As the federal government pumps billions of bonus dollars into private Medicare health plans to encourage better care, the quality rating system used to award the bonuses is coming under increasing fire.

More than 800 executives and entrepreneurs are expected for the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association’s two-day TechBuzz & Capital Connection ’12 event.

The technology and venture capital conference begins at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, and starts with TechBuzz, a half-day fast-pitch event for seed-stage companies. The Capital Connection portion starts at 4 p.m. and continues through Thursday when Steve Case, chairman and chief executive of District-based venture firm Revolution (and co-founder of AOL) will offer closing remarks.

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If your phone doesn’t have that much memory or if you have a reason to need access to your text messages when you don’t have your phone, Uppidy has got you covered by putting your text messages into the cloud. You can search for them by subject, contact or keyword or by firing up the app on your phone or in a browser. This means your texts are searchable from any device. You can keep your account if you switch carriers or models. Users can also link the app to Facebook, Twitter or Google+ accounts to text updates or create text group hashtags for a personalized feed. The app doesn’t work on iPhone, but Apple fans can use the service through the desktop browser. Free, for Android and BlackBerry.

Consmr is often described as the Yelp of goods — users can scan bar codes or look up products they see in stores and find how they rate against competitors. Users can filter their results for certain attributes, such as allergies or products that are good for curly hair, in order to find products that best suit their needs. If you want to share your shopping finds with friends, you can link your account to Facebook or Twitter, or you can follow experts on the app for some more professional advice. And, of course, you can submit reviews for products you like or hate to earn a better chance of having your review featured more prominently. Free, for iOS.

You can buy a car with cash.

I have to say this because there are a lot of people who have just accepted that borrowing for a vehicle is the only way to get one.

But think of the money you can save if you pay cash for your car and hold on to it for as long as it will hold up (and this includes factoring in repair costs).

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) served on the Simpson-Bowles commission, is a member of the Gang of Six, and just published “The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America.” We spoke last week in his office. This interview, which focuses on America’s debt and growth problems, is the first in a two-part series. The second interview, which focuses on health care, will be published later this week.

Last week, the once-future Treasury secretary and current JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon revealed a $2 billion loss. This previously undisclosed derivative trade should be a wake-up call for those claiming that finance has been “reined in” and no longer presents a threat to the global economy.

Jamie Dimon was right about one thing: The embarrassing $3-billion-and-counting trading loss at JPMorgan Chase has played right into the hands of pundits who think Wall Street needs to be put on a shorter leash.

Philip Falcone’s street fighter instincts and penchant for ultra-risky investments helped catapult him into the gilded club of Wall Street’s elite.

But his winning streak ended in Washington, where the founder of Harbinger Capital Partners and former professional hockey player has been bodychecked by regulators.

CAMP DAVID, Md. — Leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations opened the door Saturday to more government spending in Europe as way to revive the continent’s struggling economy, shifting away from the idea that the surest way to recovery was through strict fiscal austerity.