Monday Roundup: Message Control Sunday

The U.S. attorney scandal seems to have taken up most of Sunday's news airwaves. Senator Dianne Feinstein revealed evidence that U.S. Attorney Carol Lam had, indeed, been fired for political reasons (a pattern that Jonathan at MyDD traces), Senator Chuck Schumer accused Attorney General Alberto Gonzales of lying under oath, and Senator Patrick Leahy said that he's "sick and tired of getting half-truths" and his committee will be voting to subpoena Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and deputy White House counsel William K. Kelley on Thursday.

One good scandal deserves another, and it's pretty clear that pundits just can't get enough of them. Brit Hume tried to help Republicans regain some of the ground they lost with the White House security chief's testimony that the investigation the White House promised had never been made by accusing Valerie Plame of — you guessed it — lying under oath. Seems like Dems are batting 1.000 on oversight these days. The LA Times tries to follow along with the Democrats' multipronged oversight efforts here.

Of course, such visible and immediate problems on the federal level leave few resources for federal oversight on the state and local level. So I appreciate the Chron doing a particularly good job of investigative reporting in finding that OSHA have been lax in oversight of Houston oil refineries. They cite budget cuts as the reason for the dramatically fewer inspections. Wouldn't surprise me if a significant amount of those oil companies' political donations went to the same folks that passed those budget cuts. Coincidence, I'm sure.

One of the few nice things about being Democrats in a state largely controlled by Republicans is how often we get to say "I told you so." So the private sector can do a better job at managing large statewide programs than government, huh? I don't think so. Not that I think that anyone with an R by their name actually minds that welfare call centers were basically crumbling under their own workload, mind you. They don't particularly seem to want the underprivileged benefitting from government -- they'd rather use those resources to, say, push their definition of a "healthy marriage." Charles Kuffner has some choice commentary on the matter.

Finally, Biofuels Power Corp. seems to have taken the next step in tapping biodiesel as a renewable fuel source. Their first biodiesel power plant is now in operation, and feeding into the Texas power grid. I'm a bit tickled at the thought that a couple of guys with some diesel engines can get on the field with the Texas power big boys. When Bill Clinton came to speak in Dallas, he mentioned that far from damaging the economy, the push for alternative fuels would open new possibilities for economic development. Well, here's a perfect example. Makes me wish I could buy some stock in biodiesel.