* James Altucher: 6 reasons why Groupon’s rejection of Google is great for the universe
* Max Baucus drops plans to change the tax treatment of carried interest. Big win for private equity. Big loss for basic fairness.
* Facebook isn’t the only one offering up a redesign today. The U.S. Treasury Department has overhauled its own website, including social networking tools and a blog.
* Reuters reports that AOL is “actively exploring” a breakup that could result in a merger with Yahoo. Except that it hasn’t actually talked to Yahoo yet. In related news, I’m actively exploring the possibility of spending tonight’s Pats-Jets game next to Belichick on the sidelines. Except that I haven’t actually talked to the NFL about it…
* Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares flatten and the Nikkei dips.
* New docs from the final days of Washington Mutual
* Jeff Daniels bait: Michigan plans big tax break for angel investors
* Wall Street bonuses could come early, in order to avoid paying higher taxes.
* Mark Suster: What the past can tell us about the future of social networking
* Jenn Abelson: The Upper Crust pizza chain was, from the start, favored by foodies — and by scores of illegal workers from one Brazilian village. It was a bond that benefited all, until it suddenly didn’t.
* Om reports that Bebo is about to be sold for the second time in five months. Looks like it could represent a 2.5x return for Criterion Capital, which got all sorts of flack for taking Bebo off of AOL’s hands in the first place.
* Ben Bernanke visits 60 Minutes. Seemed more than a bit nervous…
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