Think Progress

ENERGY -- HEARINGS ON CLEAN ENERGY BILL START TODAY: Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will begin four days worth of hearings on a draft of The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The bill requires utilities companies to generate 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025; promotes carbon capture and sequestration for coal plants; increases incentives for electric vehicles; and requires energy savings in buildings, manufactured homes, industry, and government. Most importantly, it creates a cap-and-trade system, ensuring that carbon emissions that are 83 percent lower in 2050 than in 2005. Tomorrow, Secretaries Steven Chu (Energy) and Ray LaHood (Transportation), as well as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, will testify; on Thursday, Al Gore will address the panel. A wide variety of government and business leaders will also talk about green job opportunities and local steps to addressing climate change. Recent statements from GOP congressman could serve as a preview of their witnesses' views. Just this weekend, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) nonsensically declared that "it's almost comical" to think carbon dioxide emissions are dangerous, claiming that since humans exhale carbon dioxide, it could never be dangerous, no matter how large the dose. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) recently said the planet is "carbon-starved" and wondered, "If we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere?" Yet just last week, the EPA reported that "the case for finding that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endanger public health and welfare is compelling and, indeed, overwhelming."

ETHICS -- NEW YORK TIMES ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HARMAN URGED THE PAPER TO HOLD WIRETAPPING ARTICLE IN 2004: Yesterday, CQ's Jeff Stein reported that in 2005 Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) was "overheard on an NSA wiretap telling a suspected Israeli agent that she would lobby the Justice Department [to] reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committe." In exchange, Harman asked for help lobbying Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to "appoint her chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, which the Democrats were heavily favored to win." Stein also reported that contrary to previous reports that an FBI probe into Harman had been dropped due to "lack of evidence," it was actually then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who intervened on Harman's behalf in mid-2005 to stop the FBI's investigation because he needed her help selling the Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program. According to Stein, Gonzales told then-CIA Director Porter Goss that Harman had helped persuade the New York Times to hold a story on the wiretapping program before the 2004 elections. In an initial statement to The Plum Line's Greg Sargent yesterday, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller said "Ms. Harman did not influence my decision. I don't recall that she even spoke to me." But in a second statement yesterday, Keller acknowledged that "Harman called Philip Taubman, then the Washington bureau chief of The Times, in October or November of 2004" and "urged that The Times not publish the article." Harman's office released a statement yesterday as well, arguing "the CQ Politics story simply recycles three year-old discredited reporting of largely unsourced material." Harman said that she "never contacted the Justice Department" about the prosecution. Harman's statement did not address whether she had "contacted anyone at the White House."

JUSTICE -- ORDER FOR BUSH TO TESTIFY IN LAWSUIT AGAINST SMU RELATED TO ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR BUSH LIBRARY: After weeks of legal battles to keep President Bush out of court, Texas district judge Martin Hoffman ruled last Friday that Bush could be deposed in a lawsuit against Southern Methodist University (SMU). The case was brought by two condominium owners near SMU who are claiming "the university bullied owners into selling without disclosing plans to build a presidential library at the site." Hoffman ruled that Bush can be deposed because he has "clearly relevant and material information about the central issues of the case," including if SMU shared building plans with him before buying the land. The plaintiffs have already received statements from Dallas businessman Ray Hunt and former White House counsel Harriet Miers. Still, Larry Friedman, the lawyer representing the condominium owners, said in response that this new development is "monumental for our case. We've been seeking transparency." Immediately following the ruling, however, Bush's lawyers said they will file a claim that the judge "abused his discretion" in ordering the former president to testify. Judge Hoffman stated in his ruling that he would not enforce the order while Bush's legal team sustained such an appeal. A sitting or former president has been called to testify in a civil court case only three times. Yet as Judge Hoffman said, "Presidents are not immune from the judicial process."

The debate over health care reform is intensifying as liberals are warning their Democratic allies to resist caving. Recently, more than 70 House Democrats "warned party leaders that they will not support a broad health reform bill that does not offer consumers a government-sponsored policy, and two unions withdrew from a high-profile health coalition because it would not endorse a public plan."

A new poll released yesterday found that 67 percent of Cuban-Americans "now support the removal of all restrictions for travel to Cuba, an 18-point increase from three years ago, when the same question was asked." Despite the community's "reputation for loyalty to Republicans, the poll found widespread approval for Mr. Obama," with 67 percent having a favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of the president.

"House leaders in both parties were publicly mum" in the wake of a CQ report yesterday alleging that Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) "engaged in a quid pro quo with a suspected Israeli agent to advance her stature in Congress." Further, "the Republican messaging machine, usually quick to churn out e-mails alerting reporters to every alleged ethical misstep by a Congressional Democrat, stayed silent on the news."

Three Bush administration lawyers who signed the OLC torture memos -- John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and Steven Bradbury -- "are the subjects of a coming report by the Justice Department’s ethics office that officials say is sharply critical of their work." The office has the "power to recommend disbarment or other professional penalties or, less likely, to refer cases for criminal prosecution."

As of 8 a.m. ET this morning, more than 3,000 of you have taken action to urge the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment hearings against Jay Bybee. Please join our campaign by clicking here.

CongressDaily reports that, "despite criticism of earmarks by House Republican leaders during completion of the FY09 appropriations process," many are still requesting them. Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and Bill Young (R-FL) are among those in the Republican leadership still asking for and receiving millions in earmarks.

Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the "speedy release" of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been convicted of spying by a court in Tehran. Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has agreed to take up Saberi's defense, and the head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, has spoken out calling for a fair trial.

On Thursday, President Obama will meet with credit card executives "to tell them to support strict measures that curb lending abuses or face the wrath of angry consumers and a determined Congress." Lawmakers are launching efforts "to crack down on credit card companies for such practices as arbitrarily raising interest rates on existing balances...and charging interest on debt that was paid on time."

A TARP watchdog report said "the Treasury should take steps to better manage its financial-rescue effort so that taxpayer dollars are safeguarded and programs are more fraud-resistant, accountable and transparent." The report also said the total bailout price tag could reach $3 trillion "when Federal Reserve loans, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. guarantees and private money are factored in."

And finally: George W. Bush has "gone from commander-in-chief to chief pooper-scooper." Speaking to an audience in China on Saturday, Bush recounted how he recently took his beloved Scottish terrier Barney on a walk -- and brought along his own baggies to clean up the mess. "I was picking up what I had been dodging for eight years," Bush said, "scoring laughs" from the crowd.