Ethics
The 'Drill Baby Drill' Scandal

This week, the Interior Department Inspector General released the results of a two-year, $5.3 million investigation finding that workers at the Minerals Management Service (MMS) royalty collection office were "partying, having sex, using drugs and accepting gifts and ski trips and golf outings from energy company representatives with whom they did government business." MMS, which takes in royalties on oil leases on public lands, "came under fire two years ago for a costly bureaucratic snafu -- leaving out important language in some oil leases, written in 1998 and 1999, that may have cost the government as much as $7 billion in revenue." As Daniel J. Weiss of the Center for American Progress observed, "The federal watchdogs are in bed with the oil companies that they are supposed to oversee." The revelations come as conservatives have initiated a battle cry of "drill baby, drill" and "drill here, drill now" to push for expanded drilling. House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) said his staff is investigating the scandal. Already, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has called for MMS Director Randall Luthi, to resign. "This all shows the oil industry holds shocking sway over the administration and even key federal employees," Nelson said.

SALACIOUS CONFLICT OF INTERESTS: The IG report is full of accounts detailing the unethical relationships between government officials and the oil industry, calling it "a culture of ethical failure" and "a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity." The report notes that "employees frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and natural gas company representatives," despite being subject to restrictions on taking gifts. Royalty in Kind (RIK) officials, however, attempted to rewrite the ethics rules to cover up their misdoings. Two employees engaged in "brief sexual relationships" with oil and gas representatives, yet they did not recuse themselves from work with those companies and officials. Oil giant Chevron gave roughly $2,500 over the course of five years, "most of it spent on meals and drinks." Three others, Shell, Gary-Williams Energy Corp. and Hess Corp., also were named as gift-givers. Other agencies, such as the Minerals Revenue Management (MRM), were implicated as well. MRM Associate Director Lucy Denett created a "lucrative contract" for her special assistant Jim Mayberry, upon Mayberry's retirement and later sought to increase funding for the contract. Gregory Smith, who managed RIK at MMS, was said to have demanded sexual favors from an employee; Attorney General Michael Mukasey in May 2008 "declin[ed] to prosecute Smith on various charges," the report notes.  

THE DRILLING DEBATE: The MMS, the agency that would oversee the expansion of offshore oil drilling, is now front and center in the oil drilling debate in Congress because of the IG report. This week, House Democrats announced that they would bring an energy bill allowing for expanded oil exploration off the coasts. "On the eve of Congress starting this big debate you've got a horror story of mismanagement and misconduct in programs that are going to be a key part of the discussion," Sen. Ron Wyden, (D-OR) observed. Conservatives are attempting to block the legislation because it would eliminate an estimated $17 billion in tax breaks for oil companies over 10 years. "So we're saying: OK, you want to drill, this is how it will be. No more subsidies," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters Thursday. Pelosi said the energy measure in Congress will now include a "strong integrity piece" to shield the government from oil industry influence.

SCANDAL-CLAD DEPARTMENT: The revelations from the IG are the latest in scandal-clad Interior Department. The IG previously found that the Department under-collected billions of dollars of revenue owed the U.S. taxpayer from oil companies that produce and sell oil and gas from public lands and waters. Government workers "routinely failed to seek out legal advice on complicated deals and that the agency used outdated computers and a $150 million software program that resulted in royalty money going uncollected." J. Steven Griles, former mining lobbyist and Interior Department Deputy Secretary, pleaded guilty in 2007 to obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff scandal. "Vice President Dick Cheney packed the top posts at the Department of the Interior with lobbyists who had spent their careers representing the very industries they were now being asked to regulate," the New York Times noted yesterday.

Under the Radar

AFGHANISTAN -- 2008 IS THE DEADLIEST YEAR FOR U.S. TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN:  The Associated Press reported yesterday that "insurgents killed two U.S. troops in Afghanistan on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks...making 2008 the deadliest year for American forces since U.S. troops invaded the country in 2001 for sheltering Osama bin Laden." According to an AP tally, 113 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year. As the AP notes, "U.S. death tolls have climbed sharply from the first years of the war. Only five American service members died in 2001. Thirty service members died in both 2002 and 2003; the toll climbed to 49 in 2004, then 93 in 2005 and 88 in 2006." In 2007, 111 troops were killed, bringing the total number to 519. The rising number of casualties reflects "both the increased number of American troops deployed to Afghanistan as well as the insurgency's increasing potency." This week, President Bush announced that he is going to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, while simultaneously withdrawing 8,000 troops from Iraq.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS -- NATO REJECTS U.S. RAIDS INTO PAKISTAN: News reports emerged earlier this week that according to senior American officials last July, President Bush secretly approved orders "that for the first time allow American Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government." However, a NATO spokesman said yesterday that forces in the alliance fighting in Afghanistan will not take part in any raids into Pakistani territory. "The NATO policy, that is our mandate, ends at the border" of Afghanistan, spokesman James Appathurai said in a news briefing, adding that "there are no ground or air incursions by NATO forces into Pakistani territory." Also this week, U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen told Congress, "I'm not convinced we're winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can." Mullen confirmed that he has commissioned "a new, more comprehensive military strategy for the region that covers both sides of that border" between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but the strategy will take place without NATO assistance. "Let me stress, it is not NATO that will be sending its forces across the border," Appathurai said.

IRAQ -- LIEBERMAN DECLARES THE SURGE A 'STRATEGIC SUCCESS': In late July, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) said he would introduce a resolution in the Senate to applaud the success of the surge "against enemies who attacked America on 9/11." On Wednesday, Lieberman introduced the formal amendment (S. Amdt. 5368 to S. 3001), which "expresses the sense of the Senate recognizing the strategic success of the troop surge in Iraq." In his statement, he linked the surge to 9/11: "If there is anyone in this Chamber who doubts the strategic stakes in Iraq, I urge them to listen to General Petraeus. Listen to General Petraeus who warned us in an interview published today in the Washington Post that 'Iraq is still viewed as the central front for al-Qaida.' It is the judgment of America's most successful battlefield commander in the war on terror which began 7 years ago tomorrow when America was brutally attacked on 9/11/2001." While the surge has certainly produced calmer streets in Iraq, it has not achieved its primary purpose of facilitating political reconciliation. The surge has essentially frozen into place "a fragmented and increasingly fractured country" and produced an "an oil revenue-fueled, religious Shia-dominated national government with close ties to Iran." As Yglesias explains, "An al-Qaeda offshoot only arose in Iraq in the first place because we invaded there and created an appealing venue in which to try to kill American soldiers and bleed American resources."

Think Fast

As "greater Houston faces the real possibility of a direct hit" from Hurricane Ike, "the National Weather Service issued a stern warning to people living in small houses on Galveston Island that they faced 'certain death' from flooding if they remained in their homes."

The House will vote on a bill to allow expanded offshore drilling as early as next week, as part of an energy package that would also repeal tax breaks for oil companies and invest in renewable energy sources. "So we're saying: OK, you want to drill, this is how it will be. No more subsidies," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said.

The next president "will be confronted with slow growth, high unemployment and an economy teetering toward recession," say 51 private economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, making pumping up the economy "the first challenge facing either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain."

Foreclosure filings last month "increased 27 percent compared to the same month a year ago." Senate Democrats are urging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to immediately implement 90-day foreclosure freeze on mortgages they hold.

"The U.S. trade deficit soared in July, the Commerce Department said, as oil imports hit an all-time high. ...The Labor Department also reported that new applications for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week as the struggling economy continues to take a toll on workers."

"The Justice Department will unveil changes to FBI ground rules today that would put much more power into the hands of line agents pursuing leads on national security, foreign intelligence and even ordinary criminal cases." The changes give agents "the ability at a much earlier stage" to conduct physical surveillance and solicit information through friends and informants without the approval of a supervisor.

An unusually-detailed study of people newly infected with H.I.V. in the U.S. "has confirmed that the majority of new cases occur among gay and bisexual men and that blacks are most at risk." The study -- reported yesterday by the CDC -- also found that whites and blacks tend to be infected with the H.I.V. virus at different times in their lives.

And finally: Speaking to Working Mother Media on Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) told a story about a sexist former classmate from her days at Harvard Law School. The guy asked her why she was there, insinuating that she just wanted to land a rich husband. "Don't you know that there are men who...will actually use their legal education?" he asked her. Dole said that this man is now a powerful DC attorney and that she now "loves to tell the story in front of him" -- "just to make him squirm."

Good News

Today, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) will introduce a new national service bill "to recruit 175,000 Americans of all ages to do service work in health, education, environmental protection and anti-poverty programs."

State Watch

MARYLAND: State regulators today will announce the "tightest-ever controls" on chicken farmers' waste in a bid to reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

OHIO: Voter registrations could face legal challenges.

ARIZONA: "Universities and community colleges around Arizona are preparing for an influx of veterans and their dependents taking advantage of the new GI Bill."

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Fox News' Sean Hannity explodes on air, calls guest a "fool" and an "idiot," tells him to get off set.

WONK ROOM: Hurricane Ike is a "freak storm" larger than Hurricane Katrina.

YGLESIAS: The benefit of having actual liberals hosting TV shows.

FEMINISTING: Transgender rights victory in Maryland: county rules it unacceptable to discriminate on the basis of gender identity.

Daily Grill

"[Pakistan] is a sovereign country, and we just don't send troops into sovereign countries."
-- Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, 7/02/08

VERSUS

"I intend to commission, and I am looking at, a new, more comprehensive military strategy for the region that covers both sides of [the Afghan/Pakistan] border."
-- Mullen, 9/10/08