FORMER SEN. EVAN BAYH RIDES THE WASHINGTON TO WALL STREET ROLLER COASTER

–Sen. Evan Bayh has joined a private equity firm in a policy role: “Former Senator Evan Bayh is joining Apollo Global Management as a senior adviser with a role in public policy. Bayh joins a number of government officials who have moved on to jobs on Wall Street including former Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag, who recently joined Citigroup. … It is unknown whether Bayh, who will likely remain in Washington in his Apollo Global role, will register as a lobbyist. His job, a public policy adviser, is little different than a lobbying job. The former senator will likely provide strategic advice on policy decisions including leveraging his contacts in Congress and in the financial regulatory agencies that he oversaw in his role on the Senate Banking Committee, which including a chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Trade and Finance.”

STATE OF THE UNION A LOBBYING OPPORTUNITY

—Washington Post: “It has been a frenetic few weeks for the country’s leading oil industry group: Lobbyists for the American Petroleum Institute have repeatedly phoned the White House, cajoled agency higher-ups, even bought big newspaper ads touting the virtues of oil and natural gas. … Each January, industries and interest groups of all kinds badger the White House with requests for a mention in the speech, which sets the political agenda in Washington for the year. Even a brief call-out from the president can be an important advantage in the contest for increasingly scarce federal dollars.”

CONTRIBUTIONS SURGE FOR NEW HOUSE CHAIRMEN

—Washington Post: “Banking, insurance and investment firms gave millions more to lawmakers heading finance-related committees, including Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (Mich.), Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers (Ky.). Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus (Ala.) – who will oversee attempts to undo Obama’s Wall Street regulatory changes – received more than $1.2 million from the banking sector, accounting for the vast majority of his total contributions in 2010, records show. … The pattern is similar for other key House panels. Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, received more than $400,000 from the energy and mining industries, a leap of nearly 50 percent from 2008. Major contributors included employees of DTE Energy, CMS Energy and the Edison Electric Institute, which represents utilities, records show.”

JUSTICE THOMAS’ DISCLOSE ACT

—Los Angeles Times: “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to report his wife’s income from a conservative think tank on financial disclosure forms for at least five years, the watchdog group Common Cause said Friday. … Between 2003 and 2007, Virginia Thomas, a longtime conservative activist, earned $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, according to a Common Cause review of the foundation’s IRS records. Thomas failed to note the income in his Supreme Court financial disclosure forms for those years, instead checking a box labeled “none” where “spousal noninvestment income” would be disclosed.”