.), are said to be in the running to fill former Oklahoma Republican Gov. Frank Keating's post as CEO and president of the American Council of Life Insurers," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "American International Group Inc. is seeking to reduce and pay out early a batch of retention payments to employees at its financial products division, as the insurer tries to defuse a potential showdown over the bonuses, according to people familiar with the matter," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports.

• "Harriet Melvin, a longtime lobbyist at Quinn Gillespie & Associates, has launched her own operation, the Capitol Group," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Melvin had been with QGA almost since its inception in 2000."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The Census Bureau unveiled a $133 million advertising campaign Thursday that urges people to mail back the questionnaires that will be sent out in mid-March," the Washington Post reports. "The ads, in 28 languages, aim to save taxpayers' money by reducing the need for temporary workers to survey people who don't return their forms."

• "The Office of Congressional Ethics forwarded 12 ethics investigations to the House during the past 12 months, including three reviews in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a report released by the office Thursday," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A number of K Street interests have begun to switch gears to help Haiti recover from its catastrophic earthquake Tuesday," The Hill reports. "Unions, religious groups and even lobbyists working on trade agreements are now scrambling to find more foreign aid for Haiti."

• "Outside interest groups are springing up on a daily basis to dump huge sums of money into the" Massachusetts "Senate race, funding negative television ads that seek to tip the race in its closing hours," the Boston Globe reports.

• "News conferences were scheduled and telephone briefings were penciled in, but Washington advocacy groups were disappointed yet again Wednesday: The Supreme Court did not issue its long-awaited decision on campaign finance laws," the Washington Post reports.

• "Google Inc.'s threat to pull out of China is the most visible reflection of U.S. companies' growing disillusionment with the country nine years after it joined the World Trade Organization, business groups said," Bloomberg News reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue blasted a range of White House policies Tuesday as the business lobby's fight with President Obama bounced back into the spotlight," The Hill reports.

• Six major health insurance companies funded U.S. Chamber of Commerce health care attack ads (NationalJournal.com).

• "A defense contractor accused of diverting money from an earmark provided by Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has been scheduled for sentencing at the end of February, suggesting that his cooperation with federal agents investigating earmarks is coming to a close," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "A congressional commission examining the causes of the financial crisis is drawing fire even before its first public hearing gets under way" today, "with business interests complaining that some panel members' ties to a major plaintiffs law firm could aid litigants seeking to sue financial firms," the Wall Street Journal reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka" said Monday that "Congress must pass healthcare reform but criticized the Senate package, which would fund the legislation by imposing a 40 percent excise tax on health plans costing more than $8,500 for single coverage or $23,000 for family coverage," CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports.

• "Reform groups are giving the Obama administration high marks for its first year of lobbying, ethics and transparency reforms," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Civil rights organizations and advocates for the growing Caribbean and African immigrant population are setting aside differences and have formed the Unity Diaspora Coalition to push all blacks to fill out" the 2010 Census, USA Today reports.

• "The Supreme Court might rule today in the closely watched case of Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission, which could expand the role of corporations and labor unions in financing elections," the Wall Street Journal reports.

• "The government should not choose winners and losers in the technology sector when allocating broadcast spectrum, says the senior lobbyist for television and radio broadcasters," The Hill reports. "'Government is not very good at picking winners and losers,' said National Association of Broadcasters CEO Gordon Smith, who until last year was a Republican senator from Oregon."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The presidents of about a dozen labor unions will meet with President Obama" today "to push him to limit the scope of a proposed tax on high-cost insurance plans," The Hill reports. "Labor sources acknowledge they will not succeed in completely eliminating the tax, but they hope to raise its threshold so that fewer labor households feel the impact."

• The Washington Post profiles the relationship between Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and his wife, Debbie, to illustrate the limits of congressional conflict-of-interest rules.

• "The community bank lobby and HuffingtonPost are urging people to move their money out of the nation's biggest banks," The Hill reports. "Liberal activists Arianna Huffington and Rob Johnson started a campaign late in December to encourage people to move their money away from Wall Street banks and into community banks."

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.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "On the heels of major departures at Ogilvy Government Relations in the final days of last year, two more lobbyists are leaving to launch their own K Street shop," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Democrat Andy Rosenberg and Republican Chris Lamond are setting up Thorn Run Partners this week."

• "Citing what its founders call a 'volatile climate for lobbyists,' K Street Research opened shop" Monday "in hopes of helping clients with policy and research needs while lowering their lobbying disclosure numbers," NationalJournal.com reports.

• "The Democratic and Republican governors associations Monday announced record fundraising last year," Politico reports. "The Republican Governors Association raised $30 million in 2009 and has $25 million in the bank. The Democratic Governors Association raised $23.1 million and enters 2010 -- with 37 gubernatorial campaigns in play -- with $17.5 million on hand."

• "The RNC has transferred $20K to the Northern Mariana Islands in the past 2 months, according to FEC reports, in what could be support for local candidates or, RNC critics say, political payback," Hotline On Call reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Public interest groups" today "will call for federal antitrust watchdogs to investigate an industry-wide strategy by television service providers that they say will strap users to unnecessarily high monthly subscription fees and stifle competition," the Washington Post reports. "The 'TV Everywhere' plan by cable, satellite and phone companies" would bring "television shows and movies to computers and devices, but only for those that subscribe to both television and high-speed Internet services."

• "Anyone who doesn't know there is a Census this year will know after" today. "The government's unprecedented $340 million promotional blitz of the 2010 Census launches Monday with the debut of the Census Portrait of America Road Tour in New York City's Times Square," USA Today reports. "A 46-foot trailer, to be unveiled on NBC's Today show, and 12 smaller cargo vans with 14-foot trailers will crisscross more than 150,000 miles nationwide through April to promote the benefits of responding to the 10-question Census."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As the contentious health care debate drones on into the holiday season, advocacy groups are looking for creative ways to keep the attention of the public and lawmakers who may be dreaming of a policy-free Christmas," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "A coalition that is lobbying for generic drugs decided to incorporate the imagery of holiday gift-giving to prod Congress to pay heed to its concerns. This week the Coalition for a Competitive Pharmaceutical Marketplace, launched television, radio, banner and print ads that include the warning that 'Congress is about to give a big present to the brand drug companies by restricting access to affordable generic and biogeneric medicines.'"

• PhRMA, Independent Community Bankers of America and credit unions top The Hill's analysis of the biggest lobbying triumphs of 2009.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "While the job market across the country has taken a tumble, K Street's thirst for Capitol Hill talent is holding steady," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Nearly one year into the Obama administration, lobby shops, law firms and corporations are still on the hunt for senior Democratic aides to add to their rosters."

• "A week after regaining its independence from Time Warner, AOL said it plans to open a government affairs office in Washington early next year," The Hill reports. "The office will be led by Tekedra McGee Jefferson, who has been named senior vice president for government affairs."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "When" Obama "emerged from a meeting with banking executives Monday, he seemed to think they'd agreed to change their lobbying ways," Politico reports. "But on Tuesday morning, there was little evidence that the major Wall Street firms planned any changes in their approach to lobbying on financial regulatory reform. "

• "Sources on and off Capitol Hill say the quick life and death of the Medicare buy-in reflects the complex politics and a brutal reality at this stage of the Senate's deliberations, in which there is little time to refine proposals that do not immediately attract the 60 votes needed for health-care legislation to pass," the Washington Post reports. "In the midst of this intricate dynamic, lobbyists for hospitals and doctors launched a broadside to try to kill the idea, focusing on two groups of Senate Democrats they viewed as most susceptible to their message."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Drugmakers intensified their lobbying push Monday against a popular proposal to allow Americans to buy cheaper drugs from other countries, one of several heated disputes that have bogged down negotiations over a heath-care reform bill," the Washington Post reports. "The talks prompted hospitals, insurers and other major industries attempting to steer the legislation in their favor to push for changes as lawmakers work through a handful of complex issues."

• "Typically, this time of year, a long day at the office for most K Streeters would consist of hopping from a holiday fete to a fundraiser to a client soiree. But the city's influence-peddlers have had little time to enjoy wassail as health care inches closer to the finish line and Members try to wrap up other legislative priorities before year's end," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As Senate Democrats show tentative signs of coalescing around a compromise health care bill that eliminates the controversial public insurance option, some of their allies are wasting no time in trying to sink the new proposal," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "While lawmakers await a Congressional Budget Office cost analysis of the proposed substitute, doctor and hospital groups are already trying to scuttle part of the plan that would allow people ages 55 to 64 to enroll in Medicare."

• "The U.S. Supreme Court has put off until next year a ruling that could remake the political landscape for the 2010 midterm elections, and that's making things tricky for those eagerly awaiting the decision, including political professionals, regulators, advocacy groups and even the White House," Politico reports. "The case in question, which was brought by the conservative non-profit group Citizens United against the Federal Election Commission, challenges decades of law limiting corporate and union spending on elections."

• "While the two sides rarely see eye to eye, the energy industry and environmentalists can agree on at least one thing: The White House's decision last week to regulate pollution alters the legislative prospects for a Senate climate change bill that could emerge early next year," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• Roll Call (subscription) reports on recent management and structural changes at various lobbying and advocacy groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and the Specialty Tobacco Council.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "David Gelbaum, a major donor to the Sierra Club Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union and an organization that provides services to military personnel, said he would cut donations next year because investments in alternative-energy firms have 'placed me in a highly illiquid position,'" the Wall Street Journal reports. "Mr. Gelbaum said in a letter released Wednesday by the ACLU that he had donated about $389 million to the three groups from 2005 to 2009."

• Indianapolis "on Wednesday unveiled new reporting requirements for lobbyists who target its officials and employees, and they're stricter than the standards for lobbying state lawmakers," the Indianapolis Star reports. "The new policies take effect Jan. 1 and will require lobbyists to register in a public database. Starting in January 2011, they also must file annual reports with the city that detail what they were paid for each meeting with elected officials, board members and city employees."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Financial lobbyists are closely watching two key amendments that could dramatically reshape financial overhaul legislation and the proposed consumer protection agency, "The Hill reports. "The House Rules Committee was scheduled to vote by" this afternoon "on whether to allow floor debate on amendments backed by Reps. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) and Melissa Bean (D-Ill.). Centrist House Democrats, including Minnick and Bean, are wary of the scope of proposed powers under the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA)."

• "More than 800 companies and organizations that were not involved in health care at all last year... listed the hot-button topic as an issue that they were lobbying on this year in disclosure reports filed with Congress," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "That is an increase of almost a third in the number of entities lobbying on health care."

• "Unions are ramping up lobbying efforts to remove an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans in the Senate healthcare reform bill," The Hill reports. "New ad campaigns and coordinated fly-in visits to Capitol Hill by union members this week will keep the pressure on Senate Democrats."

• "Represented by the National Automobile Dealers Association, the dealers are a powerful local force, and they flexed serious muscle to win an exemption in the House version of the" Consumer Federal Protection Agency "bill, over the opposition of the committee's powerful chairman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)," Politico reports. "Across the field from the auto dealers in this brawl are the consumer advocates -- a coalition that, after years of unheeded warnings, have gained new clout in the post-crisis world."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The health insurance industry is not fighting reform proposals primarily with glitzy advertising campaigns or slick messaging, but rather with wonkish studies and data-heavy reports," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "But those reports on the costs associated with the Senate health care reform package are not getting much traction on Capitol Hill, and that has led some industry insiders to quietly grumble about the sector's lobbying strategy at a critical moment in the debate."

• "While many small businesses are fighting to block passage of health care reform, restaurant owners have decided to work for something they can support," Politico reports. "It's quite a departure for a group that historically moved in lock step with its business brethren, and it's another illustration of the different calculations and strategies adopted this year by groups that opposed the Clinton administration's attempts to pass a health care bill in the '90s."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Comcast Corp.'s intention to take over NBC Universal is expected to spark a lobbying frenzy on Capitol Hill as lawmakers prepare to hold hearings on the mega-deal," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The Philadelphia-based cable provider has built up a formidable, bipartisan lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., that includes two dozen outside firms as well as a sizeable in-house team. In the first three quarters of this year, the company spent just more than $9 million on federal lobbying."

• "The pharmaceutical industry may have to cough up more than the $80 billion it agreed to contribute to President Barack Obama's health overhaul effort, reflecting pressure from Democrats and their supporters for more money to cover older and low-income people," AP reports. "Many Democrats believe the industry will profit when roughly 30 million uninsured Americans gain coverage for prescriptions."

• "A downtown advocacy group is trying to recast the meaning of the phrase, 'Who's your daddy?' Started more than a decade ago by a scorned husband, the American Coalition for Fathers and Children is readying itself for a lobbying campaign to pressure lawmakers to establish national paternity DNA testing requirements for children of unmarried parents," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Today, alliances between Big Business, labor and environmental groups -- once nearly impossible to imagine -- are not only restructuring political advocacy but also shaping policy in" President Obama's Washington, Politico reports. "Labor unions, Fortune 500 corporations, utility companies and other corporate interests have joined forces with environmentalists in at least five different lobbying coalitions. The labor-environmentalist pact eventually became the Blue-Green Alliance, a strategic partnership of six unions," the Natural Resources Defense Council "and the Sierra Club."

• Nongovernmental organizations "are the backbone, muscle and voice of the environmental movement," Politico reports. The Environmental Defense Fund, "the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council are among a band of green NGOs that have an insider's advantage at the Copenhagen summit, with established names and clout."

• "Georgia House Speaker Glenn Richardson, once seen as a strong Republican candidate for governor, is resigning his seat, three days after his ex- wife accused him on television of having an affair with a lobbyist pushing legislation he co-sponsored," USA Today reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With a Senate showdown looming, the politically potent AARP rode to the rescue of Democrats on Wednesday, supporting $460 billion in Medicare cuts to help pay for landmark health care legislation," AP reports. "As Republicans pressed to restore the cuts, AARP said Democrats merely were recommending elimination of waste and inefficiency within the giant health care program for seniors."

• "The trade group that represents the makers of sugar beverages like soft drinks, sports and energy drinks... spent more than $7 million in just three months this summer and early fall lobbying Congress as it fought a proposed tax on its products to help pay for health care," AP reports. It's "a prime example of 'defensive lobbying' -- when trade associations and high-priced lobbyists gear up to protect their members and clients from costly action by Congress, even if there's little chance it will ever happen."

• "Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a darling of the Tea Party crowd, credited that movement with blocking Democratic health care reform efforts and predicted the conservative activists behind the movement could ultimately thwart the passage of that bill and others," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Tom Daschle's history as an adviser to some of the health care industry's most influential companies is raising the ire of public interest groups and GOP officials, who have questioned his increasingly prominent role in discussions on health reform among senior White House aides and senators," Politico reports.

• "As their former bosses wade through complex health care arcana at a breakneck pace, staffers-turned-health-care-lobbyists are relying on their contacts and policy expertise to shape the fast-evolving legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "'It is helpful. We have lines of communication open,' a lobbyist and former Senate Democratic staffer said. 'We have access to lay out our argument.'"

• "Robert 'Bud' McFarlane, a former Reagan official known for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal, has done an about-face by registering as a lobbyist for the government of Qatar after publicly denying that he needed to," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "McFarlane filed documents with the Department of Justice on Nov. 9, nearly six months after signing a contract with the Qatari government. The agreement is dated May 14, but documents detailing McFarlane's multimillion-dollar contract show the firm began working for Qatar in February."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As the Senate launches into an expected marathon health care debate this month, interest groups are working furiously to shape -- or spike -- the current legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "From deep inside Metro stations to aboveground in Capitol Hill offices, lawmakers and their staffs will be deluged with messages from health care stakeholders."

• "Abortion-rights groups are holding a lobby day on Wednesday to fight language in the House healthcare bill that would impose greater restrictions on access to the controversial procedure," The Hill reports. "Abortion-rights groups Planned Parenthood, NARAL-Pro-Choice America and others are sponsoring a lobby day on Wednesday as part of a national 'week of action' in opposition to the" amendment from Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., restricting the use of federal funds for abortions.

• "Stimulus money for high-speed rail has sparked a feeding frenzy among lobbyists, according to a new report from a watchdog group," the Chicago Tribune reports. "Competition for federal stimulus grants led more than 50 groups to lobby on high-speed rail policy in the third quarter of 2009, the Center for Public Integrity reports. That number is roughly triple the 17 groups doing so just a year earlier."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Ethics reform groups are hitting back against a recent ruling by the Federal Election Commission to relax candidate air travel restrictions," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Democracy 21, the Campaign Legal Center and others are trying to devise a strategy to overturn a decision that would allow candidates for Senate, vice president and president to use corporate jets as private air service as long as the candidates say they are traveling for reasons other than their election."

• "When the American Medical Association threw its support behind the House health care overhaul, Democrats gleefully seized on the backing by the doctors lobby as akin to nabbing the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "But the endorsement masked deep divisions within the medical community, where parochial concerns and broader ideological differences remain over how health care reform should be accomplished."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Health Care for America Now has launched new television ads praising the two Democratic senators from Arkansas and giving quiet support to Ben Nelson, the centrist Democrat from Nebraska," The Hill reports. "The spot airing in Arkansas gives political cover to Democrats Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who is facing a tough re-election next year, and Sen. Mark Pryor."

• "The Office of Congressional Ethics released a statement Tuesday refuting criticisms of its investigative process made by the House ethics committee in late October, and marking the public airing of tensions in the chamber's two-tiered ethics process, Roll Call reports."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Centrist Democratic senators will face a barrage of advertising from the left and the right as they return to their districts for the Thanksgiving holiday in the wake of Saturday's key procedural vote to move comprehensive health reform legislation forward," CongressDailyPM (subscription) reports. "Top targets are Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Mary Landrieu, D-La. The Republican National Committee is up with a Web ad today accusing each of betraying different principles by voting to advance healthcare legislation."

• "Two days after health reform cleared its first major hurdle in the Senate, two groups launched a joint television ad campaign," The Hill reports. "The AARP and American Medical Association (AMA) are undertaking the effort to promote the legislation's effect on Medicare."

• "Lobbying over abortion was turning into a sleepy business. But the health care debate has brought a new boom, and both sides are exploiting it with fund-raising appeals," the New York Times reports. "Abortion opponents have been blanketing their supporters with solicitations and alarms since House Democrats laid out their health care proposals three months ago."

From this morning' s Earlybird:

• "Companies and groups hiring lobbying firms on health issues nearly doubled this year as special interests rushed to shape the massive revamp of the nation's health care system now in its final stretch before Congress," USA Today reports. "About 1,000 organizations have hired lobbyists since January, compared with 505 during the same period in 2008, according to a USA TODAY analysis of congressional records compiled by the nonpartisan CQ MoneyLine."

• "Emboldened by their success in inserting restrictive abortion language into the House health care bill, Roman Catholic bishops say they've found a lobbying model that could provide them a louder voice in future policy debates," Politico reports. "Success in the House came after the church ran a classic lobbying operation: deploying paid staff to Capitol Hill, tapping influential bishops to make private appeals to key congressional leaders and distributing bulletin inserts to 19,000 parishes with easy instructions -- and sample wording -- for sending a message to local representatives."

• "As most of Washington continues to focus solely on the health care debate, Damon Wells may have the best seasonal gig in town -- chief lobbyist for the gobble lobby," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Wells, who has been at the National Turkey Federation for the past three years, serves as the Thanksgiving centerpiece's eyes, ears and biggest advocate on Capitol Hill."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The insurance industry lobby is panning the Senate legislation. The lobbying group, America's Health Insurance Plans, said in a statement on Thursday that the bill would increase costs for individuals, families and employers; reduce benefits for older Americans; and threaten employer coverage," the New York Times reports. "In the statement, Karen Ignagni, the group's president and chief executive, said the association would work with the Senate to improve the bill."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The nation's mayors are pressing lawmakers to send more money directly to cities if Congress passes a second stimulus, arguing joblessness is often concentrated in metro areas. The lobbying push could reprise an earlier battle with state governors over control of federal dollars," The Hill reports. However, "several interest groups are reactivating and dusting off old policy proposals as Democratic leaders in Congress consider another jobs measure to ease unemployment levels."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "House Republicans want the AARP to rescind its endorsement of comprehensive health reform legislation after a government report showed it could cause some providers to stop accepting Medicare patients," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio "and other Republican leaders wrote to Barry Rand, AARP's chief executive officer, to 'strongly urge you to reconsider your endorsement' of the health reform bill the House passed Nov. 7."

• "National Catholic leaders this week ratified the church's official position in the ongoing health care debate, reiterating their tough stance against abortion rights and on other hot-button issues as the legislation makes its way through the Senate," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "At the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a group that has come under fire for lobbying heavily for anti-abortion measures in health care reform, church officials defended their positions and the pressure they have put on Capitol Hill leaders."

• "Native American advocates are vowing to keep up the fight after the Supreme Court this week opted against reviewing a nearly two-decade-long challenge to the Washington Redskins name. The court didn't comment on why it declined to reconsider a lower court's ruling that the plaintiffs took too long to file the case," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Abortion-rights groups and other progressive lobbies are organizing a post-Thanksgiving assault on Capitol Hill to press lawmakers to keep restrictive language on abortion out of the final health care package," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The coalition has scheduled a 'National Day of Action' on Dec. 2 that will include a rally at the Capitol as well as visits by activists from around the country to lawmakers' offices."

• "Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, defended the bishops' decision to play an active role in shaping national health care legislation, saying Monday that the church must be the 'leaven' in the country's political debate," the Washington Times reports.

• "Business foes of health care overhaul legislation are outspending supporters at a rate of 2-to-1 for TV ads as they grow increasingly nervous over a final bill," AP reports. "Led by the giant U.S. Chamber of Commerce, opponents of the Democratic health care drive have spent $24 million on TV commercials over the past month to $12 million spent by labor unions and other backers."

• "The Club for Growth's recent claim to fame -- or infamy, for some -- has been mixing it up in House Republican primaries by backing conservative candidates running against moderates," Politico reports. "But the anti-tax, anti-big-government group now is positioning itself to be a major 2010 player in Senate races, too, a development likely to cause headaches for both parties."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Apparent computer glitches and confusion over new reporting rules for political action committees have ensnared some of the nation's biggest lobbying organizations, which missed a campaign finance deadline by more than seven months," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Under new rules enacted by the Federal Election Commission this year, PACs are required to report before the end of March whether they are controlled by an entity that is registered to lobby."

• "The House Financial Services Committee next week is set to debate the highly contentious issue of whether the government should have the power to break up large financial firms even if they're not about to fail," The Hill reports. "Lobbyists for big banks are anxious about language still being drafted by Reps. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) and Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) that would give new powers to the government to break up big firms and separate their different types of commercial and investment banking business."

• "Supporters of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba have made more than $10 million in campaign contributions since the 2004 election cycle," The Hill reports. "Pro-embargo donors are also continuing to funnel more and more funds to Democrats, according to a report released" today "by Public Campaign, a watchdog group that supports public financing of election campaigns."

• "Facing the possibility of a $27 billion pollution judgment against it in an Ecuadorean court, Chevron launched an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign to try to prevent the judgment as well as reverse a deeply damaging story line," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to seize several U.S. assets allegedly controlled by entities linked to the government of Iran, including a mosque and Islamic school in Potomac, land in Prince William County and a Manhattan skyscraper," the Washington Post reports. "At the center of that web, they said, is a New-York based organization known as the Alavi Foundation, which U.S. authorities have for decades suspected of being a possible Iranian front."

• "A lawsuit has brought to light numerous documents that raise questions about whether the" National Iranian American Council "is using that influence to lobby for policies favorable to Iran in violation of federal law," the Washington Times reports. "If so, a number of prominent Washington figures could come to regret their ties to the group."

• "The nation's largest health insurance carrier is urging its employees to lobby the Senate against reform proposals that would hurt the firm's bottom line, according to copies of e-mails released Thursday by a liberal advocacy group," the Washington Post reports. "UnitedHealth Group, which is based in Minnesota, e-mailed its 75,000 employees Tuesday, asking them to write their senators and local newspapers in opposition to a public insurance option, alleging that 'government-run health care' will force 'millions of Americans' to drop their current coverage."

• "Organizing for America is dispatching volunteers to the local offices of 32 House Republicans whose districts supported President Barack Obama in the 2008 election to demand that they support Obama's health care reform initiative," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "OFA volunteers will begin to drop by the offices Friday and continue doing so through the middle of next week."

• "The Employment Policies Institute, founded by lobbyist and public relations man Richard Berman, has launched a $10 million television campaign warning about the high cost of proposed health care reform," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Berman, long a lightning rod for consumer groups, has represented a long list of clients including restaurants, soda-makers and other business interests. ... In an interview, he said the health care advertising campaign is funded by a number of his clients, whom he declined to name."

• "The Senate Ethics Committee earlier this month dismissed a complaint alleging Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) traded campaign donations for earmarks, according to a letter released Thursday," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The ethics panel announced its decision in a letter to the Congressional watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the complaint against Landrieu in January 2008."

• "Abortion-rights advocates are calling in the cavalry to help fight off an anti-abortion provision House Democratic leaders swallowed in order to win passage of their health care reform bill," Politico reports. "On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood summoned 80 progressive groups to plot strategy for keeping the anti-abortion amendment -- named for sponsors Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.) -- out of a final health care bill."

• "The 60 Plus Association, a conservative seniors' group, has pledged to spend $1.5 million targeting 15 House Democrats who voted for health care reform," Politico reports. "The group is launching robocalls against the 15 lawmakers and will run TV ads in eight of those districts."

• "Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), facing the prospect of a tough re-election bid next year, is under pressure from a liberal activist group to support a motion to proceed on health care reform legislation that is poised to hit the Senate floor next week," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The Blue America political action committee is hitting statewide Arkansas cable television with a 30-second spot demanding that Lincoln 'allow an up-or-down vote on the public option.'"

• "After trying to carefully balance their interests in health-care reform and immigration, the nation's Hispanic lawmakers and largest advocacy groups are scrambling to develop a strategy to counter what they see as efforts to shortchange immigrants in health bills on Capitol Hill," the Washington Post reports.

• "Lobbyists and corporate executives are targeting the newest members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the high-stakes fight over regulating the Internet," The Hill reports. "Meredith Attwell Baker, the newest Republican commissioner, or her aides have held at least seven meetings with officials representing both sides of the debate since the FCC voted three weeks ago to move forward with a rulemaking effort on network neutrality, according to a review of close to 100 records at the FCC."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Unions are pushing state lawmakers to pass legislation that would make organizing workers easier, as efforts to rewrite federal organizing laws remain stalled in Congress," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "Oregon passed the Worker Freedom Act, which prohibits companies from holding mandatory employee meetings to talk about organizing. Employers say mandatory meetings, known as 'captive audience meetings,' are necessary to counter misleading information disseminated by union organizers. Unions say employers use the meetings to gauge worker sympathies and pressure workers not to join the union."

• "President Obama's nominee for a top weapons-buying job at the Pentagon recently served as a paid adviser for a big defense contractor and is declining to disclose whom else he has worked for on a government ethics form designed to help the public guard against potential conflicts of interest," the Washington Times reports. "Frank Kendall III, Mr. Obama's pick for principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, received $75,000 in consulting fees last year from defense contractor SAIC Inc., according to his recently filed disclosure form. He also reported fees totaling $8,500 from Centra Technology, another defense contractor."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Credit unions and associations representing military members are urging lawmakers to oppose a provision in a broad financial services bill that they argue amounts to a tax on troops and their families," The Hill reports. "The bill, currently being marked up in the House Financial Services Committee, would impose a fee on financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets to pay for the costs if the government is forced to take over a failing financial firm."

• "Major union groups are spending $1 million this week to thank endangered Democratic Members whose yea health care votes over the weekend may complicate their 2010 re-election chances," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The labor-backed Health Care for America Now and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on Monday announced a $650,000 television ad buy to thank 20 Members who voted for the Affordable Health Care for America Act."

• "The traditional pecking order of Washington's top trade and business groups has been thrown into disarray by the Obama administration's far-reaching domestic agenda and its tough tactics against opponents," Politico reports. "It's the Independent Community Bankers of America and the Consumer Federation of America that are seeing their ideas prevail in the current debate over rewriting the regulatory framework for the financial industry, not the once-invincible, big New York investment banks."

• "The House ethics committee has not approached Reps. Jim Moran (D-Va.) or Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) about the PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm under FBI investigation," The Hill reports. "The two lawmakers, both of whom sit on the Appropriations Defense subcommittee that provided earmarks to the group's clients, said they are cooperating with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), a new quasi-independent board that initiates investigations and makes recommendations to the full panel."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Despite apparent tensions in the House's two-tiered ethics process -- notably, recent spats between the ethics committee and an outside review office -- House officials and ethics observers say a formal evaluation of the system is unlikely anytime soon," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "In recent weeks, both the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, as the ethics panel is officially known, and the Office of Congressional Ethics have feuded publicly over process issues -- from how to calculate deadlines to the interpretation of House rules -- suggesting friction in the reformed ethics process lawmakers approved less than two years ago."

• "After contentious Senate committee action on climate change legislation last week, industry and environmental interests are focusing on a select group of Senators who are trying to forge consensus on the heated issue," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Much of the attention will be aimed at Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.), who are seeking common ground between those who want to curb greenhouse gas emissions and others who fret about the economic consequences."

• "Northrop Grumman, the third-largest U.S. defense contractor, agreed to sell a government-consulting unit to a group of investors led by General Atlantic and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts affiliates for $1.65 billion," the Washington Post reports. "The sale of TASC, to comply with new rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest, will generate about $1.1 billion in cash after taxes, Northrop said Sunday in a statement. The deal requires regulatory approval, and Northrop said it may be completed by the end of the year."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Seven major American and foreign banks have hired a prominent financial lawyer to lobby on legislation that would restrict how banks do business in the multitrillion-dollar derivatives market," The Hill Reports. "Edward Rosen, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb, registered as a lobbyist for the banks at the end of October and received at least $200,000 in the third quarter, according to congressional lobbying records.... Rosen has been a central player on derivatives legislation throughout the financial regulatory overhaul debate this year. "

• "The American Petroleum Institute plans to announce Thursday that Martin J. Durbin has been named its new Executive Vice President of Government Affairs," Politico reports."Durbin will join API in December from the American Chemistry Council (ACC), He replaces Jim Ford, who has worked at API for the past 10 years."

• "The House ethics committee declared in a letter issued late Wednesday that Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) did not violate the chamber's rules through his involvement in a Tennessee land-swap deal in 2007," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The ethics committee's review focused on the Cove at Blackberry Ridge LLC, a real estate development company in Loudon, Tenn., in which Shuler is an investor."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "In a coup for House Democrats, AARP will endorse sweeping health care overhaul legislation headed for a history-making floor vote, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday," the AP reports. "An endorsement from the seniors' lobby was critical when then-President George W. Bush pushed the Medicare prescription drug benefit through a closely divided Congress in 2003...An announcement from the 40-million member group is expected Thursday, said officials with knowledge of the group's decision."

• "The House ethics committee is likely to exonerate five members of the Congressional Black Caucus who were accused of taking an improper trip to the Caribbean, according to sources familiar with the case," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The committee may also renew its complaint that the Office of Congressional Ethics is mishandling investigations."

• "With a White House decision on the direction of the war in Afghanistan still up in the air, and President Barack Obama considering whether to send as many as 40,000 additional U.S. troops, veterans groups on opposite sides of the debate are storming Capitol Hill this week to sway congressional opinion," Politico reports.

• "Business groups and unions are battling over a decision by a federal board that eases the rules for employees at airlines and railways to form unions," The Hill reports. "Though many airline and railroad employees covered by the Railway Labor Act are already unionized, the change could have a big impact on companies like Delta, JetBlue and Federal Express that have non-union workers."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Two years after Congress toughened ethics laws that prevent lobbyists and corporations from paying for members' trips, lawmakers are still seeing the world courtesy of other outside groups," Politico reports. "Although the trips are permissible because the money doesn't come directly from lobbyists or corporations, the walls can be very thin. Some of the nonprofit groups that sponsor member travel are themselves funded by corporate sponsors, and the conferences that members attend on the groups' dime often put them in direct contact with representatives of the corporate sponsors."

• "When a confidential document leaked into the public sphere last week, it revealed the Justice Department is seeking to trump a House ethics investigation of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.)," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "While the request offered no new insight into the Mollohan inquiry, it did shine light on the often murky relationship between House ethics officials and federal prosecutors."

• "The banking lobby is splitting with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over a key battle to revamp the nation's financial regulatory structure, with the two sides differing over whether a council to monitor systemic risk throughout the financial markets should also oversee accounting rules," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "As the House prepares to vote on massive health care legislation as early as Friday, outside groups on the left and right with deep pockets are going into overdrive to make sure their opinions are heard," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Some lawmakers, however, questioned the effectiveness of last-minute lobbying efforts, complaining they tie up office phones and are coming at a point when Members are already well-versed in the legislation and their constituents' views."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The disclosure that seven House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee members are being scrutinized for their ties to PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm that raised money for lawmakers and won earmarks for clients, is not expected to have a chilling effect on negotiations to reach agreement on a final FY10 Defense spending bill," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "According to analysts for watchdog groups that monitor the appropriations process, House-Senate discussions are probably too far along for negotiators to start weeding out earmarks."

• "As the House Financial Services Committee begins its final push today in drafting legislation that will overhaul the banking system, lobbyists are scrambling to get Members of Congress to address specific provisions that would harm their clients' bottom lines," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Republicans have been pushing the committee's chairman, Barney Frank (D-Mass.), to delay the hearing, citing the need to take more time to review the draft bill that was released late last week."

• "A liberal advocacy group is launching a new Web site" today "that aims to document the financial and political ties of conservative groups, many of which have emerged as major political forces this year in fomenting opposition to President Obama's policies," the Washington Post reports. "The Conservative Transparency Web site... which will be run by the Media Matters Action Network, uses Internal Revenue Service filings to track the major financial backers and beneficiaries of conservative activist groups."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A recent leak that an ethics panel is investigating seven defense appropriators is expected to shut down Members' fundraising prospects from the industry, which is typically a reliable source of campaign cash for their re-election campaigns," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Two former high-level managers at IBM and Microsoft are playing key roles in the Obama administration's patent reform efforts, leading critics to question whether their involvement constitutes a breach of the administration's ethics policy," Politico reports.

• "House lawmakers this week will attempt to alter legislation creating a new federal insurance office after lobbying interests clashed over its proposed powers," The Hill reports. "The insurance industry is divided over whether the new office under the Treasury Department should negotiate international insurance agreements on prudential matters."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July," the Washington Post reports. "The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, and it was provided to The Washington Post by a source not connected to the congressional investigations. The committee said Thursday night that the document was released by a low-level staffer."

• "Nearly half the members of a powerful House subcommittee in control of Pentagon spending are under scrutiny by ethics investigators in Congress, who have trained their lens on the relationships between seven panel members and an influential lobbying firm founded by a former Capitol Hill aide," the Post also reports.

• The House Ethics Committee Thursday "again slammed the year-old Office of Congressional Ethics -- declaring the OCE's earlier review of the" case of Rep. Sam Graves, D-Mo., "case and recommendation that it merited further consideration by the Ethics Committee was procedurally 'deficient,'" CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "Immediately firing back were the OCE's co-chairmen, former Reps. David Skaggs, D-Colo., and Porter Goss, R-Fla., declaring there were no procedural problems."

• "Business groups blasted the House healthcare bill released Thursday, and a key trade association for doctors declined to endorse it," The Hill reports. "Health insurance and pharmaceutical industries that take hard hits from the bill also took shots, saying it would drive up costs for seniors and companies alike."

• "Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson, embarrassed by a foreclosure dispute back home in California, may soon find herself the subject of a House ethics committee investigation," Politico reports. "Sources tell POLITICO that the Office of Congressional Ethics has referred Richardson's case to the House ethics committee, which will be required to announce within days whether it's going to pursue a full investigation. Richardson's case is one of three OCE referrals the committee will consider Thursday. The others -- both previously reported -- involve Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Sam Graves (R-Mo.)."

• "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is facing mounting pressure to intervene in an intense dispute between an outside ethics office she pushed through the House and the full ethics committee," The Hill reports. "Board members and senior staff of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) are threatening to resign if the ethics committee doesn't meet a deadline the OCE believes is critical to its role, according to several sources within the ethics community."

• "Dozens of lobbyists were invited to a Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraiser Tuesday night with a Cabinet member even though President Barack Obama has sworn off taking money from lobbyists," The Hill reports. "A DNC official said it was a mistake that lobbyists were invited to a small gathering with Lisa Jackson, Obama's administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The official said a review of attendees indicates that no lobbyists attended the event."

• The affair of Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., "has had a devastating effect on his political fortunes, but it's also taking a huge toll on the coterie of Senate aides, K Street lobbyists and political operatives who hitched their star to a man once thought to be a future leader of the Republican Party," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Not yet a year since the lobbying shop PMA Group abruptly shut its doors, castaways from Paul Magliocchetti's once-vast appropriations empire are continuing to divvy up his former clients among themselves. And they appear to be generating a handsome profit," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Four new lobbying firms emerged from the demise of PMA, which closed last spring in the wake of an apparent federal investigation reportedly exploring its possible ties to Reps. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and other House appropriators."

• "Unions converged on Chicago on Tuesday to protest lobbying by major banks against proposed reforms of the financial system," The Hill reports. "The AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other labor groups were leading a rally expected to draw 5,000 participants outside the annual conference for the American Bankers Association (ABA)."

• "While much of Washington, D.C., has been focused solely on health care reform, the technology industry has been quietly undergoing a massive shuffling of the decks on the personnel front," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Since the beginning of the year, more than half a dozen tech companies have installed new government relations office heads."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Lobbyists for farm and small-business groups are pushing for a broader exemption to the estate tax bill that would benefit most of their members," The Hill reports. "The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), two powerful trade associations, were both quick to endorse legislation introduced by Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) on Thursday that would increase the exemption under the estate tax as well as lower the tax rate."

• "Advertising and marketing industry lobbyists are urging the House Energy and Commerce Committee to slow fast-moving legislation that would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency out of concern that the measure would create confusion among regulators and harm business interests," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "The nation's preeminent seniors group, AARP, has put the weight of its 40 million members behind health-care reform, saying many of the proposals will lower costs and increase the quality of care for older Americans," the Washington Post reports. "But not advertised in this lobbying campaign have been the group's substantial earnings from insurance royalties and the potential benefits that could come its way from many of the reform proposals."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "In preparation for his sentencing in an Alaska bribery scheme, former oil executive Bill Allen released a tantalizing tidbit about the long-running legal allegations swirling around Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska): Allen told the Justice Department in 2007 that he had provided Young with more than $100,000 worth of gifts that the Congressman never reported," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "It was the first official mention of Young in connection with the Alaska corruption probe that has led to indictments against several public officials, including former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)."

• "Not content with shaping education directly through schools, the biggest player in the school reform movement has an eye on moving education policy," AP reports. "The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent around $200 million a year on grants to elementary and secondary education."

• "U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue says a campaign by the White House and its allies to undermine his $200-million-a-year association has largely failed -- and actually has helped raise even more money for its pro-business efforts," Politico reports. "In a 75-minute interview with POLITICO, Donohue dismissed recent defections by Apple and at least four other companies, which quit over the Chamber's opposition to Democratic climate change legislation -- as essentially meaningless."

• "It takes a while for most start-up companies to gain the confidence of a U.S. congressman and the promise of federal funds. But last year, a small Illinois company accomplished its goal in 16 days with the help of Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, a little-known Indiana Democrat who sits on the House committee that funds the Pentagon," the Washington Post reports. "The congressman sponsored or supported at least $44 million in earmarks in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for more than 15 technology firms that had hired K&L Gates as lobbyists."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "In a move with potentially major implications for the 2010 and 2012 elections and the future of campaign finance rules, the Federal Election Commission on Thursday voted not to challenge an appeals court panel's ruling that could free outside groups to spend huge sums of cash unburdened by contribution limits," Politico reports. "The vote, a 3 - 3 partisan split that had the effect of rejecting a recommendation by commission staff to appeal the ruling to the full court of appeals, spotlighted the commission's increasing partisan divide, and also put pressure on President Barack Obama to override the commission's decision."

• "The White House's top ethics cop on Thursday defended the Obama administration's lobbying restrictions that have much of K Street up in arms," The Hill reports. "Norm Eisen, counsel to the president on ethics and government reform, told attendees of the American Bar Association's (ABA) fall conference that" Obama "was trying to fundamentally change how Washington works, which gives an outsized influence to lobbyists."

• "The White House and environmental groups are turning up the heat on the Chamber of Commerce, and some of its member companies are feeling the burn," Politico reports. "The Chamber is pushing back, sending top officials out to make its case on TV and in print interviews and blaming Democrats and liberal interest groups for trying to coerce it into changing its position."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A former U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said a White House effort to remove lobbyists from influential advisory committees could hurt the United States in its trade negotiations," The Hill reports. "But a White House official defended the guidance on Wednesday, saying that lobbyists shouldn't be offered a government platform to try to influence public policy."

• "Facing a major regulatory issue that could be worth a fortune in future business, AT&T has unleashed the kind of lobbying blitz that makes it one of the grand corporate players of the great Washington game," the Washington Post reports. "And yet, for all the money AT&T and other old-line telecom and cable companies have spent pushing their cause, they are poised to lose a key vote to a bunch of younger technology companies that never had anything to do with Washington until recently."

• "Restaurants, retailers and other businesses with high rates of employee turnover are pushing lawmakers to revisit how 'full-time' workers are defined in a healthcare overhaul measure to avoid being slapped with hefty fees for failing to insure their temporary or short-term workforces," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

• "K Street looks like a winner if healthcare reform reaches President Barack Obama's desk," The Hill reports. "If healthcare reform passes, lobbyists for healthcare industries will be plenty busy trying to influence the implementation of the bill, both in Congress and in the Obama administration. Sectors targeted for cuts in the bill will immediately begin trying to claw back the money they stand to lose. And lobbyists representing smaller interests will try to band together to get their perennial issues handled."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Fresh off their congressional retirements, former Reps. Bud Cramer and Jim McCrery are prohibited from lobbying for a year -- a ban reinforced by a sweeping crackdown under the Democratic Congress," Politico reports. "But you wouldn't know it from their day jobs and their political donations, which give them a heavy hand in the Washington influence game, advising clients with interests before Congress while donating tens of thousands of dollars from their old campaign war chests to candidates."

• "Facing an Oct. 30 deadline for relinquishing their lobbyist stripes under a new White House decree, the heads of all industry trade advisory boards have written to President Obama and top administration and congressional officials imploring them to reconsider," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "The letter from the 16 ITAC chiefs, dated Monday, requests a meeting with the president and his top aides to discuss the matter."

• "The August recess did little to slow the Washington lobbying frenzy over health-care reform, as insurers, drugmakers and hospitals continued to spend millions to attempt to sway the emerging legislation, according to new disclosure reports filed with Congress," the Washington Post reports. The top spender so far is "the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drugmakers' main trade group," which "shattered records again by spending nearly $7 million on lobbying from July through September, the quarterly disclosure records show."

• "Locked in a bitter legislative battle, package delivery giants FedEx and United Parcel Service" boosted their lobbying in the third quarter, Roll Call (subscription) reports. "From July through September, UPS shelled out $4.4 million to influence federal lawmakers, a whopping $3 million increase from the previous three-month period. FedEx, meanwhile, doled out $5.6 million on lobbying during the same period, up almost $2 million from the prior quarter."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce... reported spending a record amount on federal lobbying in the third quarter of this year," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The group's lobbying disclosure report... showed the chamber shelled out a record $34.7 million on lobbying. The business group sought to influence a wide gamut of issues from climate change, financial regulation and health care reform to more obscure legislation involving pythons."

• "Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) pressed the federal government at the height of the financial crisis for bailout money for a bank with which he has a long political and personal relationship," The Hill reports. "Left unmentioned was the Illinois Democrat's long affiliation with the bank and its U.S. operations in particular. Bank executives had contributed tens of thousands of dollars until 2004 to Gutierrez's political campaigns. The congressman's wife, Soraida, was a senior vice president at the firm from 2005 to 2007, before being fired."

• "Embattled House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) was the top recipient of bundled campaign contributions from lobbyists during the third fundraising quarter of this year, new reports show," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "According to Federal Election Commission reports filed after Thursday's deadline, Rangel received roughly $125,000 in combined campaign contributions from the McPherson Group's John Kelly, New York-based Constantinople & Vallone Consulting and trade group Employee-Owned S Corporations of America."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The 2008 collapse of the financial sector also spawned a contraction in the number of banking lobbyists on K Street, leaving the industry with a smaller bench as Congress begins rewriting the rules for Wall Street," Politico reports. "In 2007, the last boom year, 3,002 lobbyists were registered to represent the finance, insurance and real estate sector, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Today, 2,370 financial services lobbyists are registered -- a loss of more than 600 jobs or contracts."

• "Lobbyists and political action committees delivered more than $330,000 worth of bundled campaign contributions to House Members during the third fundraising quarter this year, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures filed last week," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) was the quarter's big winner, raking in nearly $120,000 combined from J.C. Watts Cos. lobbyist Tripp Baird, Phillip Holt of the National Installment Lenders, and Geoffrey Gradler of Roberts, Raheb & Gradler. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) also made out handsomely this summer, bringing in nearly $70,000 from the Managed Funds Association and John Pappas of the Poker Players Alliance."

• "The healthcare negotiator for one of nation's most powerful unions made clear that it opposes a tax on high-cost-insurance plans, despite abstaining from an multi-union campaign objecting to the plan," The Hill reports. "The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was not among the 27 unions to sign on to an ad criticizing a proposed tax on 'Cadillac' insurance plans that was included in the Senate Finance Committee healthcare bill."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.), caught up in the scandal surrounding a now defunct lobbying firm, shelled out $100,000 this summer for 'legal representation,' according to his latest campaign-disclosure report," Politico reports. "Visclosky's campaign report for the July 1-Sept. 30 period, released on Thursday, showed two $50,000 payments to the firm Steptoe & Johnson, made in July and August, with no checks cut to the firm in September."

• "At a meeting last April with corporate lobbyists, aides to President Barack Obama and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) helped set in motion a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, primarily financed by industry groups, that has played a key role in bolstering public support for health care reform," Politico also reports. "The role Baucus's chief of staff, Jon Selib, and deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina played in launching the groups was part of a successful effort by Democrats to enlist traditional enemies of health care reform to their side."

• "Lobbyists have met with officials at the Office of Management and Budget to discuss and in some cases moderate regulations regarding a greenhouse gas registry, the so-called Buy American purchasing requirement and an ethanol production mandate. OMB has final say on how proposed federal rules are ultimately written," The Hill reports. "Representatives for the oil-and-gas industry flocked to a half-dozen meetings held by OMB starting in August this year to discuss a controversial rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions."

• "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Wall Street firms have the big bucks and the hired-gun lobbyists, but they've got nothing on local banks and credit unions in the raging battle over financial reform," Politico reports. "Thanks to an effective, parochial lobbying campaign, credit unions and community banks have won a major exemption in their effort to escape scrutiny by Democrats' proposed consumer financial protection agency."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A prominent coal industry association spent nearly $10 million over the past 18 months on lobbying efforts supervised by a public affairs firm currently under congressional investigation for its involvement in sending forged letters opposing the climate bill," Politico reports.

• "Kicking off the latest chapter of this year's Full Employment Act for K Street Lobbyists, representatives from a surfeit of industries descended on an influential Congressional committee on Wednesday as it began writing a law overhauling the nation's regulatory system," the New York Times reports.

• "As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce rolled out its multimillion-dollar Campaign for Free Enterprise on Wednesday with all the pomp and circumstance of a political campaign rally, the business group was still dogged by questions surrounding its position on climate change legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Chamber President Tom Donohue defended his group's position and said companies are being pressured by environmental activists to withdraw from the chamber."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The generic drug industry, outmanned and outspent on the lobbying front compared to its name-brand counterparts, has been struggling to be heard on Capitol Hill throughout the health care debate," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The generic industry will be zeroing in on provisions adapted by key committees in both chambers that would shut it out of the biologic drug market for at least 12 years."

• "Former Bush administration official and lobbyist Tommy Thompson is the latest Republican to lash out at the Democratic National Committee for apparently misusing his stance on health care reform. The DNC over the weekend reportedly pulled a television advertisement featuring Thompson, former Sen. Bob Dole (Kan.) and other Republicans who apparently supported a White House-led charge to fix the nation's insurance woes," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Even after Tuesday's Senate Finance Committee vote brought sighs of relief and dismay up and down K Street, lobbyists for many narrowly focused interest groups are still holding their breaths, waiting to see if their proposals will become part of any final healthcare bill," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A series of court decisions expected this fall could put the nation on track to return to turn-of-the-century campaign finance laws," Politico reports. Among the several cases that have been taken up, "This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear arguments in a case that opponents say could pave the way for political parties to raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, individuals, unions and anything else with a bank account."

• "Powerful health industry groups that have held back in their criticisms of specific reform proposals will soon have to choose whether to endorse, or formally oppose, President Barack Obama's top domestic priority," The Hill reports. "The result could be a flurry of associations embracing Democratic efforts to reform the nation's healthcare system, which would likely push the legislation to Obama's desk. Or it could mirror the battle of the 1990s, when an array of healthcare groups crushed President Bill Clinton's plan, subsequently leading to the GOP takeover of Congress in 1994."

• "After months of research and groundwork, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will launch its Campaign for Free Enterprise on Wednesday, with the goal of spurring the creation of 20 million jobs in the next decade," Politico reports. "Organizers say the multimillion-dollar program will include grass-roots advertising, national advertising, public education, outreach to opinion leaders and extensive involvement by young people."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Several of the biggest departments in the federal government plan to adhere to the White House prohibition on lobbyists serving on their advisory boards and committees," The Hill reports. "The Hill contacted all 20 Cabinet-level agencies to see if they intend to follow the guidance issued two weeks ago by the White House. Twelve agencies returned messages before press time and all said they would adhere to the guidelines."

• "A coalition of business groups is worried that Senate Democratic leaders will not hold a confirmation hearing on President Barack Obama's nominee for a key post at the Labor Department," The Hill reports. "Concerned that the nomination of David Michaels to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will go straight to the floor, industry groups are lobbying for a committee hearing. The business associations want senators to grill Michaels on how he would address 'ergonomic' workplace injuries, including carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive-motion ailments."

• "In almost any other congressional debate," Thursday "would have been when powerful special interests open fire on a bill that violates the handshake deals they'd reached with lawmakers," Politico reports. "But as Democrats in both chambers advanced proposals... that conflict with agreements struck with the pharmaceutical and hospital industries, the business groups are calmly riding the wave of reform."

• "Nearly a year after former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested and accused of running state government as a criminal enterprise, legislators have reached a stalemate with a powerful reform-advocacy group regarding limits on political-campaign contributions," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports.

• "The Federal Election Commission" today "is expected to vote on whether the agency will begin rewriting long-awaited rules involving provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "A spokesman on Wednesday said the agency's six commissioners are tentatively scheduled to decide at today's 2 p.m. meeting whether to restart the rule-making process to comply with a court order in a case brought by former Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.)."

• "In the months since soldiers ousted the Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, the de facto government and its supporters have resisted demands from the United States that he be restored to power. Arguing that the left-leaning Mr. Zelaya posed a threat to their country's fragile democracy by trying to extend his time in office illegally, they have made their case in Washington in the customary way: by starting a high-profile lobbying campaign," the New York Times reports.

• "As the lobbying battle over net neutrality is reaching a fever pitch, opponents are crying foul after a top staffer to Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) announced her departure for Google," Roll Call (subscription) also reports. "The Internet search giant has been aggressively supporting enactment of net neutrality rules, which would prevent phone and cable companies from discriminating against some types of online content."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Even as health care continues to dominate Capitol Hill, lobbyists are ramping up their efforts behind the scenes to add legislative sweeteners to a tax bill Congress is expected to take up before the end of the year," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Lobbyists say they believe Congress will be forced to act because the estate tax and a popular tax credit for companies doing research and development are set to expire at the end of the year."

• "Lobbyists are redoubling efforts to advance tax and spending provisions as President Barack Obama considers additional options to bolster the economy," The Hill reports. "The renewed focus on fiscal stimulus measures comes as unemployment numbers have worsened."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk on "Monday defended a new White House policy that would trim federally registered lobbyists from the ranks of agency advisory boards and commissions, a move that has drawn a rebuke from the trade community," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "The Obama administration policy, first announced Sept. 23 by Norm Eisen, special counsel for ethics and government reform, on the White House blog, is part of the administration's efforts to clamp down on lobbyists' influence in Washington."

• SEIU "is coming under fire from conservatives because of its long-standing financial and leadership ties to ACORN, a liberal organizing group recently embarrassed by videos filmed covertly," the Washington Post reports. "Some Republicans say federal agencies that recently cut ties with ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- should also consider severing their relationship with the Service Employees International Union. The SEIU and ACORN have long worked closely together, with the union paying the association more than $3.6 million in the past three years and sharing some office locations and leaders with the group."

• "A mining company owned by Goldman Sachs and two private equity funds is in line to get a $3 million earmark for work at a rare earth elements mine in Mountain Pass, Calif. -- raising questions as to why Congress would take on some of the risk for a bailed-out investment giant that's already making a profit," Politico reports. "Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) inserted the earmark for the mine into the House Defense appropriations bill, and backers say it's a legitimate national security concern. The military needs rare earth elements, and China -- which is rich in them -- has threatened to cut off exports. But some government watchdogs question whether taxpayers should be asked to prop up a project that is already funded by wealthy investors who expect to make a profit."

• "The political committees of Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) have been accused of scheming to conceal a contribution from Pickering to Vitter in violation of federal campaign finance laws," Politico reports. "The Louisiana Democratic Party plans to file a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission today, charging that Barbour's PAC essentially filtered a $5,000 campaign donation from Pickering's PAC to Louisiana Vitter's 2010 reelection committee to make it look like the contribution didn't come directly from Pickering."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A tide of anger and dismay is rippling down K Street as the Obama administration implements a new policy limiting the roles of lobbyists on federal advisory committees," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The policy change, described by the White House as the next step in President Barack Obama's drive to limit influence-peddling in Washington, could affect hundreds of lobbyists who serve on the panels, which were created by Congress in the 1970s to provide private-sector advice to the government."

• "Charlie Black, one of the best-known names in Washington consulting and lobbying over the past 29 years, told POLITICO that his lobbying shop will announce a merger Monday with Timmons and Co., one of the city's first stand-alone lobbying firms," Politico reports. "Black's firm, BKSH & Associates Worldwide, has about 30 people, and Timmons and Co. has about 10. The combined firm, to be called Prime Policy Group, will have 24 senior lobbyists: 13 Democrats and 11 Republicans."

• "The Democratic takeover on Capitol Hill happened more than two years ago, but K Street lobby shops are still feeling the pressure to turn left," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "While the number of all-Republican lobby shops has dwindled, firms that have made the switch to become bipartisan are still working to bring up the numbers of Democrats on their books. Navigators Global is the most recent example of a shop switching course. Navigators shed four senior Republican employees in recent weeks as the firm has focused its efforts to become more bipartisan."

• "Lobbyists are bracing themselves for the impending political fallout surrounding Sen. John Ensign, following allegations that the once-powerful Nevada Republican may have violated ethics rules in helping a former aide-turned-lobbyist secure business," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Republicans on K Street quickly tried to tamp down any speculation that the recent accusations will lead Ensign to resign... Still, Ensign's near-pariah status on Capitol Hill has limited his usefulness to lobbyists, despite his positions on the powerful Finance Committee and Commerce, Science and Transportation panel. As Senate Republicans have largely benched Ensign, K Streeters have taken that as a cue to distance themselves from him, according to one veteran Republican lobbyist."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., arranged for Douglas Hampton, husband of his mistress, "to join a political consulting firm and lined up several donors as his lobbying clients, according to interviews, e-mail messages and other records. Mr. Ensign and his staff then repeatedly intervened on the companies' behalf with federal agencies, often after urging from Mr. Hampton," the New York Times reports. "Several experts say those activities may have violated an ethics law that bars senior aides from lobbying the Senate for a year after leaving their posts."

• "Organized labor is turning to House Democrats to oppose a tax on high-cost insurance plans that is under consideration to help pay for healthcare reform," The Hill reports. "Unions are blasting the idea in the Senate Finance Committee bill, as many union members would be affected because they either have expensive insurance to cover dangerous professions or negotiated for better benefits instead of higher wages."

• "Still jittery that lawmakers might revive a proposal to tax sugary beverages to help offset costs of a healthcare overhaul, a coalition of beverage and food makers vows to continue a multimillion-dollar anti-tax advertising campaign until the bitter end," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "None of the current House or Senate drafts of healthcare legislation contain language that would impose a surcharge on sodas or alcohol to pay for major healthcare initiatives, but an industry alliance, Americans Against Food Taxes, continues to devote resources to maintain public awareness of its opposition."

• "Leaders at smaller trade groups worry they could be particularly hurt by a new White House ban on lobbyists serving on advisory committees," The Hill reports. "They argue that their organizations do not have the staff or the money to hire more employees to get around the new rule. Executives at these associations often do double duty, managing the trade group and lobbying on their industry's behalf."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Activist shareholders are pressuring companies such as Nike to pull out of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, arguing that the trade group's stance against climate change legislation is incompatible with the companies' own positions," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Green Century Funds, Newground Social Investment and others sent letters to Nike CEO Mark Parker, urging the company to go beyond its decision Wednesday to step down from the chamber's board of directors."

• "A key Senate negotiator trying to advance a contentious union-organizing bill said a modified version could pass the upper chamber this year, despite his reservations with the changes," The Hill reports. "Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is one of a half-dozen senators trying to craft a compromise on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which if passed would make union organizing much easier. The labor movement considers the measure one of its top legislative priorities this Congress, but business associations have mounted an all-out lobbying offensive against the bill."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A coalition of 46 industry groups ranging from the American Farm Bureau Federation to the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America is weighing in with lawmakers to support a permanent extension of the estate tax at a reduced rate," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "The tax expires at the end of this year and otherwise would be repealed next year -- but come back in 2011 at a higher rate -- unless Congress acts."

• "J Street, the year-old pro-Israel lobby that advocates for Palestinian statehood, will announce today that more than 160 Members of Congress, including 29 Senators, are serving on the honorary host committee for the group's first conference and gala dinner next month," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, will be the keynote speaker at the dinner."

• "With plenty of political good will in the bank, Ford got to work," today "spending it, pushing for legislation that would punish states for not penalizing drivers for text messaging while they're at the wheel," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Ford and its affiliates are the lone distributors of Sync, a Microsoft technology that converts a driver's voice into a text message."

• "A former U.S. Democratic Party fundraiser whose 2007 arrest prompted Hillary Clinton to return $850,000 in campaign contributions was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison on Tuesday," Reuters reports. "Hong Kong-born Norman Hsu, 58, was convicted in May by a jury in federal court in New York of violating election laws by making donations to political campaigns in other people's names. Hsu had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and wire fraud in running a Ponzi scheme of up to $60 million."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The Federal Election Commission on Monday decided that limited liability companies are not political committees when they team up with political consultants to run television advertisements and other independent expenditures," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The decision may provide cover for wealthy Democrats and Republicans to team up with like-minded donors to target candidates in the 2010 election."

• "A major lobbying battle has heated up over legislation that would establish new security standards for facilities across the country that store or process chemicals, pitting some of the nation's largest business groups against environmental and labor organizations," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "Nearly 30 industry groups sent House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton a strongly worded letter Monday opposing certain provisions in a chemical security bill making its way through Congress."

• "Nearly 50 companies, trade associations and nongovernmental organizations urged lawmakers Monday to act soon to extend trade preferences for about 130 developing countries that expire Dec. 31.," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "Lawmakers in both chambers want to update the 35-year old Generalized System of Preferences program, which allows duty-free access for nearly 4,900 products. Given the dwindling legislative calendar, advocates wrote to leaders of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance panels that a simple extension was preferable to letting the program lapse due to differences on a broader reform approach."

• Filmmaker Michael Moore "is in town to promote his film 'Capitalism: A Love Story,' and while his movie is already being mocked by Republicans, Moore's real targets are Democrats," Politico reports. "...The group will call for a single-payer, government-run health care system -- something that isn't even on the table in the current health care debate. Moore is expected to directly target moderate Blue Dog Democrats in his press conference, which he'll co-host with Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, and Fred Redmond, vice president of United Steelworkers."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Wall Street has showered nearly $11 million on the Senate since the beginning of the year, and more than 15 percent of it has gone to a single senator: Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York," Politico reports. "Schumer's $1.65 million take from the financial services industry is nearly twice that of any other senator's -- and more than five times what the industry gave to any single Republican senator."

• "The trial lawyers lobby has been awash in debt and bleeding members - just as it embarks on a national campaign to block any clampdown on medical malpractice lawsuits as part of President Obama's health care overhaul," the Washington Times reports.

• "Lobbying over a proposed federal agency to regulate consumer financial products will get more intense now that lawmakers have scaled back the Obama administration's proposal," The Hill reports. "Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) released a new draft of the proposal for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) that limits the scope and breadth of the industries that are covered. Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, restricted several provisions to dampen criticism from the non-financial lobbyists opposed to the bill and to win over centrist Democrats... Frank and the Obama administration believe the new agency should set a floor for regulation and allow state officials to pursue additional or stricter regulations."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "More lobbyists are expected to terminate their registrations because of the White House's announcement this week that federal agencies should not appoint them to advisory boards," The Hill reports. "It is unclear how many people will be affected by the decision, but at least 1,000 federal advisory committees report to the General Services Administration under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and many of them now include registered lobbyists."

• "When Florida Republican Mel Martinez this week accepted a position with the mega-lobbying and law firm DLA Piper -- less than two weeks after resigning from the Senate -- it brought to five the number of former lawmakers since 2007 who have abandoned their constituents midterm and almost immediately resurfaced with lobbying firms, according to data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics," Politico reports.

• "The army of industry lobbyists in the health-care battle is fighting on familiar terrain: More than half of them used to work for the government they're trying to influence," Bloomberg reports. "Of 2,737 lobbyists hired to promote the interests of drug companies, insurers, hospitals, health professionals, industry groups and business organizations, 1,418 -- or 52 percent -- have worked for Congress, the White House or federal agencies. That includes 55 former members of Congress."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Despite hints to the contrary by the drug industry's top executive, pharmaceutical lobbyists are warning that a health care amendment by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) threatens to unravel an $80 billion deal the industry struck with Senate Democrats and the White House," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "At a Wednesday health care panel, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America President Billy Tauzin suggested that his organization will continue negotiating with lawmakers on health care reform legislation and reserve judgment until a final bill emerges."

• "A top-ranking SEIU official says that the powerful union could support a health care bill that doesn't include a public option -- a striking contrast to the more hard-line stance on the issue taken by the new president of the AFL-CIO," Politico reports. "But pressed as to what Service Employees International Union will do if -- as some suggest is inevitable -- a public option is not included in the final version of the legislation, [Secretary-Treasuer Anna] Burger said even getting an imperfect bill is preferable to passing nothing at all. And, she said, this year's efforts may be just a first step."

• "Changes Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus has made to his healthcare overhaul mark sparked 'serious concerns' from major health insurance lobbying groups that wrote Baucus Wednesday warning the modifications could 'undermine the shared goals of the broader reform effort,'" CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "The joint letter from America's Health Insurance Plans and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association relayed some of the harshest language insurers have used to date as they have attempted to remain actively involved in negotiations around Baucus' mark."

• "Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who has supported the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) on low-income housing issues, said he would have voted to strip federal funding for the group last week if he had been present. Frank was attending a White House Medal of Honor ceremony for a soldier from his state killed in action when the House approved the funding cuts," The Hill reports. "Frank in a lengthy memo said his support and Judiciary Chairman John Conyers's (D-Mich.) backing of an inquiry by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) into ACORN did not constitute support for the group, and may have been shortsighted."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual legislative conference kicks off today, but don't expect to see the CBC Political Action Committee taking an active role in the events that bring together hundreds of people to discuss issues of particular interest to African-Americans," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The CBC PAC, which raises personal and corporate hard dollars, and the CBC Foundation, which attracts corporate soft dollars, are separate organizations. The CBC PAC didn't schedule any events because it didn't want to have even the appearance of trying to use the legislative conference to its fundraising advantage, according to the group's executive director, Jessica Knight."

• "A law designed to shine a bright light on big political campaign contributors on K Street has in practice not been particularly illuminating, watchdogs charge," The Hill reports. "On its Party Time! Database, the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group, lists dozens of fundraisers hosted by lobbyists. But political campaigns have not filed bundler reports to the FEC, which tracks campaign spending, for all of those invitations, according to an analysis by The Hill."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "In what would be a dramatic next step in its drive to insulate itself from K Street, the White House is strongly considering limiting the ability of lobbyists to serve on federal advisory panels designed to bring the voices of outside interests into the halls of the administration," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "According to sources familiar with the deliberations, the White House is likely to either tell agencies to ban lobbyists from the panels or to provide the agencies guidance -- which would be hard to resist, considering the source -- suggesting they avoid having lobbyists serve on the committees."

• "A federal grand jury charged Hassan Nemazee, a New York businessman who has ties to prominent politicians, with defrauding banks of $292 million in part to benefit the Democratic Party," the Wall Street Journal reports. Nemazee "used the proceeds of his scheme to donate to campaigns and political-action committees, according to an indictment made public Monday, though the amount allegedly spent on these efforts wasn't specified. The donations helped him rise to become finance chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, among other major roles."

• "General Electric and Pratt & Whitney are both known for making heavy war machinery. But it's their K Street desk jockeys who are now on the front lines in a fierce clash over Pentagon billions," Politico reports. "GE is accusing Pratt & Whitney and its allies of using twisted Congressional Budget Office numbers to make their case. Meanwhile, Pratt & Whitney's team is smearing GE's allies by accusing them -- including House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) -- of being desperate enough to employ an earmark to get their way."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Watchdog groups are seizing on the recent edict by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to extend the one-year lobbying ban for a former top staffer as a way to push Congress to revise lobbying rules to expand the cooling-off period for Members of Congress and senior staffers headed to K Street," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A former government official facing corruption charges for accepting improper gifts from Jack Abramoff is taking an unusually aggressive approach in fighting the Justice Department's case," The Hill reports. "Horace Cooper, a legal commentator and conservative writer who was a senior aide in then-Rep. Dick Armey's (R-Texas) office, is accusing prosecutors of dozens of mistakes and has invoked the prosecutorial abuse investigation that overturned the conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) in an attempt to undermine the government's case."

• "The cost of preparing, filing and arguing the complaint the United Steelworkers union filed against China is relatively inexpensive, according to experts in the field," The Hill also reports. "Legal fees for most cases will run well under $1 million, according to a K Street source with experience on the filings. The safeguard case could cost as little as $750,000."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Some of the most influential aides in the closed-door Senate Finance Committee negotiations over health care reform have ties to interests that would be directly affected by the legislation," Politico reports. "There's no evidence that the aides' ties have shaped the bill that" Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., "hopes to release" today, "and the ultimate decisions over its provisions rest with the senators themselves. But critics say the involvement of such well-connected insiders could lead to dangerous conflicts."

• "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce planned to launch the first phase of its $100 million Campaign for Free Enterprise" today, "which includes an effort to get the White House to spell out its trade agenda," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "Activists opposed to existing trade pacts are ramping up their efforts, urging" President Obama "to remember his 'reform' campaign rhetoric when he attends the Group of 20 meeting next week."

• "For more than a decade, trial lawyers used their deep lobbying bench and fundraising muscle to beat back Republican efforts to curb medical malpractice lawsuits," Politico reports. "Given that their political donations went overwhelmingly to Democrats -- generally, by a 3-to-1 ratio -- this should be a period of respite. But it won't be, now that" Obama "has injected tort reform into the health care reform debate."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Former aides to Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, "are finding a new crop of prospective business sprouting up" as Lincoln takes over the Senate Agriculture Committee and Harkin moves to Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "President Barack Obama's new special interest rules are having unexpected consequences with some lobbyists giving up their formal registrations and finding other ways to influence policy as they try to maintain access to key agencies or hope for future government jobs," Reuters reports. "Congressional aides, industry executives and watchdog groups say the rules have also slowed Obama's ability to fill key government jobs, eliminated some highly qualified candidates and kept away some others who worry tougher 'revolving door' rules could tie their hands in the future."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Congressional investigators on Thursday uncovered yet another forged letter sent to a House Democrat purportedly from a local nonprofit -- but actually from a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm -- urging opposition to controversial climate change legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The discovery means that at least 14 fraudulent letters were sent by Bonner & Associates, a subcontractor for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, to at least three different House Members in an effort to sway their votes on the climate change bill before it narrowly passed the House in June."

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., "has come down on the side of a labor-backed petition for relief from a surge in Chinese tire imports this decade, making good on a pledge to United Steelworkers union president Leo Gerard," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "'Such relief is important to the tire industry, and the workers and communities it supports throughout America,' Reid wrote" to President Obama "in a letter dated Sept. 2."

• "Six of Washington's biggest business lobbies are urging lawmakers to boost the nation's debt limit above $12.1 trillion as the economy confronts historic mountains of red ink," The Hill reports. "The associations said in a letter on Thursday that it is 'critical to ensuring global investors' confidence in the creditworthiness of the United States, that Congress approve the administration's request for a higher debt limit.'"

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Conservative members of the Supreme Court indicated Wednesday that they could not reconcile government restrictions on corporate spending in elections with constitutional protections of free speech and may rule broadly to strike what has been a long-standing fixture of campaign finance law," the Washington Post reports. "A majority of the court seemed impatient with an increasingly complicated federal scheme intended to curb the role of corporations, unions and special interest groups in elections."

• "The campaign finance reform community was expecting the worst Wednesday after a Supreme Court hearing that could significantly loosen spending restrictions on corporations, trade association and unions in federal elections," Roll Call (subscription) reports. After the oral arguments "at least one campaign finance reform group said it did not like what it heard."

• "Sparked by complaints at town hall meetings last month about the impact of medical malpractice suits on healthcare costs, a battle is brewing between business advocates and lawyers over whether to limit damages in lawsuits against physicians and other medical professionals as part of a healthcare overhaul," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "In advance of President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, the American Association for Justice -- formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America -- has been mounting a public relations effort to dispel what it calls the 'myth' that the fear of malpractice lawsuits accounts for astronomical healthcare costs."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Months after the Obama administration announced billions of federal dollars for a U.S. high-speed rail system, a new trade association has emerged to help firms get their foot in the door of a potentially lucrative new market," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "'We saw this as the perfect opportunity to go ahead and turn this into an official association and start to bring together some of the experts,' Andy Kunz, president of the newly minted U.S. High-Speed Rail Association, said in an interview last month."

• "The trial of one of Jack Abramoff's close associates -- a case that will test how far lobbyists may push influence and access -- began Tuesday under the watchful eye of K Street," The Hill reports. The associate, Kevin Ring, "says the expensive tickets and meals he gave government officials and congressional aides were normal tools of the lobbying trade. Prosecutors argue they were part of a pay-to-play conspiracy that involved illegal gratuities intended to curry access and influence government action in favor of clients."

• "Lobbyists for banks big and small expect Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and other panel members to offer measures that would go further than the Obama administration in overhauling the existing regulatory scheme," The Hill reports. "Community banks that think their regulatory system works well fear Congress will push them under a single regulator with big banks."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Financial services lobbyists are quietly pushing for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to give up his chairmanship of the Banking Committee and take up the gavel of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, where he is next in line following the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Such a move, they say, would remove a thorn from the banking industry, since Dodd has upped his anti-industry rhetoric ahead of his tough 2010 re-election bid."

• "The Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case that challenges decades of restrictions on corporations and unions spending unlimited cash on just those sorts of ads. Even more broadly, the case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, gives the court's conservative majority a chance to fundamentally redefine the role of corporations and unions in American politics," Politico reports. "Campaign finance experts predict the court, which has demonstrated an inclination towards incremental loosening of rules restricting the flow of money into politics, will expand the types of ads corporations and unions can pay for."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee is launching a petition drive to rally President Barack Obama's own campaign supporters to pressure him to stand up for a public insurance option as part of a sweeping health care overhaul," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The push comes as White House aides are signaling that Obama will not throw his support behind such a provision when he makes a critical public pitch for reform Wednesday in an address to a joint session of Congress."

• "Environmental-, civil- and women's-rights groups have set up a new hotline for tips on faked letters or other suspect lobbying efforts to undermine cap-and-trade legislation," The Hill reports. "The hotline follows the discovery more than two months ago of forged letters a grassroots group working on behalf of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) sent to three House Democrats."

• "The National Association of Manufacturers is ramping up its lobbying effort against pro-labor legislation as Congress heads back to work," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "NAM is launching a direct mail and advertising campaign through its Labor Policy Institute opposing the Employee Free Choice Act."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A coalition of business groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, filed for an emergency court order" Wednesday "to prevent a rule from going into effect that would require federal contractors to verify the legal status of their workers," CongressDaily (subscription) reports. The group "asked the U.S. District Court for Maryland for an emergency injunction to stop the Homeland Security Department from requiring contractors to use the so-called E-Verify system."

• "The incoming president of the AFL-CIO signaled Wednesday his union could accept a card-check bill that preserves an employer's right to demand a secret-ballot election," The Hill reports. "Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka hedged on whether a card-check bill must include the provision that gives it its name."

• "Thousands gathered Wednesday night at events held across the nation, including at least four in the Washington area, to urge Congress and the Obama Administration to approve a bill soon," the Washington Post reports. "'These vigils are to remind decision makers that the debate around health-care is not about politics but about people who are being crushed under the current health-care system,' said Nita Chaudhary, the national campaigns and organizing director of MoveOn.org, a liberal group that helped organize the 'We Can't Afford to Wait' vigils."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A new Web site has compiled a list of hard-to-get e-mail addresses -- including addresses for Members of Congress and top Congressional staff -- and is allowing the general public access to the list to send messages to this select group about the Democratic health care bill," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Over the August recess, top House Republican and Democratic aides confirmed receiving hundreds of e-mails with the subject line 'HR 3200' -- the bill number assigned to the House Democratic health care reform bill -- and the greeting 'To the House of Representatives' from people around the country. The messages were apparently facilitated by houseofbills.com."

• "Former Gen. Wesley Clark, chairman of the pro-ethanol group Growth Energy," launched a campaign Tuesday "urging lawmakers to establish mandatory country of origin labeling for gasoline," CongressDaily (subscription) reports. Clark announced "the 'Label My Fuel' campaign in Decatur, Ill., at the Farm Progress Show, an exhibition of advanced technology, business practices and manufacturing for agricultural producers."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Reynolds American Inc., Lorillard Inc. and several other tobacco companies filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block various provisions of a new federal tobacco law on the grounds that the provisions violate the companies' First Amendment rights," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The tobacco companies said the recently enacted law, which placed the industry under the oversight of the Food and Drug Administration, sharply restricts the companies' right to advertise their products to adult tobacco users."

• "Union leaders are launching a new offensive around Labor Day to provide fresh momentum for legislation aimed at making it easier to organize new locals," Politico reports. "The events begin" today, "when AFL-CIO President John Sweeney plans to release a new survey of young workers that sheds light on their experiences and expectations. Among its findings: 31 percent of young workers don't have health insurance -- up from 24 percent 10 years ago."

• "American Civil Liberties Union lobbyist Larry Frankel was found dead in Rock Creek Park late last week, the organization confirmed on Monday. Frankel, who worked at the organization for 15 years, was the state legislative director at the ACLU's Washington, D.C., office," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "A former aide to Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) has filed suit against the company for whom he helped secure a controversial $1.6 million earmark for a blimp project last year," Politico reports. "In his lawsuit, Adrian Plesha says that James Ferguson IV -- the son of the owner of the company that got the blimp funding -- owes him more than $262,000 in unpaid lobbying fees and expenses."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Despite a presidential order to do so, few federal officials' contacts with lobbyists "have been reported even though lobbyists say they are busier than ever with the multibillion-dollar stimulus," AP reports. "Since the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February, federal agencies have reported 197 contacts with lobbyists about stimulus grants."

• The battle over the upcoming climate bill "could be just as nasty as the one over healthcare, and many of the groups opposing or supporting the energy proposals are gleaning lessons from the current fight," the Los Angeles Times reports. "Groups on both sides 'are not just watching healthcare closely, but calibrating how we go about doing this based on what we see happening out there,' said Matt Bennett, vice president for public affairs at Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank engaged in both the healthcare and climate fights."

• "Organized labor is betting big in Virginia and New Jersey, where two critical off-year gubernatorial races are taking place in November," Politico reports. "In New Jersey, where Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine trails Republican Chris Christie in the polls, the AFL-CIO earlier this month unveiled a web site slamming Christie for promoting an 'economic agenda threatens the middle class.'"

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "President Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee on Thursday joined the growing group of politicians and committees pledging to return or donate to charity campaign contributions from Democratic moneyman Hassan Nemazee, who was arrested and charged Tuesday with trying to defraud Citibank of $74 million by offering fake collateral for a loan," Politico reports. "But a DNC official stopped short of promising that Obama would give back or give away contributions from other donors that came through Nemazee through a process known as bundling that brought in more than $500,000 for Obama's campaign."

• "The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been lobbying for three decades for the federal government to provide universal health insurance, especially for the poor," the New York Times reports. "Now, as President Obama tries to rally Roman Catholics and other religious voters around his proposals to do just that, a growing number of bishops are speaking out against it."

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., "has launched an urgent effort to raise $100,000 by Monday to help combat what she calls GOP 'smears' about health care reform," Politico reports. "'Republican opponents of reform are coming out with one outrageous smear after the next, all aimed at derailing our progress. We must be able to counter their special interest-funded attacks and set the record straight,' Pelosi wrote in a letter to Democratic supporters."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A new report by the group Public Citizen says that representatives of the banks that received the most money in a federal bailout have ponied up millions of dollars in campaign donations to Members of Congress," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Lobbyists, political action committees and trade associations connected to the industry have scheduled 70 fundraisers for Members since Election Day 2008 and have made $6 million in contributions," the report found.

• "Opponents of a health care overhaul have been stoking fears that a government health plan would entail 'death panels' that deny treatment to sick people. Now, a liberal group financed by two large labor unions is turning the tables with an attack ad that portrays health insurance companies denying medical care to patients as the 'real death panels in America,'" the New York Times reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday evening they plan to return or donate to charity campaign contributions from Democratic financier Hassan Nemazee, who was arrested and charged Tuesday with trying to defraud Citibank of $74 million by offering fake collateral on a loan," Politico reports.

• "New financial disclosure reports filed by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) show that the veteran lawmaker failed to report more than $660,000 in assets during 2007, a potential violation of House ethics rules," Politico reports. "The latest revelations on Rangel's personal finances may prove problematic for the New York Democrat, who is already the target of a wide-ranging ethics investigation."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Four independent groups are launching more than $1 million in attack ads" today "targeting five House Republicans who voted against energy legislation in June, spokespeople for the groups said," Politico reports. "The ads from the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, MoveOn and Americans United for Change, will target Reps. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), Denny Rehberg (R- Mont.), Roy Blunt (R- Mo.) and two Virginia Republicans, Frank Wolf and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor."

• "Faced with a souring public mood on health care reform, Democrats and their supporters are launching a national grassroots push Wednesday to show lawmakers that the majority of Americans still support overhauling the system," Politico reports. The Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America and Health Care for America Now "are planning to hold more than 500 events between Wednesday and when lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 8, ranging from neighborhood organized phone banks to professionally staffed rallies with hundreds of people."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "AARP thinks U.S. health care needs a sweeping overhaul. Problem is, a lot of its members don't agree," the Wall Street Journal reports. "That is putting the 40-million-strong organization of older Americans in a tight spot. It is fielding a flood of calls from worried seniors and battling rumors about" President Obama's "health push, which it supports."

• "The United Health Group, a major insurer seen as playing the politics of reform better than most, is denying a report that it directed its employees to attend tea parties opposing the Democratic plans," Politico reports. "The insurance giant, with about 75,000 employees, confirmed another element of the report, however: That its employees' talking points include opposition to a public option for health insurance."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Liberal bloggers say they have helped raise more than $160,000 in the past 24 hours for about 60 progressive House Democrats who have pledged to vote against any health care plan that does not include a public insurance option," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "House Democrats are probing the nation's largest insurance companies for lavish spending, demanding reams of compensation data and schedules of retreats and conferences," Politico reports. "Letters sent to 52 insurance companies by Democratic leaders demand extensive documents for an examination of 'extensive compensation and other business practices in the health insurance industry.' The letters set a deadline of Sept. 14 for the documents."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A lobbying firm working for a pro-coal industry group sent lawmakers a total of 13 fraudulent letters opposing the House climate bill -- five more than initially believed, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said Tuesday," Politico reports. The letters "purported to be from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, senior citizens groups and Creciendo Juntos, a Hispanic advocacy organization."

• "The prescription drug industry's lobbying arm is defending its deal with President Barack Obama in the wake of criticism from House Minority Leader John Boehner, who charged it with "appeasing" the Obama administration," The Hill reports. "'At the end of the day, comprehensive healthcare reform is good for patients, the economy and the future of our country,' Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said in an interview with The Hill."

• "Critics of President Obama's health-care overhaul are zeroing in on his senior adviser David Axelrod, whose former partners at a Chicago-based firm are the beneficiaries of huge ad buys -- now at $24 million and counting -- by White House allies in the reform fight," Politico reports. The scrutiny "revolves around two separate $12 million ad campaigns advocating Obama's health care plan that were produced and placed partly by AKPD Message and Media, a firm founded by Axelrod that employs his son and still owes Axelrod $2 million."

• "With just over 100 days until the expiration of a tax credit for roughly a third of U.S. homebuyers, building and Realtors' groups are spending August trying to sell lawmakers on a broad expansion of the incentive program," CongressDaily (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The pharmaceutical industry's trade group has bowed to bullying by Democrats and sold out its members and the public, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) charges in a strongly worded letter to a former GOP congressman who helms the organization," The Hill reports. "'Appeasement rarely works as a conflict resolution strategy,' Boehner wrote Monday to Billy Tauzin, the former Republican House member from Louisiana who has been president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) since 2005."

• "With health care town halls continuing to dominate the August recess, energy and environmental interest groups are making an aggressive lobbying push to bring the climate change debate to the fore," Roll Call reports. "The American Petroleum Institute, along with several other trade groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Association of Manufacturers, are launching a series of 19 'Energy Citizen' rallies Tuesday."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Some environmental groups are urging the Senate to include in its version of" climate change legislation "provisions to prevent" giving companies the incentive to "to squeeze even more power out of their old plants, many of which are running well below capacity," the Washington Post reports. "Public health advocates say these urban power plants can pose a threat to local residents, with ozone-forming compounds and particulate matter exacerbating respiratory and cardiac problems."

• Exotic pet industry "lobbyists are scrambling to win changes to legislation advancing in the House and Senate that would add pythons to a federal list of 'injurious' species -- a designation that would bar future imports and interstate transport," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The bills, sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), take aim at the tens of thousands of Burmese pythons that have invaded the Florida Everglades in recent years."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A multitude of former House and Senate aides are expected to take the witness stand when the trial of former House aide and lobbyist Kevin Ring begins next month," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Federal prosecutors said Thursday that they could call as many as 15 witnesses against Ring, who is charged in the ongoing influence-peddling investigation of disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, including former Hill aides and lobbyists, several of whom have cut plea agreements."

• "The cost of earmarks increased this year despite lawmakers' claims they're working to reduce pork-barrel spending," The Hill reports. "Earmarks, which are inserted in appropriations bills by members in order to fund specific projects, added up to $19.9 billion in 2009, according to an analysis by the Taxpayers for Common Sense and Center for Responsive Politics. Earmarks in 2008 spending bills were worth $18.3 billion."

• "The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a coal industry lobbying group, responded in writing Thursday evening to questions from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) about a dozen forged letters that Bonner & Associates sent opposing the House climate change bill on behalf of the group," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "But the group refused to make the letter public and declined to say whether it had confirmed that additional letters the firm generated on behalf of the association were also forgeries."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Taking a cue from angry protests against the Obama Administration's health care restructuring, the oil industry is helping organize anti-climate bill rallies around the nation," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The American Petroleum Institute, along with other organizations such as the National Association of Manufacturers opposed to the climate legislation Congress will consider again in the fall, is funding rallies across 20 states over the August recess."

• "Environmental groups, including one led by former Vice President Al Gore, have unveiled a broad campaign that will run through Labor Day to push the Senate to follow the House toward passing a climate-and-energy strategy this year," CongressDaily (subscription) reports. "Repower America, an initiative Gore spearheaded, and the Blue Green Alliance, a coalition of labor and environmental groups, are kicking off a series of more than 50 events in 22 states, including states with particularly high unemployment and swing-vote senators."

• "Some of the nation's biggest food and agriculture companies are planning to release a flurry of studies in coming weeks that scrutinize the potential impact of climate-change legislation, warning that it could lead to higher food prices," the Wall Street Journal reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A group usually seen as one of Barack Obama's allies in the health care debate -- AARP -- says the president went too far Tuesday when he said the seniors lobby had endorsed the legislation pending in Congress," the AP reports. "AARP is sensitive to the issue because polls show that Medicare beneficiaries are worried their health care program will be cut to subsidize coverage for the uninsured."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says some little-noticed provisions in the House health care bill are racially discriminatory, and it intends to ask President Obama and Congress to rewrite sections that factor in race when awarding billions in contracts, scholarships and grants," the Washington Times reports.

• "A Washington nonprofit that advocates nutrition-policy reform paid $20,000 to get its message across and carefully maneuvered Metro's tangle of regulations to display its posters" mentioning Obama's daughters, the Washington Post reports. "Metro gave it a go -- but the White House did not, according to the group. Within 24 hours of the signs' appearance, the White House asked the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to take down the ads...The Physicians Committee has declined to take down the posters."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "In an increasingly bitter Washington battle between the nation's two largest shipping companies, some unionized UPS workers say they are being forced to write letters to their lawmakers in support of more stringent labor rules for arch rival FedEx," the Washington Post reports.

• "White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned liberal groups this week to stop running ads against Democratic members of Congress," Politico reports. "The powerful top aide to President Obama made his feelings known at the weekly closed-door strategy session of an array of progressive organizations, according to two sources who were there."

• "The Treasury Department is in the final stages of drafting restrictions on lobbying for financial bailout funds -- 10 months after the program began," The Hill reports. "The government's top watchdog over the financial bailout package said in a report released Thursday that the Treasury guidelines are now awaiting White House approval."

• "Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) is demanding answers from a coal industry group as he continues his probe into a series of forged letters urging Democrats to oppose climate change legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Markey, chairman of the Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee, on Wednesday sent a letter to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity asking why the group waited to notify Members of Congress about the forged letters until after the climate change vote."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday assured drug makers that the administration stood by a behind-the-scenes deal to block any Congressional effort to extract cost savings from them beyond an agreed-upon $80 billion," the New York Times reports. "Drug industry lobbyists reacted with alarm this week to a House health care overhaul measure that would allow the government to negotiate drug prices and demand additional rebates from drug manufacturers."

• "Small boutique lobbying firms are thriving in an otherwise mixed year for K Street by promising to deliver more bang-for-the-buck than marquee houses," The Hill reports. "Revenues at some of Washington's biggest lobbying firms have been falling as companies and trade groups look to cut costs during the recession. Eight of the 10 firms that booked the biggest earnings in the first half of 2008 saw hefty declines in the first half of 2009 -- some as high as 18 percent."

• "A lingering presidential veto threat and differences between the House and Senate over funding two engines for the Pentagon's next generation fighter jet have awakened a sleeping giant -- General Electric," Politico reports. "General Electric, the nation's fifth-largest company, has already spent nearly $12 million on lobbying this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and is girding for battle this summer, targeting senators who voted against the GE engine."

• "A Justice Department official who briefly worked as a corporate lobbyist has emerged as the leading candidate for U.S. attorney in Alexandria, one of the nation's most prominent law enforcement posts, sources familiar with the selection process said Wednesday," the Washington Post reports.

• "A former lobbyist for Pakistan has been hired by the State Department to coordinate aid to that country, which may highlight loopholes in the administration's tough new lobbying rules, designed to slow Washington's revolving door," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The increasingly heated fight over health-care legislation is saturating the summer airwaves, with groups on all sides of the debate pouring tens of millions of dollars into advertising campaigns designed to push the cause of reform forward, slow it down or stop it in its tracks," the Washington Post reports. "Drugmakers, labor unions, both national political parties and the sector currently under the heaviest fire -- health insurance companies -- are all weighing in with significant ad buys. Nationwide, more than $52 million has been spent this year on health-care reform-related ads, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, setting the stage for what may be a record-breaking legislative battle."

• "The health insurance industry is fighting back against intensified Democratic attacks and vowing to 'correct the record' on its role in healthcare reform, its chief lobbyist said Tuesday," The Hill reports."The health insurance lobby, aware of its low public standing and the general antipathy of Democrats toward its industry, has put on a humble public face during the course of the healthcare reform debate. But strong anti-insurer rhetoric from Democrats struggling to win over a skeptical public could wake the sleeping giant."

• "For the insurance industry, long an opponent of health care reform, it was a striking change: with a new administration coming to Washington, insurers agreed to abandon some of their most controversial practices, like denying coverage to applicants with pre-existing medical conditions," the New York Times reports. "One of the main architects of the friendly approach, Karen M. Ignagni, the industry's chief lobbyist, personally pledged to President Obama that insurers would not stand in the way of a sweeping overhaul this time."

• "A coal and utility industry coalition has launched a major campaign pushing industrial and farm state Democratic senators to boost coal-friendly provisions in the Senate climate and energy bill," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Overall, Washington's lobbying business continued to slump as the economy pinched budgets at some big companies and trade associations," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Companies, nonprofits, unions and other organizations spent $814.6 million to influence Congress and the Obama administration in the second quarter, down 1% from $825.3 million during the same three-month period in 2008, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of lobbying data. The data were supplied by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics."

• "Towns, cities, counties and states across the country spent a total of $21.4 million on lobbyists between April and June, up 2.7% from the first quarter of the year and in line with spending levels through 2008, according to data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Almost 1,000 different governments reported paying representatives to pursue their agenda. About a quarter reported lobbying specifically about the stimulus package."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Blue Dog Democrats, "who have become key brokers in shaping [health care] legislation in the House," have "set a record pace for fundraising this year... surpassing other congressional leadership PACs in collecting more than $1.1 million through June," the Washington Post reports. "More than half the money came from the health-care, insurance and financial services industries, marking a notable surge in donations from those sectors compared with earlier years, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity."

• "A Republican lawmaker who is President Barack Obama's pick to become the next secretary of the Army endured a tough grilling at Thursday's confirmation hearing from Sen. John McCain," The Hill reports. "Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), the former ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, fended off questions from McCain, the Arizona Republican and Obama's opponent in last year's presidential election, about campaign contributions from a defense-lobbying firm that is now under investigation for possible campaign finance violations."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Rep. Pete Sessions -- the chief of the Republicans' campaign arm in the House -- says on his website that earmarks have become 'a symbol of a broken Washington to the American people.' Yet in 2008, Sessions himself steered a $1.6 million earmark for dirigible research to an Illinois company whose president acknowledges having no experience in government contracting, let alone in building blimps," Politico reports. "What the company did have: the help of Adrian Plesha, a former Sessions aide with a criminal record who has made more than $446,000 lobbying on its behalf."

• "The AFL-CIO sought to slow momentum on one idea to finance healthcare reform that has been gaining supporters on Capitol Hill by expressing misgivings about a proposal to tax insurance companies that offer the most expensive plans," The Hill reports. "The tax on so-called 'Cadillac' health plans has been seen by Democrats as a compromise that would allow them to to raise revenue for healthcare reform and reduce healthcare spending by discouraging very generous insurance plans without capping the currently unlimited tax exclusion for workplace health benefits."

• "One of the largest sources of campaign contributions to Senate Democrats during this year's health care debate is a physician-owned hospital in one of the country's poorest regions that has sought to soften measures that could choke its rapid growth," the New York Times reports.

• "Natural-gas companies are ramping up their lobbying efforts against a House climate change bill they believe is too generous to the coal industry," The Hill reports. "An alliance of gas producers and pipeline companies formed in March is taking out ads in Washington publications, including The Hill, and staffing up with lobbyists to tilt the Senate version of climate change legislation more in the industry's favor."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Trade associations and companies both inside and outside of Honduras have stepped up their lobbying efforts in Washington as the nation's political crisis remains unresolved in the wake of President Manuel Zelaya's ouster," The Hill reports. "A review of lobbying disclosure records by The Hill show that U.S. companies have worked to protect their operations in Honduras while more business groups from the Central American nation have turned to Washington lobbyists in order to keep Zelaya out of power."

• The New York Times analyzes the 2007 jockeying for a chunk of the $50 billion overseen by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation: "As a New York money manager and investment banker at four Wall Street firms, Charles E. F. Millard never reached superstar status. But he was treated like one when he arrived in Washington in May 2007."

• "Credit unions are being courted by Democrats to back a key part of the financial regulatory overhaul strongly opposed by the bulk of their industry, giving the institutions an opportunity to reshape the measure more to their liking," The Hill reports. "With roughly 90 million members and thousands of credit unions across the country, the lobby and its grassroots forces would give the Obama administration instant credibility at a time when others have panned the legislation."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "After a decline in lobbying activity during the first quarter of this year, the major recipients of cash from the Troubled Asset Relief Program -- TARP -- have stepped up their spending as drafts of a new financial regulatory system have begun to take shape, according to the second-quarter lobbying disclosure reports released last week," Politico reports.

• "Lobbying interests that President Obama campaigned against last year have gained the upper hand on the White House in recent weeks," The Hill reports. "In stark contrast to Obama's first few months in office, special interest groups this summer have aggressively opposed the president's top domestic priorities. And they have succeeded in slowing legislation to revamp the nation's healthcare system, won an essential change to climate change legislation and put off efforts to set up a consumer agency in the financial sector."

• "The Hilton Hotels Corp. -- which is currently in the process of moving its global headquarters from Beverly Hills, Calif., to McLean, Va. -- is already acting like a savvy Beltway insider. The company has just hired a top in-house lobbyist," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Five years after lawmakers began a high-profile campaign to expose how influence-peddler Jack Abramoff bilked American Indians out of millions of dollars with inflated lobbying fees, many tribes continue to do business in Washington, D.C. -- but they are spending a lot less money," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The scars remain, however, in a scandal that many Indians believe unfairly tarred their community, not just Abramoff and his associates."

• "A strong force, perhaps as powerful in Congress as President Barack Obama, is keeping the drive for health care going even as lawmakers seem hopelessly at odds. Lobbyists," AP reports. "The drug industry, the American Medical Association, hospital groups and the insurance lobby are all saying Congress must make major changes this year. Television ads paid for by drug companies and insurers continued to emphasize the benefits of a health care overhaul -- not the groups' objections to some of the proposals."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The GOP-tilting Chamber of Commerce is backing Sonia Sotomayor in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee" sent Thursday, Politico reports. "'Her extensive experience both as a commercial litigator and as a trial judge would provide the U.S. Supreme Court with a much needed perspective on the issues that business litigants face,' wrote COC executive vice-president R. Bruce Josten."

• "EMILY's List, the Democratic fundraising powerhouse, finally weighed in on the special election to replace former Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), endorsing Thursday state Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan in the Sept. 1 all-party primary," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The commander in chief may have no love for K Street, but his aversion to traditional lobbying tactics has combined in the public mind with the extraordinary grass-roots campaign that helped propel him to the presidency to produce a result he probably didn't foresee: a new enthusiasm for grass-roots campaigns among lobbying firms and their clients," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The Obama administration released Wednesday night a list of 15 health-care lobbyists and senior executives who have visited the White House to discuss health-care reform," the Washington Post reports. "The list was released in response to a lawsuit filed earlier in the day by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, which had been denied access to the names by the U.S. Secret Service. Many of the meetings, it turned out, were well-known gatherings that had already been publicized."

• "Backers of Democratic proposals to overhaul the nation's healthcare system have spent twice as much on television advertising as their opponents this year, as advocates on different sides of the debate brace for a costly ad war that could stretch into the fall," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks TV ad spending nationwide, about $12 million has been spent this year on ads that support Democrats' healthcare reform plan, compared to $5.9 million spent by groups hoping to derail changes sought by President Obama and his allies."

• "K Street is getting nervous that it will lose its ability to influence Medicare policy thanks to growing enthusiasm for an independent commission that would limit Congress's authority on a program that accounts for 14 percent of the federal budget," The Hill reports. "President Obama has been promoting the creation of the Independent Medicare Advisory Commission, made up of physicians and healthcare policy experts, which would issue recommendations for Medicare payment rates and payment policies that Congress would then vote on -- a system that would give healthcare interest groups little say in the decision process."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Auto companies and eight of the country's biggest banks that received tens of billions of dollars in federal bailout money spent more than $20 million on lobbying Washington lawmakers in the first half of this year," The Hill reports.

• "Energy companies and industry groups with a major stake in climate change legislation are spending millions of dollars more on lobbying this year," The Hill reports. "The two biggest consumers of coal, for example, each reported increases in lobbying expenditures as lawmakers considered a climate bill, which could reshape the nation's energy fuel mix by capping carbon dioxide."

• "The American Medical Association and drug giant Eli Lilly & Co. spent more on lobbying than other healthcare groups in the second quarter, according to reports filed Monday on Capitol Hill," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "The AMA said it spent $4 million from April through June, while Eli Lilly spent $3.6 million."

• "Sweeping proposals to reform the energy, healthcare and financial-services sectors helped K Street shake off a slow start to the year, although corporate belt-tightening continued to be a drag on revenues at some lobbying firms, a preliminary analysis of midyear lobbying revenue totals shows," The Hill reports. "Although several firms rebounded during the second quarter, midyear figures still appeared to be down from where they were a year ago. Lobbyists attributed the decline to the problems of the broader economy."

• "Despite taking on a larger role in crafting the GOP's legislative and policy strategy, recently installed Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Thune (S.D.) is keeping the bulk of his K Street outreach portfolio," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Thune will continue to take the lead for Senate Republicans on meeting with business lobbyists, trade groups and conservative issue-advocacy organizations, according to his spokesman."

From today's Earlybird:

• Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. is under fire for alleged connections to lobbyists after trying to distance himself from them. Dodd's recent anti-lobbyist comments have drawn a big laugh at the National Republican Senatorial Committee," Politico reports. "After Connecticut's embattled senior senator sent an e-mail to supporters trumpeting his disdain for lobbyists, the NRSC needled him for cozying up to lobbyists in the past, only to ditch them now, just in time for his reelection bid. 'It is worth noting that over the years you have accepted nearly $1 million in campaign contributions from lobbyists and millions more from PACs,' NRSC Executive Director Rob Jesmer wrote to Dodd. 'In fact, during the second quarter of this year alone, almost 40 percent of your total contributions came from PACs.'"  Both the Hill and CongressDailyPM (subscription) also report on this story.
  

• In other lobbying news, FedEx and UPS have been throwing money at a fight over how FedEx's employees are categorized. "The chief executives of both" FedEx and UPS "have met with senators in recent months and have doubled or tripled their lobbying expenditures over the past year and a half," The Wall Street Journal reports. "UPS is hoping Democratic control of Congress and the White House will enable it to win support for a bill that would place some of FedEx's drivers and other employees under the National Labor Relations Act, the same law that governs UPS."

• The health insurance industry "is speaking up, not with an attack but with a seven-figure, national cable TV ad buy starting Monday in favor of affordable bipartisan health reform that can cover everyone," Politico reports. "But make no mistake: The ads are sending a strong don't-tread-on-us message, not so much a shot across the bow of reform as a reminder of the industry's ability to weigh in at any time, with messages pro or con."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A broad coalition of groups pushing for generic biologic drugs sent a letter Thursday to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) urging him to drop the matter entirely if the House health care bill provides brand-name companies with a dozen or more years of market exclusivity," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "AARP, the AFL-CIO, Consumers Union, Generic Pharmaceutical Association, Pharmaceutical Care Management Association and the Service Employees International Union, among others, signed the letter to Waxman."

• "The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a $2 million check in return for the group's endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay," Politico reports. "In return for the $2 million, ACU offered a range of services that included: 'Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU's Chairman David Keene and / or other members of the ACU's board of directors.'"

• "The American Medical Association (AMA), which helped torpedo the Clinton administration's effort to revamp the nation's healthcare system 15 years ago, endorsed the House Democrats' health bill on Thursday," The Hill reports. "President Obama touted the physician group's move, saying 'these doctors are joining the chorus of Americans who know that the time to reform what is broken about the healthcare system is now.

• "Concerned that emerging healthcare reform legislation could erode their ability to advise and advertise to potential clients, health insurance agents and brokers will mobilize on Capitol Hill this week to lobby lawmakers on the high-stakes measure," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "The coalition of insurance consultant groups, overshadowed by well-financed stakeholders like physicians' groups and pharmaceutical companies, hopes to protect the role of licensed brokers and ensure against the implementation of potentially burdensome rules governing how and when they can sell coverage plans."

• "The battle over climate legislation will now pit the country's top power sources against each other," the New York Times reports. "Saying they failed to protect their interests as a landmark bill came together and passed the House last month, natural gas executives are forming a strategy to influence rewrites in the Senate."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Honduran business leaders are turning to Washington lobbyists to convince Congress that it should support rather than oppose the military removal of President Manuel Zelaya from office," The Hill reports. "The Honduran branch of CEAL, the Latin American equivalent of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has hired Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to make the case to U.S. lawmakers and foreign diplomats."

• "The increasingly contentious debate over health care reform is fueling new advertisements aimed at key Senators. The conservative group Patients First is spending $1.3 million on a one-week ad buy in a dozen states, while the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association has launched a new campaign over generic biologics," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The League of Conservation Voters announced Thursday that it is launching a new TV ad to laud Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) for his vote in favor of controversial climate change legislation, in an effort to blunt Republican attacks on the freshman over the issue," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Perriello was recently targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee in a TV ad that criticized his vote for the cap-and-trade bill that narrowly passed the House in late June."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Pressure is building on the Senate to ratify a treaty designed to bolster American and British military cooperation by removing red tape that critics say delays the transfer of defense technologies and products between the two countries," The Hill reports. "The Senate's inaction has frustrated leaders in the United Kingdom and spurred a strong lobbying push from the American defense and aerospace industry, which stands to benefit from the treaty."

• "Under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, staffers earning at least 75 percent of their bosses' salaries for more than 60 days trigger the lobbying moratorium," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "But the rule has also ensnared at least one unwitting junior Senate staffer whose $8,000 bonus unexpectedly triggered the lobbying restrictions."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As Sen. Chris Dodd gears up for a grueling re-election fight, he has tried to distance himself from K Street by taking an increasingly pro-consumer, anti-industry tack, according to many lobbyists who work closely with the Connecticut Democrat," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Organized labor this week is warning Senate Democrats not to renege on trade protection included in House climate change legislation that would buffer domestic manufacturers from cheap consumer products made in China and elsewhere," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Al Franken's victory in Minnesota over incumbent Norm Coleman gives Democrats the 60th vote they need to overcome Republican filibusters -- assuming, of course, they can keep their often-feuding caucus unified," The Hill reports. Union officials plan to renew their push for a controversial bill that would make it easier for employees to organize, legislation that has stalled so far this Congress under a massive lobbying campaign by business groups that oppose it as a threat to an already listless economy."

• "A group of unions, including the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), said they will start pressing lawmakers for a jobs bill," The Hill reports. "They said the $787 billion economic stimulus approved earlier this year, though helpful, wasn't big enough and didn't include enough government spending."

• "Through June 27, $31 million has been spent for roughly 47,000 TV ads on health care this year, says Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, a firm that tracks issue advertising," AP reports. "That's double the roughly $14 million the insurance industry spent in 1993 and 1994 for the famous 'Harry and Louise' ads credited with helping kill President Bill Clinton's health care drive, but a fraction of the $250 million Tracey guesses will ultimately be spent this year."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A new technological marvel appears, and its proprietors -- at least initially -- pay little heed to Congress and the potential havoc that federal lawmakers can wreak," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Witness Microsoft and Google, which were flourishing entities before finally wising up and staffing substantial D.C. outposts. Twitter seems to be following suit."

• "Financial services lawmakers and lobbyists will ramp up their efforts this week to shape legislation creating a consumer financial protection agency," The Hill reports.

• "Months after instituting tough new rules designed to limit the influence of lobbyists on the administration, the White House has a growing and thriving relationship with K Street, though not one that appears to violate promises that President Barack Obama made to curtail influence peddling," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

•"The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records," the Washington Post reports.

•"Across the country, activist groups on each side of the health care debate stepped up their campaigning last week while members of Congress were home for the Fourth of July recess," the New York Times reports. "In Maine, home to Sens. [Olympia] Snowe and Susan Collins, moderate Republicans who could provide crucial support for the Democratic health care plan expected to emerge in the coming weeks, efforts to sway their votes -- and to sweep average citizens into the debate -- were intense."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The Laborers' International Union of North America on Tuesday announced plans to target Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) with a cable television spot in Des Moines even as it cut short ad buys in Montana and North Dakota at the request of Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "The pharmaceutical industry and one of the country's leading consumer health care groups on Tuesday launched a multimillion-dollar national television advertising campaign to urge lawmakers to pass quality, affordable health care reform," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Kazakhstan refuses to let Borat have the last word on its image," The Hill reports. "The Central Asian republic's foreign affairs ministry inked a $1.5 million deal with a Washington lobbying firm, according to records recently filed with the Justice Department, with a partial goal of combating the image presented in the blockbuster film 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.'"

• "The intensifying health care debate is following Members of Congress home to their districts during this week's recess," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "A long list of industry and interest groups have taken out advertising spots, are activating grass-roots networks and are planning Member meetings outside the Beltway."

• "Horse trading in Washington is infamous. But it's rare to catch a glimpse of the horse in the midst of the trade in real time," Politico reports. "Friday was one of those rare exceptions when the powerful lobby for seniors, the AARP, sent a memo to Senate officials threatening to yank support for the chamber's health committee's version of reform if it didn't get what it wanted on another provision in the bill related to biogeneric drugs."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Despite House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson's farm and forestry amendment to the climate change bill, agriculture groups are all over the map in their views on the underlying bill that is expected on the House floor today," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The deal House Democrats were forced to strike on the climate change bill demonstrates the power of the corn ethanol lobby to get its way on Capitol Hill, despite an array of interests aligned against it," The Hill reports.

• "As the House prepares to vote Friday on climate change legislation, two groups representing tens of thousands of small businesses are upping the ante, saying they will use the cap-and-trade energy package vote to score lawmakers," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The National Federation of Independent Business and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors will 'key vote' the bill, making it part of the organizations' public scorecard on how lawmakers vote on priority legislation."

• "Many farm lobbyists are still on the fence with climate change and energy legislation headed to the House floor Friday, though most are singing the praises of House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson for negotiating changes in the bill," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "Most were pleased Wednesday that the bill would put the sections of a carbon offsets program that applies to agriculture under the control of the USDA rather than the EPA."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), an environmental group that is an active player in political campaigns, said it would not endorse any member of the House who opposed the climate bill scheduled to be voted on this week," The Hill reports. "The bill would create a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent over the next four decades."

• "President Barack Obama's executive order banning lobbyists from joining any areas of the executive branch that they might have lobbied in the past two years appears to have sparked several public interest group terminations under the Lobbying Disclosure Act," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "But not all nonprofit advocates are shy about registering to lobby."

• "Lee Geisse bound the stack of letters supporting the House climate change bill in baler twine, a symbolic, back-home gesture to reassure Ohio Democratic Rep. John Boccieri the measure wouldn't hurt his rural constituents," The Hill reports. "Geisse was one of around 50 union officials on Capitol Hill this week to persuade members from agriculture and industrial states who are wary the climate bill will increase energy costs and drive jobs overseas."

• "This development bears watching, as the left wing of the Democratic Party keeps going after top lawmakers within its own realm," the New York Times reports. "MoveOn has begun urging its sizable membership to hound Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, criticizing her for cautionary remarks she made on CNN on Sunday about overhauling the health care system."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) has a powerful ally in his battle with the White House over the highway bill: K Street," The Hill reports. "Trade associations, unions and business coalitions are getting behind the House Transportation Committee chairman in his push to complete the $450 billion measure before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30."

• "The PMA Group, the lobbying titan that closed its doors in March after an FBI raid, has filed more than a dozen lawsuits against former clients for failure to pay outstanding debts," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Now, one company has responded with a $3 million countersuit that alleges PMA cheated it out of an earmark it was expecting to receive."

• "Nine major financial and real estate lobbying associations are joining forces to push for a greater say in a series of accounting rule changes, one of which could soon force banks to raise tens of billions of dollars in capital," The Hill reports. "A recently adopted accounting rule effective at the beginning of 2010 requires firms to bring off-balance sheet assets onto their own balance sheets."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Many hedge funds were relieved last week when the Obama administration's financial-overhaul plan included no big surprises or threats to the lucrative, secretive industry," the Wall Street Journal reports. "It isn't clear exactly why hedge funds escaped their worst fears. But one factor might have helped: The hedge-fund industry has been spending a lot more time and money in Washington during the past few years."

• "Supporters of regulating the insurance industry at the federal level are lobbying Congress to go beyond President Barack Obama's financial regulatory reform overhaul," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Groups like the American Insurance Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the American Council of Life Insurers support the White House's efforts to create a national insurance infrastructure but are also pushing for the creation of an optional federal charter that would allow insurance companies to choose whether to follow state or federal rules."

• "As the Obama administration prepares to announce which nuclear utilities will receive billions in government-backed financing to build the next generation of plants, industry executives and lobbyists are busy making the case that it won't be nearly enough," The Hill reports. "The industry's main trade group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, wants $20 billion more in loan-guarantees in addition to the $18.5 billion in financing currently available to kick-start the long-awaited industry revival."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "American International Group (AIG), the insurance firm that has received roughly $180 billion in government support in the financial crisis, is officially closing its Washington lobbying office," The Hill reports. "AIG was a major lobbying presence in Washington for many years. In 2008, the firm spent nearly $10 million on lobbying, according to congressional records."

• "The practicality of President Obama's pledge to change the ways of Washington is colliding once more with the reality of how money, influence and governance interact here," the New York Times reports. "He repeatedly declared while campaigning last year that he would 'not take a dime' from lobbyists or political action committees. So to follow through with that promise, Mr. Obama is simply leaving the room."

• "The coal industry is pushing back against a climate change bill that would likely curb coal use by circulating a map that shows which states would see their electric bills increase the most under the legislation," The Hill reports. "But supporters of the bill say the industry's figures are off the mark and don't factor in ways the bill will offset rising energy costs or the jobs that it will create."

"A draft proposal in the Senate to overhaul the nation's health-care system would require most people to buy health insurance, authorize an expansion of Medicaid coverage and create consumer-owned cooperative plans instead of the government coverage that" Obama "is seeking," the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The House clerk and Senate secretary have clarified guidance for the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) that had confused K Street on how lobbyists can de-register," The Hill reports. "The clarified guidance makes clear that individuals can only de-list as lobbyists if they do 'not reasonably expect to make further lobbying contacts' on behalf of a client."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Although President Obama "prohibited his campaign from accepting contributions from lobbyists and political action committees, he nonetheless took advantage of their campaign and policy experience to help him win the presidency," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Yet nearly five months after Obama took office, several Democratic lobbyists who supported Obama say their loyalty hasn't translated into any tangible benefits."

• "The Obama administration on Wednesday will unveil its wide-ranging proposal to remake the financial regulatory system, but lobbyists across the political spectrum were already digging in and drawing up strategies for a major overhaul battle that will last at least through the rest of the year," The Hill reports.

"Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, abruptly canceled a campaign fundraising lunch scheduled for Wednesday after the Washington lobbyist, Heather Podesta, helping to organize the event suggested in an invitation that the committee's work would be served as the 'first course,'" the Washington Times reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The American Association for Justice, the biggest organization representing trial lawyers, is ramping up its efforts on Capitol Hill and with the administration this week after" Obama "put the group on defense," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Trial lawyers are worried that when the White House and Congress start cutting deals to craft a final health care bill, tort reform could end up as choice leverage to win over Republicans, conservative Democrats and business stakeholders."
  

• "A coalition of unions, community organizations and progressive groups today are launching Americans for Financial Reform, which will call on Congress to set up a system to police Wall Street," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Ethics and campaign finance lawyers around Washington are questioning new guidance issued by Congress on when lobbyists can terminate their registrations," The Hill reports. "The lawyers believe guidance for the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) issued by the House clerk and Senate secretary opens a new loophole for denizens of K Street to avoid lobbying restrictions imposed by the Obama administration. They also see the guidance as conflicting with the actual LDA."

• "The politics of fear began to dominate the health care reform debate Monday -- much as it did in 1993 and 1994 during the fight over President Bill Clinton's plan -- as both sides raged about the dire consequence of each other's approach," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With Democratic Senators continuing to work out a possible 'card check' compromise, organized labor is getting antsy about the exact terms of the deal and worrying that its legislative window may be closing," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Federal Election Commission lawyers have tentatively approved" a request by Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., "to use his campaign funds to pay legal bills stemming from a Justice Department probe into the Indiana Democrat's ties with the now defunct PMA Group," Politico reports.

• As Obama "prepares to take his much maligned health care plan into the lion's den -- the American Medical Association -- at least one doctor is waiting with potentially fatal questions," The Hill reports. "Dr. Donald Palmisano, a former AMA president, said Sunday that most of the scuttlebutt surrounding the conference that the president will address Monday in Chicago is full of vagueness and skepticism."

• Lobbyists who want Congress to approve a swift pathway to generic versions of biotech drugs say the Federal Trade Commission last week handed their side a boost just as Congress wades into the health care reform debate," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "But biotech brand companies, which have billions of dollars at stake, stepped up their own lobbying efforts, calling the FTC report flawed and working to give their side momentum on Capitol Hill."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The House ethics committee is investigating the PMA Group and its ties to lawmakers, the panel confirmed Thursday," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The announcement comes eight days after the House called on the committee to disclose within 45 days whether it is probing the now-defunct lobbying firm's dealings with senior Democratic appropriators."

• "The largest medical insurers and drug companies spent 41% more on lobbying this year as Congress began debate on an overhaul of health care, which may include a public insurance plan the industries oppose," USA Today reports. "Despite an overall decline in lobbyist spending this year... 20 of the largest health insurance and drug companies and their trade groups spent nearly $35 million in the first quarter of 2009, up more than $10 million from the same period last year."

• "An investigation into Rep. Don Young's (R-Alaska) relationship with an oil services corporation in his home state has cost the 18-term congressman more than $1.3 million, according to records made public this week," The Hill reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

•  "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will spend $100 million in an effort to stem the 'rapidly growing influence of government over private-sector activity,' in a major new move by the powerful business group to counter the Obama administration's regulatory agenda," the Wall Street Journal reports.

•  "How sweet it isn't for MacAndrews & Forbes," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The holding company's lobbying effort to clarify a section of the tobacco bill aimed at shutting down the flavored cigarettes market was put on hold Wednesday after Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) indicated that no amendments would be added to the bill."

• "Top aides to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called a last-minute, pre-emptive strike on Wednesday with a group of prominent Democratic lobbyists, warning them to advise their clients not to attend a meeting with Senate Republicans set for Thursday," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Republican leaders have been meeting with health care stakeholders for months, with those sessions occurring 'more frequently than once a month,' according to a senior Senate GOP aide."

• "The American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insurance plan, which" Obama "and many other Democrats see as an essential element of legislation to remake the health care system," the New York Times reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Passing the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) would result in millions in additional political funds for organized labor over the next 10 years, a business group opposed to the legislation will argue in a report to be released" today, The Hill reports. "Unions would stand to gain an additional $320 million more to spend on political activities in the next decade, according to a report put together by the anti-EFCA Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI)."

• "With the House gearing up for a potential vote on climate change legislation before the Independence Day recess, major interest groups are preparing the latest front in the public relations war," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "Groups on the left want to boost the bill's requirement for electric utilities to produce renewable electricity and to reduce their energy consumption. They do not want the bill to prevent the Obama administration from regulating carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "United Against Nuclear Iran, a well-funded group warning that enrichment activity by Tehran could be used for arms, is running its first TV ad this week to encourage President Obama to ratchet up pressure on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," Politico reports. "'This is Iran,' the narrator says. 'Young, vibrant -- a people Americans have no quarrel with. Unfortunately, this is also Iran -- radical rulers seeking nuclear weapons, threatening the world.'"

• "The meat industry has a beef with food safety legislation that is making its way through the House Energy and Commerce Committee," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The Subcommittee on Health is expected to mark up a food safety bill as early as Wednesday, and the committee's Democratic and Republican staffs were meeting into the evening Friday to try to iron out some of the measure's sticking points. But meat industry groups say they will have a difficult time swallowing the bill in its current form."

• "Automobile dealers have been among the biggest contributors to U.S. political campaigns over the past decade, surpassing all but two groups in donations," Bloomberg News reports. "That investment may be paying off as the dealers get a lot of attention on Capitol Hill."

• "FedEx is expected to launch a multimillion-dollar lobbying offensive as early as Tuesday to thwart legislation that would put the Memphis, Tenn.-based package delivery company under the same labor laws as its main competitor, United Parcel Service Inc.," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The legislation would make it far easier for some 100,000 FedEx Express drivers and certain other employees to unionize."

• "Months of characteristic doggedness paid off last week for Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) when he appeared to accomplish a feat his own leaders have struggled to match: backing a muscular Democratic majority into a corner, then getting it to fold," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Aiming to head off Flake's latest attempt to force an ethics committee investigation of the defunct lobbying firm PMA Group and its ties to senior Democrats, the majority on Wednesday overwhelmingly called for the ethics panel to disclose whether it is probing the matter."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With the expansion of FCC regulations aimed at preserving an open Internet all but inevitable during President Obama's administration, Verizon Communications Inc. has softened its opposition in an effort to influence the agency's tougher approach to network neutrality," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "During a news briefing Thursday, Verizon's chief lobbyist Tom Tauke struck a conciliatory tone when asked about his company's position. 'We're starting with the premise that we're going to work with the new chairman,' he said, referring to Julius Genachowski, a close friend of Obama who's been nominated to run the five-member commission."

• "Opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act are questioning the validity of a new business coalition supporting the union-backed bill, saying the group's motive is to lessen competition for unionized companies," The Hill reports. "Launched Thursday, Business Leaders for a Fair Economy, put together by labor groups like the AFL-CIO, is running newspaper ads and hosting business roundtables to garner support for the bill, which would make union organizing much easier if passed."

• "The staff of Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) continued its outreach to business lobbyists on Thursday, convening a meeting of K Streeters to discuss health reform legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Thursday's 'stakeholders' meeting included representatives from big business lobby groups and some of America's largest companies, according to people familiar with the session."

• "The oil-and-gas industry is gearing up for a battle over the regulation of a high-tech drilling technique that has opened up huge new fields for drilling, but that environmentalists fear could contaminate ground water," the Wall Street Journal reports. "On Thursday, a congressional subcommittee held a hearing on the practice, known as hydraulic fracturing, and two Democratic lawmakers said they would introduce legislation that would regulate it at the federal level for the first time."

From this morning's Earlybird:

"Google's recruitment of Seth Webb, the House Financial Services Committee's second-most senior Republican aide, is the latest in a string of recent GOP hires by major high-tech companies in Washington," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "The trend, some policy watchers believe, demonstrates the tech lobby hasn't shied away from wooing Republicans even as much of K Street has augmented its Democratic workforce since President Obama took office."

"As the Obama administration works to put the finishing touches on plans for a major revamp of financial services regulations, a who's who of the sector's top lobbyists and high-level representatives are making the rounds this week at Treasury and the White House," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

"The U.S. House approved by a wide margin an effort to force the ethics committee to report within 45 days on what actions, if any, it has taken to examine an escalating federal investigation involving at least one senior House Democrat and a defunct defense lobbying firm," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Democrats are under increasing political pressure to respond following a series of subpoenas issued last Friday to employees in both the congressional and campaign offices of Rep. Peter Visclosky (D., Ind.) regarding the lawmaker's relationship with the defunct lobbying firm, PMA Group."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• General Motors Corp. is firing all of its outside lobbyists as part of the automaker's massive court-supervised reorganization, the company confirmed on Tuesday," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "According to Senate disclosure statements, GM spent $2.8 million on lobbying during the first three months of 2009, including $100,000 in fees to Duberstein, $70,000 to the Washington Tax Group and $60,000 to the Nickles Group."

• "Internet search giant Google has been steadily increasing its presence in Washington as the company seeks to capture a larger share of the federal market for information technology products and services," Nextgov reports. "Google officials discussed the company's increasing involvement in the government space on at an event on Tuesday."

• Union leaders are pushing to reshape the boards of directors of some of America's largest companies, hoping to use government bailouts as leverage to fundamentally alter the way the companies are run in the years to come," Politico reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Obama administration officials are ramping up their outreach to financial industry representatives ahead of their expected announcement next week for sweeping new regulations," The Hill reports. "After a round of meetings last week with industry lobbyists, officials at the White House and Treasury are slated to meet with insurance industry CEOs on Wednesday and insurance trade association representatives on Thursday, two industry sources said on Monday."

• "The Obama administration's ethics chief said Monday that newly tightened restrictions on oral communication between federal officials and those seeking a share of the $787 billion economic stimulus package will ensure that grants and contracts only flow to the most deserving applicants," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "But, said Norm Eisen, White House special counsel for ethics and government reform, it is premature to view the rules as a prototype for a larger regulatory overhaul of lobbying in the nation's capital."

• "The health insurance lobby Monday proposed mandatory, industrywide paperwork standardization to reduce healthcare providers' administrative loads as part of a broader effort to drastically cut costs and help pay for healthcare overhaul," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "America's Health Insurance Plans proposed standardizing claims submissions, eligibility, claims status, payment, and remittance forms and putting it all online in regional or state portals that would act as a one-stop shop for healthcare providers and eliminate the need for actual paper. The Web sites are starting off as pilot projects in Ohio and New Jersey this summer."

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."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Progressive health care reform groups demanded on Thursday that Washington's NBC television affiliate refuse to air a 30-minute infomercial funded by a conservative group opposed to creating a public insurance plan," Politico reports. "The Service Employees International Union sent a letter to NBC4, arguing that the station has a responsibility to pull the documentary-style commercial paid for by Conservatives for Patients' Rights."

• "The average family with health insurance in 2008 paid a 'hidden health tax' of $1,017 to cover the health-care costs of the uninsured, according to a report released Thursday by advocacy group Families USA," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The report by the group, which promotes universal health insurance, found that a total of $42.7 billion in care for those without insurance was passed on to health insurers. The insurers, in turn, passed on the costs through higher premiums, the report said."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Conservative judicial activists have gone up with a new Web video questioning the judicial philosophy of President Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The Judicial Confirmation Network put up its Web ad, aboutsoniasotomayor.com, in response to a television ad campaign kicked off Wednesday by Sotomayor's backers. The JNC's ad, 'Equal Justice for All?' questions Sotomayor's judicial bent and references an excerpt from a speech that she gave in 2002."

• "Conservative groups are stepping up the battle against Democrats' proposed health-system overhaul with advertising campaigns contending that the changes could result in long waits for surgery and difficulty obtaining prescription drugs," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a conservative advocacy organization, on Wednesday plans to launch a $1.7 million television-advertising campaign that negatively likens the U.S. health-care system envisioned by lawmakers to Canada's publicly administered system."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Liberal-leaning groups have launched a TV ad campaign attacking three lawmakers who voted against cap-and-trade legislation in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Reps. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), John Barrow (D-Ga.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) are targeted in the ads paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, VoteVets.org and building trades unions."

• "A report by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) disclosed that four lobbyists collected $209,700 in campaign contributions for the political committee during the month of April," The Hill reports. "The top lobbyist bundler for the Senate Democrats' campaign committee is Ted Burnes, a lobbyist for the American College of Radiology."

• "Conservative groups are stepping up the battle against Democrats' proposed health-system overhaul with advertising campaigns contending that the changes could result in long waits for surgery and difficulty obtaining prescription drugs," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "The conservative groups' campaigns seek to liken the Democrats' proposed system to those in countries where the government has more involvement in the health system."

• "Drug-company executives are aiming to prevent steep cuts in prescription prices by joining the effort to overhaul the U.S. health-care system," the Wall Street Journal (subscription) reports. "The pharmaceutical executives are using their new access to try to steer lawmakers away from measures that could reduce drug margins, pressing instead for cost reductions by hospitals and insurers."

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."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would make it easier to unionize FedEx Corp. workers, prompting the company to renew its threat to hold off buying billions of dollars of new planes if the bill becomes law," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Supporters of the bill, including the Teamsters and FedEx's biggest rival, United Parcel Service Inc., applauded Thursday's vote. But the measure faces a difficult climb in the Senate. A similar bill passed the House in 2007 but died in the Senate."

• "A pharmaceutical company that collected campaign contributions for Rep. Henry Waxman is the only bundler disclosed under a new ethics rule that took effect earlier this year," The Hill reports. "The political action committee for Gilead Sciences, Inc. has collected $17,500 in campaign contributions for LA PAC, a leadership political action committee affiliated with Waxman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee."

• "There are two ways of looking at the Transportation Security Administration's performance in the 2009 Best Places to Work in the federal government report released this week," the Washington Post reports. "One is to hail the TSA's nearly 23 percent increase in its score measuring job satisfaction among employees -- the largest jump among any large subcomponent agency in the federal government -- as evidence that the troubled Department of Homeland Security agency has turned a corner. A second take, offered by unions representing TSA employees, is that the agency's score of 49.7 still leaves it near the bottom of the rankings, and that the new study is therefore evidence the agency is still mired in problems."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• Business Forward, a coalition of executives backing President Obama's priorities, will announce its formation Thursday, the New York Times reports. "Organizers said the group, whose initial members include AT&T, Facebook, Hilton, IBM, Microsoft, Pfizer and Time Warner, will engage in public advocacy but will not lobby administration officials or members of Congress."

• "A lobbying fight between the high-tech industry and a group that includes manufacturers and pharmaceutical representatives has the potential to stall controversial changes to the nation's patent laws at a time when the congressional calendar is filling up," The Hill reports. "Heading into the congressional recess next week, several loose ends remain for a patent reform bill that has yet to get a floor vote in either chamber."

• "Freshman Rep. Alan Grayson, a Democrat whose Florida district includes tourist meccas such as Walt Disney World and the Universal Orlando Resort, plans to introduce a bill today that would mandate paid vacation for most American workers," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "While the measure could boost travel to Grayson's district and theoretically spur an uptick in tourism around the United States, the travel industry's response has been tepid."

• "Top aides to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) held a private meeting on Monday with a bloc of prominent Democratic lobbyists, warning them to hold their fire or be left out of negotiations on President Barack Obama's No. 1 legislative priority," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "From the perspective of gun control advocates, the playing field is upside down," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Their nemesis, the 138-year-old National Rifle Association, seems more powerful than ever. Instead of a Democratic trifecta lending gun control the upper hand, it has energized the NRA, whose membership has grown 30 percent since the November elections. And the NRA has been on the attack."

• "A new analysis of Senate disclosure records by The Center for Public Integrity found that 10 lobbying firms -- all with deep ties to Capitol Hill -- have amassed such large client lists that they represent nearly 100 of the business stakeholders in the [climate legislation] brawl," Politico reports.

• "Reshaping the nation's health care system has spurred some shotgun marriages of convenience," AP reports. "Momentum for redoing the medical system has been helped by unlikely alliances that broadly embrace" Obama's "drive for overhaul but gloss over prickly issues like how to pay for it. Those political unions, though, will likely fray when Congress begins to pencil in the details."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's switch to the Democratic Party underscores the clout of Club For Growth, a conservative group that targets Republicans it brands insufficiently committed to low taxes and small government," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Mr. Specter fingered Club For Growth as the key factor behind his decision, saying he would have lost the Republican primary to a Club-backed rival. His decision has prompted some Republicans to turn on the organization, saying it backs those who are so conservative that they then lose to Democrats."

• "Despite moves by Senate Republicans to downplay expectations of a battle royal over the next Supreme Court nominee, conservative judicial activists are increasing pressure on their Congressional allies to oppose a liberal jurist," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Though it's unclear just how soon President Barack Obama will name Justice David Souter's replacement, groups such as the Third Branch Conference, the Judicial Confirmation Network and the Committee for Justice are mapping out their strategy to rally Senate Republicans' appetite for pushback."

• "Union groups are targeting one of their close allies in Congress over a controversial proposal to tax employee healthcare benefits," The Hill reports. "In a coordinated campaign using radio advertising, mail and other pressure mechanisms, three top unions are urging Oregonians to voice their displeasure to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), whose proposal may be stalled in the Senate."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The 60-day review period for the Obama administration's new restrictions on lobbying federal agencies for stimulus funds ends Tuesday, but already there is concern that the White House will not address lobbyists' concerns that the rules are discriminatory," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Six health care groups that pledged to cut the growth rate in health care spending restated their commitment Friday after some of their leaders suggested this week that the deal had been misinterpreted," Politico reports. "The statement followed news reports detailing doubts raised this week by the American Hospital Association and the Advanced Medical Technology Association about the agreement to trim $2 trillion from health care spending over the next decade."

• "It may be surprising that company executives are pushing Congress to pass a version of President Obama's plan for combating global warming," the Los Angeles Times reports. "After all, Obama wants to slap hefty fees on facilities like [electric utility] Alcoa's that pump millions of tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the air. Those fees could raise costs for the company and leave it vulnerable to foreign competitors. But a growing number of coal users have come to believe that, with the right tweaks, Obama's plan would not only help the environment but boost their profits."

• "Last week, hundreds of nurses rallied on Capitol Hill, carrying signs and calling for health care reform legislation," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The California Nurses Association-National Nurses Organizing Committee and other nursing unions want lawmakers to pass legislation that would bring all Americans into a single-payer government system."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Business and environmental groups are flooding the airwaves with advertisements targeting a dozen or so Democrats whose votes are seen as crucial on a controversial climate bill," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The outreach is intensifying as House Democratic leaders are gaining confidence that they have the votes needed to move the bill through the House Energy and Commerce Committee as early as next week."

• "A top pharmaceutical company executive Thursday came out hard against any public healthcare plan, saying it would stifle innovation and be a 'slippery slope' to government-run care," CongressDailyAM (subscription) reports. "'There is simply no example, worldwide, of a robust private health insurance market co-existing with a government plan that's open to all,' Eli Lilly President and CEO John Lechleiter said at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The high-tech industry, disturbed by President Obama's proposal to raise taxes on U.S. companies operating overseas, is being courted by the Republican Party while ramping up its own opposition strategy," The Hill reports. "The president has embraced technology-- from the use of his BlackBerry to his administration's policy agenda -- and that has won favor from tech companies. But now Obama has proposed a change to 'deferral,' which would allow the government to tax the overseas revenue of U.S. companies. That could mean billions in increased taxes for tech companies, many of which do more than half their business abroad."

• "A rise in issue advertising, the so-called 'permanent presidential campaign' and early primary elections could combine to drive 2009 political advertising to 'well over $1 billion this year,' according to Evan Tracey, founder and president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group," TVNewsday reports. "The administration's tough rules requiring public officials to wait at least two years before entering the ranks of lobbyists has restricted traditional lobbying avenues, he said. 'This forces advocacy groups to go outside the Beltway' and do more advertising."

• "With climate change legislation heating up, liberal advocates are taking aim at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been skeptical of recent legislative moves to deal with global warming," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "A petition organized by MoveOn.org that asks the chamber to stop lobbying against" Obama's "clean-energy bill has already garnered the names of more than 10,000 small-business men and women, 650 of whom are also chamber members."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The drug industry, already the biggest-spending lobby in Washington, is placing an even bigger bet on the influence game," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Potential windfalls and pitfalls in the expected overhaul of the health-care system have energized drug companies, which spent $47.4 million on lobbying in the first three months of 2009. That is up 36% from the first quarter of 2008, according to company disclosure reports filed with Congress and analyzed by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics."

• "A breakaway group of homebuilders is mounting its own lobbying campaign -- and working around the powerful National Association of Home Builders -- to secure passage of a tax provision that would help its members write off billions of dollars in losses," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The new entity, the Homes for America Alliance, includes about 75 big and small builders."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Several major defense contractors reduced their lobbying expenditures in the first quarter of 2009, even as the companies are quietly trying to reverse President Barack Obama's proposal to slash the budget for several high-profile military aircraft," Roll Call (subscription) reports.

• "Utilities, steelmakers and oil industry lobbyists have tried to ease the pain of" Obama's "push to curb global warming, and they've gotten an early return on the millions of dollars they've spent influencing Congress," AP reports. "Lawmakers determined to get a deal on climate change are going along with valuable concessions to polluters."

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has weighed in with the White House against lobbying restrictions placed on the stimulus package, arguing the rules could limit its members' First Amendment rights," The Hill reports. "Chamber General Counsel Steven Law laid out two points of concern the business group has with the restrictions, which forbid lobbyists from talking or holding meetings with government officials to discuss specific stimulus projects. Lobbyists instead must submit their views in writing."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "As President Obama ends his 100-day honeymoon and begins his first term in earnest, two things are clear downtown: The 111th Congressional agenda is truly as ambitious as the most optimistic lobbyists had expected and the recession is having a real impact on K Street's hiring practices," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "While Washington isn't facing massive layoffs, the influence business hasn't been trying to woo politically-connected aides with the massive signing bonuses and compensation packages it would have offered in a more upbeat economy."

• "It still may seem like the winter of discontent for Republicans looking for lobbying slots, but the job chill for many K Street GOPers has begun to thaw," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Republicans might not command the top salaries they did three years ago, but that doesn't mean their dream jobs are out of reach."

• Obama "will announce an initiative Monday that the administration says will reduce national healthcare spending by $2 trillion over 10 years," The Hill reports. "A coalition of six interest groups representing healthcare companies and a labor union are behind the plan. Their chief executives will meet with the president Monday to present him with a written commitment to cut the rate of growth in healthcare spending by 1.5 percentage points each year for 10 years."

• "Duke Energy is bailing on its membership in the National Association of Manufacturers, in part because of disagreements with the lobbying group's stance on climate change policy," Politico reports. "Duke, one of the largest utilities in the country, supports passing legislation that caps greenhouse gas emissions. The company is a founding member of United States Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of business and environmental groups advocating for a cap-and-trade system."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The Army has issued a recall of more than 34,000 advanced-combat helmets that failed ballistics tests, a move certain to attract scrutiny on Capitol Hill," The Hill reports. "But an added element of intrigue that may also catch lawmakers' attention is the firm that lobbied on behalf of the helmet's manufacturer: the PMA Group."

• "Silicon Valley executives who opposed President Obama's tax plans pleaded their case at a 2 1/2-hour dinner with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein at the Source, Washington's hottest new restaurant. They discussed strategy with Sen. Barbara Boxer, who arranged a special meeting with Obama's top economic adviser, Larry Summers, that lasted nearly an hour," the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "And the executives made clear to all that Obama's hunt for revenue to finance his ambitious agenda, from green energy to health care, should leave them alone."

• "You can check off David Rehr from the unofficial K Street watch list of endangered GOP association heads," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The Republican lobbyist, best known for his hard-charging approach, abruptly resigned his post Wednesday at the helm of the National Association of Broadcasters."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "With Justice David Souter set to step down from the Supreme Court, lobbying groups are revving up their research and advocacy efforts in a battle that could cost a million dollars or more before a justice is confirmed," The Hill reports. "The White House said this week that the nomination process is on a "tight timeline," and that President Obama would like to see a new justice installed on the court by October."

• "The White House's top ethics cop said on Tuesday that 'there is a process' in place for enforcing the new lobbying rules on the books since President Obama was sworn in on Jan. 20," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "'We have had extensive conversations with both the groups that agree with the rules and disagree with the rules,' White House special counsel Norman Eisen said Tuesday at George Washington University. 'We're also in regular conversation with the agencies.'"

• "During the 2008 campaign cycle, a political action committee set up by Rep. Paul Gillmor spent nearly $6,000 on seemingly personal outlays: fast-food, doughnuts, bar tabs and golfing," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The spending was highly unusual. The Ohio Republican was dead. Such free spending on behalf of federal lawmakers who are retired, defeated -- or, in this case, deceased -- is legal, according to the Federal Election Commission, and becoming increasingly common."

• "Online gambling advocates are upping their ante inside the Beltway, adding new hired guns and rethinking their Capitol Hill strategy as Congress gets ready to take up legislation that would reverse the ban on online gaming," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is expected to introduce legislation as early as today aimed at legalizing online gambling."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "An anonymous organization backing the card-check bill is using tags on Twitter to con opponents of the legislation into signing a petition supporting it," The Hill reports. "The group, operating in apparent association with a primitive website called TheTruthAboutEFCA.org, links to a pro-Employee Free Choice Act petition in its Twitter feed, run under the name EFCANow. But in doing so, the EFCANow Twitter feed broadened its reach well beyond the 2,274 followers it has on the popular micro-blogging site."

• "Retailers and credit card companies are facing off over interchange fees as merchants try to add language to a Senate bill that limits the ability of banks to raise interest rates," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "The Merchants Payments Coalition has long lobbied against the fees, which are about 2 percent of each purchase and are charged to merchants each time a customer uses a credit or debit card."

• "From car companies to big retailers, firms looking for shelter in the recession are swarming around a promising opportunity: a multibillion emergency spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," AP reports. "Whenever such a must-pass bill comes along, it becomes a magnet for interest groups and industries looking to use its momentum for their own purposes. Lawmakers get in on the act too, using the bill as a shortcut to accomplish their goals."

• "A cybersecurity adviser in the White House would provide the coordinated and consistent approach industry needs to create and develop technology for the federal government, officials at the technology industry group TechAmerica said today," Federal Computer Week reports. "The group supports provisions in the Information and Communication Enhancement bill introduced by Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), including naming a White House cybersecurity adviser."

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "A growing number of industries are lobbying for free pollution permits under legislation capping greenhouse-gas emissions, in a potential threat to the funding for President Obama's proposed middle-class tax cut," the Wall Street Journal reports. "A range of industries, including electric utilities, auto makers, and oil and natural gas refineries, are making their case to lawmakers ahead of a vote on proposed climate legislation expected this week by the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment."

• Obama "says lobbyists won't run his administration, but he picked an antitobacco lobbyist with ties to the pharmaceutical industry as the No. 2 official at the Department of Health and Human Services," the Wall Street Journal reports. "The nomination of William Corr -- former executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, where he was a registered lobbyist until September -- highlights the murkiness of Mr. Obama's antilobbyist policy."

• "Less than a week after the House passed an expansion of federal hate crime laws, gay rights activists are upping the pressure on lawmakers to enact the first of several pro-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender bills," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "To press the point, the Human Rights Campaign is blanketing Capitol Hill on Monday and Tuesday with a 'Clergy Call for Justice and Equality,' bringing in more than 300 clergy from all 50 states to lobby on LGBT issues."

• "For going on two weeks, the Washington professionals who represent the nation's 67,000 pork producers have been in a mad dash to, as President Obama once said, put lipstick on this pig," the Washington Post reports.

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Farm-state lawmakers added their voices to those looking to protect the pork industry from bad press about the swine flu," The Hill reports. "And the first offensive they launched was against their own colleagues. On Wednesday morning the House Agriculture Committee majority staff sent an e-mail out to all Democratic press secretaries asking them to stop referring to the Mexican-born flu as the 'swine flu' and imploring them to stop using pig graphics on their webpages."

• "Although the Air Force chief and Lockheed are staying out of the public brawling," Defense Secretary Robert Gates' "decision to cap new purchases of F-22s at 187 sparked a wave of protest from retired generals, aerospace industry advocates, unions and interested members of Congress, who have rallied to defend the fifth-generation fighter jet -- on both economic and national security grounds," Politico reports.

• "A federal court in Florida is scheduled to begin a criminal trial next month featuring an intriguing cast of characters, with multiple links to the PMA Group and other entities in the orbit of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) that are under investigation by the FBI," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Neither Murtha nor PMA is mentioned in the Florida case."