Bush Administration Putting Politics Before Americans' Health?
DOBBS: A showdown looms between Congress and the White House over the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Citing executive privilege, former White House counsel Harriet Miers will defy a congressional subpoena by not showing up tomorrow before a House panel investigating those firings. But Sara Taylor, the president's former political director, today told the Senate Judiciary Committee looking into the matter that the president was not involved in those firings. Taylor answered some of the panel's questions, even though she was ordered by the Bush administration not to reveal internal White House deliberations on the issue. The Bush administration tonight faces new charges it's trying to censor its own officials, this after scathing testimony from a former surgeon general, Richard Carmona. He said the White House is putting its political agenda ahead of the public good. Christine Romans reports.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three former U.S. surgeons general say partisan politics interfered with the public interest. Dr. Richard Carmona served the Bush administration from 2002 to 2006, and alleges his public speeches were censored.</s>VICE ADMIRAL RICHARD CARMONA (RET.), FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: The vetting was done by political appointees who were specifically there to be able to spin, if you will, my words in such a way that would be preferable to a political and ideologically preconceived notion that had nothing to do with science.</s>ROMANS: He says he was censored, among other things, on stem cell research, abstinence-only sex education, and Plan B, the emergency contraceptive. The White House denied it.</s>TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Nobody, as far as I could tell, was -- quote -- "muzzling him." But, on the other hand, there's certainly nothing scandalous about saying to somebody who is a presidential appointee, you should advocate the president's policies.</s>ROMANS: But critics see the president's policies at odds with science and cronyism counter to the public good. NASA's top climate scientist says the White House tried to censor his global warming research. In 2005, the president's environmental quality chief, a former oil industry lobbyist, came under fire for downplaying global warming in official reports. More recently, the president's appointment to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an industry lobbyist, withdrew his name after an uproar over a $175,000 severance from the industry he was to supervise. A pattern?</s>BRIAN DARLING, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: And I don't think this administration's any more political than the Bill Clinton administration or the Reagan administration or any other before that.</s>ROMANS: He says it's Washington that is more politicized than ever, not the White House.</s>SNOWE: But the three former surgeons general and NASA's James Hansen disagree. Hansen says, in 30 years of government service, he has never seen anything like it. Hansen said he is -- quote -- "glad to see others making clear that science is being ignored, or worse, suppressed," Lou, "for political reasons and ideology."</s>DOBBS: Christine, thank you very much -- Christine Romans. Time now to look at some of your thoughts. Cecille in New Jersey said: "Lou, don't you find it interesting that Michael Chertoff wants to instill in the American people the fear factor just as the Democrats and a number of Republicans are calling for the removal of our battle-worn troops from Iraq?" Elizabeth in New York: "Lou, first, Chertoff says, because the immigration amnesty bill didn't pass, he can't secure our borders. Now he has a gut feeling that we might be attacked. A gut feeling? With all the wiretapping and eavesdropping, this is what they come up with, Lou?" Bart in Michigan: "A hearty amen, brother. I share you sentiment in hoping that American electorate has finally awakened to the fact that their elected representatives are no more than shills for corporate America and the lobbyists." For more thoughts on what I believe to be a lame-duck president and a number of other lame ducks in Washington these days, and why I'm an independent populist, please read my column on CNN's Web site. You can go to CNN.com or LouDobbs.com. We will have more of your thoughts here later in the broadcast. And tonight's poll question is: Do you plan or are you considering changing your party affiliation from Democrat or Republican to independent before the 2008 election? We would like to get a sense of that. So, please vote at LouDobbs.com. We will bring you the results here later in the broadcast. This week, motorists paying an average of $3 for a gallon of gas again. Refinery slowdowns may push gasoline costs even higher. To help lower those prices, Congress has overwhelmingly passed the so- called NOPEC law. It gives the Justice Department the right for the first time to take legal action against OPEC. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has kept oil prices up by controlling more than 40 percent of the world's oil supply. Using NOPEC authority to smash the OPEC cartel would benefit motorists. But, as Bill Tucker now reports, the oil lobby and the Bush administration say they will fight it all the way.</s>BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three-dollar-per gallon gasoline must have caught the attention of Congress. The House has passed a bill known as the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007, or NOPEC, by a vote of 345-7, giving the president the right to file suit against</s>OPEC. REP. STEVE CHABOT (R), OHIO: It will give us one more weapon against in the arsenal against the OPEC countries who are artificially manipulating the prices of gas.</s>TUCKER: The bill would make it -- quote -- "illegal for any foreign state or agent of any foreign state to act collectively or in combination with any foreign state to limit production, set the price or otherwise take any action in restraint of trade for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product." The bill is not popular with the oil industry or its advocates.</s>JERRY TAYLOR, CATO INSTITUTE: I think it's a ridiculous proposition for the United States Congress to believe that it has the power to regulate economic activity abroad and on companies that are not doing business in the United States.</s>TUCKER: NOPEC is now included in the Senate version of the energy bill, which passed by a vote of 70-23. That means that NOPEC has a veto-proof majority in the House and the Senate. But the White House Office of Management and Budget believes the bill should be vetoed, saying that it could lead to oil supply disruptions and an escalation of prices, an argument roundly rejected by the bill's author.</s>SEN. HERBERT KOHL (D), WISCONSIN: Most of all, this would say to those -- to the 12 OPEC countries, somebody is watching what you do. And that somebody in this case would be the president of the United States.</s>TUCKER: Supporters acknowledge that NOPEC alone will not bring down energy prices, but call it another weapon to be used with a comprehensive energy policy.</s>TUCKER: And, as to the question of price manipulation, NOPEC supporters note that OPEC meets routinely throughout the year expressly for the purpose of setting production quotas and price targets, Lou.</s>DOBBS: Well, it's a wonderful, I think, easy bill to get energized about. But the fact is, I can't imagine the enforceability quotient being very high for this legislation.</s>TUCKER: Well, It's very interesting. One...</s>DOBBS: Short of dispatching the United States Navy.</s>TUCKER: Exactly. One, it doesn't require that the president sue. And, as all the supporters agree, this president is not likely to sue OPEC. And, second, they do say they could attach assets here in the States. They insist that it's enforceable. And I kept asking about that all day long.</s>DOBBS: Well, the point being that disruptions that the administration and oil lobby suggests will occur -- they say it outright -- those kinds of disruptions in either supply or price are precisely why we need an energy bill. I'm not sure we need what is called -- you know, comprehensive has become such a popular word in Washington, hasn't it?</s>TUCKER: Isn't it, though?</s>DOBBS: They have got to have a comprehensive -- I will settle for an effective, rational piece of legislation that deals with energy independence. Bill Tucker, thank you very much. Coming up next: Communist China is upset that the FBI is trying -- trying its hardest to search out Chinese spies working in the United States. We will have a report on who the FBI is talking to and who they are asking for help, and why that has upset China. Congress blasts the State Department for those just unbelievable passport delays. Will the government fix the problem? How will they fix the problem? Do they understand the problem? Stay with us. We will find out.