I readily agree that this looks terrible, that being said, the article assumes that Fowler has no interest in health policy other than her own financial interest. Is it not possible that Ms. Fowler has continued to work in health policy because she actually cares about it? So her motives are forever suspect because once upon a time she went to work for a healthcare company? I understand the skepticism, but it is not at all uncommon to see Hill staffers leave the Hill and ultimately return because those great paying jobs for big corporations ultimately aren't that fulfilling. Liz Fowler doesn't cast a vote on anything. Max Baucus does. It's all well and good to preach from the sidelines, and to be fair, the point in this article is valid, but I find it a bit hard to take that we're now tearing down the people behind the people who actually bear responsibility for these decisions.

Schaller- Your numbers are so rigged and meticulously selected (WV in the NE, MO as a Northern state, 5/11 Southern Governors are D's, but somehow 24/39 for the rest of the country shows how out of touch the South is, WOW) it's just not even worth the time. Things are changing in the South. This election shows that, but the more people like you and jprfrog and the rest who continue to insist that it's a backwater unworthy of a cursory glance, I guarantee you, that's a self-fulfilling "prophecy".

As a Southerner from a proud Democratic family, one that has evolved as the party evolved, articles like this kill me. How on Earth do you think I'm going to convince someone who has all the Democratic leanings in the world to start volunteering and voting that way when they come on one national site after another and see folks like you trashing them and the communities they come from?

@jprfrog: Timothy McVeigh was born raised up north. Shocking as it may seem, the South does not have the market cornered on ignorant extremists.

Oh, I don't know, how about the one where the government was involved in the murder of Tupac Shakur? McKinney introduced a bill, HR 4210 in the 109th Congress, to open up any files the government had on the murder of Tupac Shakur. Wrap your head around that. She took the time to have someone on her staff draft this legislation and then introduced it. What a proud day that must have been for her constituents. Mind you, this was when plenty of other significant things were going on, and this is something she chose to devote her time and energy to. With all due respect and admiration for her views on the war in Iraq, executive abuse of power, etc., the woman is a little off. Or perhaps you find the video of her singing along to a Christina Aguilera song on the night of her defeat charming. I'm continually amazed that an entire segment of the population which believes itself to be the best informed, is often one of the least informed. You never supported the war, always knew it was fraud, saw straight through Bush. Great, wonderful, hats off to you. Now, can we get on to the business of starting fix some of this mess? Obama may not be perfect, but for Christ's sake, the Cynthia McKinney's of the world are not the answer.

I hear rumors that he's still at Justice, just not Gonzales Chief of Staff. That would be an interesting twist, were it true.

To begin with, google "Tim Griffin" and see what you find. Here's a hint: it involves voting amongst minorities in a place commonly referred to as the Sunshine State. Second, this provision the Bush administration added to the Patriot Act does not end the term of the interim appointee at the end of the president's term. The appointee serves until replaced. Therefore, if the Senate were to swing back Republican but with a Democratic president, it's not too far fetched to see the Republican Senate blocking a new appointee indefinitely. This was another of this Administration's vast overreaches of power. That a decent, albeit Republican, man like Bud Cummins got run over in the process is of no concern to them. One would think that treating loyal members of your party this way would have reprecussions. We can only hope it will.

The sweet royalty deals Mr. Leonard refers to happened in the Clinton Interior Department, not the Bush one. As has been reported extensively over the last few months, it would appear to be an honest mistake, but one of stunning incompetence. The Bush Interior Department was made aware of the mistake and did nothing, certainly giving them more than their fair share of culpability, but they did not initiate it. I am no friend of Bush, quite the opposite, but this story deserves to be told the right way because it is one that reveals how important it is to have competent, attentive people in positions within our government.

That said, no matter how it happened, this is a good day for renewable energy policy in the US, and that's worth celebrating.