National news: 
▪  In today's LA Times -- Unlikely allies advocate healthcare overhaul -- Today, SEIU President Andy Stern will stand with the director of the Business Roundtable to announce one campaign to overhaul healthcare. On Thursday, private health insurance companies will join with doctors' organizations and health-activist groups on the left to announce a plan for universal coverage.
▪  In today's NY Times -- With new urgency U.S., South Korea seek free-trade deal -- Trade talks resume amid growing skepticism that the two governments can narrow their differences before Bush’s authority to move an agreement quickly through Congress expires at the end of June.
▪  In the USA Today -- Enthusiasm for globalization ebbs (column) -- Key Congressional Democrats say further liberalization is possible only if trade deals are rewritten to include labor and environmental standards and if voters' financial anxieties are addressed.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Tracking outsourced bonanzas (editorial) -- Few Bush administration programs are more in need of scrutiny than the outsourcing of government programs to private contractors. In a first glimpse, auditors found 118 contracts worth $745 billion to be rife with questionable procedures, mismanagement, overcharging and skimpy to nonexistent oversight.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Conservation group, unions joining forces -- In a first-of-its-kind alliance that could fundamentally reshape the environmental movement, 20 labor unions (including IAM and IAFF) with nearly 5 million members are joining forces with a Republican-leaning umbrella group of conservationists -- the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership -- to put pressure on Congress and the Bush administration. The AFL-CIO is an enthusiastic supporter of the new alliance, and says an additional 33 unions may soon join up.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Who pays for protection? -- For almost eight years, unions have been waiting for the Labor Department to finish writing rules that would make it clear that employers are supposed to pick up the tab for safety equipment for millions of workers. Now the AFL-CIO and UFCW have sued to force the government to complete the long-postponed proposal.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Medicare drug benefit: Negotiate pricing (editorial) -- Last week, Bush said that "government interference impedes competition," between drug companies. If competing is so important, why can't we have drug companies compete for bids with the government?
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Burden set to shift on balanced budget -- In his State of the Union speech, President Bush will list among his goals a balanced federal budget, a shift for a president who has presided over record deficits while aggressively cutting taxes.
▪  In today's Kansas City Star -- Firings foment union decline (column) -- New research: “Aggressive, even illegal, employer behavior has undermined the ability of U.S. workers to create unions at their workplaces.”