Is the tide turning for the public option? (Salon)

"As healthcare reform moves to backroom talks, supporters say its chances may be improving."

U.S. Losing Ground on Preventable Deaths: Despite High Medical Spending, Results Trail Other Wealthy Countries (WashPost)

Pay Czar Targets Salary Cuts (WSJ)

Ken Feinberg might actually be planning a crackdown. Instead of cash, execs would have to take stock that they couldn't fuck with for several years. "Most intrusive [move] yet into corporate compensation."

Obama Weighs Spending to Stem Job Cuts Without Second Stimulus (Bloomberg)

Or at least without something that carries the label "stimulus." More gullible NYT story here.

One-Third of Wall Street Workers Expect Bigger Bonus This Year (Bloomberg)

U.S. Seeks to Restrict Gift Giving to Bloggers (WSJ)

Cracking down on the shilling of products "for fun and profit." Bloggers supposedly have to reveal freebies or money they get for writing product reviews. Also cracking down on celebrity endorsements.

Recession Spells End for Many Family Businesses (WSJ)

The ones that Wal-Mart and fast-food chains hadn't already killed.

Google to blight smartphones with big ads (Register U.K.)

Prepaid, but Not Prepared for Debit Card Fees (NYT)

Yet another legal scam foisted upon a recession-plagued public.

Comedian pitches $100k for Twitter account: Drew Carey eyes @drew for charity (Register U.K.)

If you're willing to pay $100,000 to outbid Drew Carey, then you have too much money. Cancer becomes a Twitter game.

MORE HEADLINES FOLLOW

Manhattan rents plunge to levels not seen since 1994 - study (NY Daily News)

Crusader for Syntactic Disambiguation Exprobrates Banks' Labored Locutions (WSJ)

Funny story on the Plain English Campaign's drive against financial jargon.

What Is an Andy Warhol? (NY Review of Books)

Deep inside a class-action lawsuit about what is or isn't a Warhol. Great stuff about Andy and about the art market before the global meltdown. "The Andy Warhol Foundation is packed with lawyers, and with hundreds of millions of dollars it has all the time in the world to fight lawsuits."

Monthly Stock Moves Go Opposite to History (WSJ)

Geoffrey Rogow's snappy analysis: "The market has gone up when it was supposed to go down and vice versa in 2009 — a terrible omen for the rest of the year."

Online ad sales fell 5% in qtr. (NY Post)

The demise of the dollar (Independent U.K.)

Conspiracy theory, but not necessarily untrue: Arabs, China, Russia, France plot to stop using the dollar for oil trading.

Google Decides to Find Its Creative Side (WSJ)

"Internet Giant Seeks to Work Closer With Madison Avenue as It Targets Display Ad Dollars"

As U.S. Still Struggles, Can China Lead Recovery? (WashPost)

Toxic-Asset Rescue Funds Start (WSJ)

Government's not finished bailing out Wall Street. Here comes the formal launch of PPIP.

Apple Isn't Even Bothering To Lie Anymore (WashPost)

Insight from Michael Arrington: "we all know that the real reason Apple won't let Google Voice through is that they are scared out of their mind that Android and Google Voice will eat their iPhone lunch over the long term."

Goldman, Intel Give Profit 'a Pulse' After Record 2-Year Drop (Bloomberg)

Profits at world's biggest companies expected to grow 63 percent in final three months of '09.