peHUB First Read

* USA Today has an exhaustive list of private equity firm contributions to elected officials. * Must-read for bosses: What alienates top performers. * Last week you were able to ask Tim Geithner a question via Digg. This week you can apparently ask Barney Frank a questions via Bravo TV's website. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point higher, London rises on revised Q2 GDP, European shares advance, the Nikkei edges up and Hong Kong shares drop. * Jabil Systems is laying off more than 300 workers via a plant closure in Billerica, Mass., but is a case study in how to help ease the pain. * Theo Francis: The FDIC's cushion is bigger than it looks. * TechCrunch reports that an investor group is forming to make a bid for Skype, including original backer Index Ventures and newbie venture firm Andreessen Horowitz. The last time these rumors came up was back in April, when Skype's co-founders reportedly teamed up with firms like Warburg Pincus, KKR, Elevation Partners and Providence Equity Partners. eBay quickly nixed that talk by announcing plans for a Skype IPO in the first half of 2010, so we'll see how they respond this time (perhaps with an S-1?).