Daily Briefing: Life Transformations

* Only 1.4m of the 8m low-income Americans eligible for special Medicare benefits have made shift to new plan; "the government is on track to spend about $250 for each person it enrolls." [ WP ]

*Bushpresses for energy innovation: "We have a chance to transform the way we power our economy, and the way we lead our lives." [ WP , NYT , USAT ]

* Some State Department officials complain that a recent reorganization was politically motivated and "reduced the influence of employees who were viewed by some political appointees as disloyal to the administration's policies." [ WP ]

* Sen.Specter(R-Pa.) hopes to propose limits on NSA eavesdropping within the next few weeks. [ WT ]

* JusticeJohn Paul Stevens"remarkable staying power has been good for liberals" and his "influence has grown in recent years." [ WP ]

* Republican GovernorsGeorge Pataki(N.Y.) andRobert Ehrlich(Maryland) announce opposition to Arab company's planned takeover of six U.S. ports. [ NYT ]

* The National Archives has quietly reclassified over 55,000 pages since 1999. [ NYT ]

* TheBusheshave their own budget earmarks. [ W$J ]

* Past experience as a lobbyist probably helped Mississippi Gov.Haley Barboursecure reconstruction funds. [ NYT ]

* Sources and reporters have different views on the use of anonymous sources. [ WP ]