Thursday morning headlines

Market taking dive: Dow is down 170 points in early trading. Pick your explanation: New concerns about Greek debt, a jump in first-time jobless claims, or an unsettling economy in Europe.

Health care summit: Just getting underway, with Obama and the Republicans already disputing costs. This could be a long day. There are numerous live feeds (here's the MSNBC coverage).

Obama's fallback: White House is readying a more modest plan that would provide additional coverage for as many as 15 million Americans, half as many as would be covered in the plan being discussed. From the WSJ:

As he was weighing his choices, Mr. Obama asked his staff to show him what a more modest policy might look like, and the plan to cover about 15 million people was the most promising, a senior White House official said. "He wanted people to look at what effect you could have on the overall problem if you have to go smaller," the official said.

Bills paid faster: But businesses are still, on average, 5.77 days late, according to Experian, the credit agency. The tardiest payers are those with 100 to 499 employees, at 8.37 days. (OC Register)

Illegal workers slip through: New study shows that the government's much-touted E-Verify system might be failing to detect one out of two illegal workers whose employment authorizations are screened. From the WSJ:

An evaluation of E-Verify carried out for DHS by research group Westat found the program couldn't confirm whether information workers were presenting was their own, and, as a result, "many unauthorized workers obtain employment by committing identity fraud that cannot be detected by E-Verify," Westat told the department. Westat put the "inaccuracy rate for unauthorized workers" at about 54%.

TCW takes hit: The giant L.A.-based money management firm lost about $25 billion, or more than one-fifth of its assets, after the firing of senior executive Jeffrey Gundlach. (LAT)

Hummer deal collapses: A Chinese company pulled out after failing to get clearance from Chinese regulators. GM said it will continue to honor existing Hummer warranties. (AP)

LAX inquiry dropped: Airport employees paid full value or more for business trips to China and Boston, according to the workers' attorney, and the city's Ethics Commission is no longer looking into the matter. (Daily Breeze)

KABC goes Hollywood: It's launching a new show called "On The Red Carpet" that will do the usual celebrity interviews, movie news, red carpet fashion, etc. Show premieres March 14 (I haven't seen any mention of time). (The Wrap)