Morning Smoke: Measure Allowing Government to Break Up Large Financial Firms OK'ed by House Committee

House Financial Services Committee OKs powers to break up large firms [The Hill]

Bailout program could be extended [The Washington Post]

Post-Mortems Reveal Obvious Risk at Banks [The New York Times]

Fed Presidents, Lawmakers Step Up Clash on Appointment Process [Bloomberg]

Airlift Gap Looms For Last Mile [DoD Buzz]

Hot Hot Hot [Ares]

Flake denounces defense earmarks [Politico]

Judge Blames Army Corps for Katrina Flooding [The Associated Press]

Hearing:"Taking Stock: Independent Views on TARP's Effectiveness" [Congressional Oversight Panel] - For more background, check out "What Did TARP Do?" at The Baseline Scenario

Hearing: "Tracking The Money: How Recovery Act Recipients Account For Their Use Of Stimulus Dollars" [House Oversight and Government Reform Committee] - For more background, check out "GAO: clearer guidance needed for reporting stimulus funds" at Federal Eye