Morning Smoke: Geithner Heads to the Hill to Defend Financial Regulatory Proposal

Hearings: "The Administration's Proposal to Modernize the Financial Regulatory System" [Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs]; and "The Administration's Plan for the Restructuring of the American Financial Regulatory System" [House Financial Services Committee]

Hearing: "Medical Devices: Are Current Regulations Doing Enough for Patients?" [House Committee on Energy and Commerce] - Click here to read POGO's recent report on the FDA's regulation of medical devices

Questions for Hearing on Denial of Benefits to Civilian Contractors Injured in Iraq and Afghanistan [ProPublica]

Top Air Force General Calls Current F-22 Plan 'High Risk' [Congressional Quarterly]

House Supports Bomber Work [Air Force Magazine]

Lobbying Guidance Now Clarified [OMB Watch]

Dispute grows over TARP chief's powers [Los Angeles Times]

AmeriCorps IG Tit-for-Tat Continues [Federal Eye]

Big Banks Pay Back TARP Funds--But Still Get Government Aid [Business Week]

Lawmakers continue to pound public-private job competitions [Government Executive]

After the jump: more background and reaction to the administration's financial regulatory plan

Core Reforms Held Firm As Much Else Fell Away [The Washington Post]

Banks Brace for Fight Over an Agency Meant to Bolster Consumer Protection [The New York Times]

Only a Hint of Roosevelt in Financial Overhaul [The New York Times]

Financial Regulation: Congress Takes on the Federal Reserve [Real Time Economics]

Fed Opposes Stripping Central Bank of Consumer-Loan Authority [Bloomberg]

Overhaul Leaves Rating Agencies Largely Untouched [The New York Times]

Is Obama Blowing It on Derivatives Reform? [Mother Jones]

Born in a Previous Crisis, OTS Faces Extinction [The Washington Post]

Economists React: For New Financial Regulations, Devil's in the Details [Economix]