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The president joked that the star-studded Galaxy, led by Beckham, midfielder Landon Donovan and forward Robbie Keane, are the “Miami Heat of soccer.”

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Yet the anti-bailout fervor that drove the messaging of Republican candidates during the campaign cycle of 2009 and 2010 has dissipated, and those same lawmakers are now collecting money from the firms bailed out by President George W. Bush’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Five banks -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) - - held $8.5 trillion in assets at the end of 2011, equal to 56 percent of the U.S. economy, according to central bankers at the Federal Reserve. Combined those institutions took $150 billion in bailout money in 2008 and repaid it by the end of the next year.

The political action committees of those institutions have distributed $169,499 through March 31 to the campaign coffers of the 10 freshman Tea Party-backed lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosure records.

Fincher, who is among them, promised as a candidate to “Help Main Street” and ensure there would be “no more Wall Street bailouts” in an advertisement that ran 98 times in the Nashville market in the run-up to his victory in a district previously held by a Democrat since 1988, according to New York- based Kantar Media’s CMAG, which tracks advertising.

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Steak Specialists Discover a New Cut of Beef

Turns out that what happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas—and that's a good thing. A self-proclaimed Meat Geek has teamed up with Oklahoma State University to devise the first new style of steak in years.

"The Vegas Strip Steak is the latest and perhaps last steak to be found from the beef carcass," said Jacob Nelson, a value-added meat processing specialist (and owner of the best job title of all time) at the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center of Oklahoma State University. The Vegas Strip is the brainchild of Tony Mata, of industry group Mata & Associates, who approached Nelson and the FAPC for help developing the cut. "Initially, the cut was labeled as undervalued," Mata told the Drovers Cattle Network. "Whenever we can take a muscle and turn it into a steak rather than grinding it or selling it as a roast, we are adding value to the carcass."

The steak itself weighs in at about 14 ounces and can be portioned out as small as 4 ounces. The taste, tenderness, and flavor are reportedly akin to a New York Strip or Flat Iron cut. "The tenderness of the Vegas Strip Steak is comparable to the New York Strip Steak," said Mata. "It does not require aging or marinating to achieve tenderness and its visual appeal enhances the steak eater's overall enjoyment."

The cut recently debuted in (where else) Las Vegas at a dinner arranged at the Trump Tower by Rick Gresh, the chef at David Burke's Primehouse at The James Hotel. It reportedly received rave reviews from those attending.

Most interesting is the fact that this new cut of meat apparently counts as intellectual property, replete with its own licensing and a patent on the cut's fabrication. Mata and Gresh have yet to reveal where, exactly, the cut comes from but they've already lined up national suppliers so we should be getting a taste of Vegas at the local butcher shop soon.

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B:0 S:1 O:1
Ryan Raburn ground bunts into a force out, pitcher John Danks to third baseman Brent Morel. Prince Fielder out at 3rd. Delmon Young to 2nd. Ryan Raburn to 1st.

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Gerald Laird out on a sacrifice bunt, third baseman Brent Morel to second baseman Gordon Beckham. Jhonny Peralta to 3rd.

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