Quick Picks focuses on a select few of the day's stories from "Breaking on the Web."

  • Obama is already navigating some treacherous ethics territory. Having welcomed lobbyists into his White House after pledging not to, he's now hired a new legal adviser on economic affairs who comes straight from a firm seeking up to $3.4 billion in bailout funds, reports McClatchy. A White House spokesman told McClatchy: "It is unlikely he will have any need to address the Hartford [his old firm] specifically in his work in the White House, and if he does he will recuse." For more on lobbyists going the White House, see our Morning Read.
  • Obama successfully pushed his stimulus bill through the House last night, but it came out the other end laden down with a whole lotta pork, reports the Wall Street Journal. Its price tag is now pushing $900 billion after additions that would benefit special interests ranging from the South Florida yacht-repair industry to California winemakers. (Hey, Wall Streeters need somewhere to spend those bonuses.)

Check out more of our roundup of the best investigative stories around the Web.

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