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In light of a recent GAO report revealing that the Iraqi government may have a $79 billion budget surplus by the end of the year, “Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said today that he wants $10 billion of U.S. funds that have been so far unpsent on Iraqi reconstruction rescinded,” the Politico reports. Dorgan has proposed using the funds to invest in renewable energy production:

Dorgan said he plans to introduce the Iraq Self-Sufficiency and American Energy Independence Act when Congress returns. The bill would transfer the unspent reconstruction funds to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Department of Energy.

“Today, Americans are paying sky high prices for oil and gas, and at the same time the Bush Administration is continuing to spend billions of dollars a year for Iraq reconstruction even though that country has huge budget surpluses. That is a bankrupt strategy,” said Dorgan.

Earlier this month, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was indicted on charges that he concealed over $250,000 in gifts and home renovations he received from oil company Veco. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have resisted calling on him to step down. Bloomberg reports, however, that former Alaska governor Walter Hickel is advising Stevens to step down. “He has served Alaska for 40 years, but his time is over,” said Hickel, who started Stevens’s Senate career by appointing him to a vacancy in 1968. (HT: The Crypt)

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev today said he agreed to a cease-fire in Georgia, discrediting many neoconservatives who were predicting war with Russia. On his radio show this afternoon, however, Bill O’Reilly still claimed that “World War III” is “on the horizon”:

But the message is sent: I, Vladimir Putin, and Russia can do whatever we want to do, and you can’t stop us because we have the oil. Now, its the same thing with Iran. Who props up Iran? Russia. Why? Because Russia wants the United States weakened. And Russia knows that Iran wants to dominate the oil in the Gulf. So Russia sells Iran weapons, blocks any sanctions against them, and he’s playing the double game. Putin is a real villain. Now, this is World War III on the horizon, ladies and gentlemen.

Listen here:

“It’s not actually true that the ‘lessons of Munich‘ are applicable to every single event in the world,” notes Matt Yglesias.

Today, the D.C. Court of Appeals dismissed Valerie Plame’s lawsuit against members of the Bush administration for leaking her covert CIA status in 2003. Plame had hoped that the appeals court would overturn the ruling of U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, who had initially rejected her case. Today, the appeals court agreed with Bates, ruling that Vice President Cheney and others were acting within their official capacities:

Government employees who engage in questionable acts, such as abusing prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay facility or engaging in defamatory speech, cannot be held individually liable if they are carrying out official duties, the court said.

“The conduct, then, was in the defendants’ scope of employment regardless of whether it was unlawful or contrary to the national security of the United States,” Appeals Court Chief Judge David Sentelle wrote in the opinion.

Plame’s lawyer, Melanie Sloan, is not sure what the next steps for the case will be, but is investigating another appeal. If an appeal doesn’t happen, however, the White House will be forced to start publicly commenting on its role in the Plame leak. For years, officials have been stonewalling, citing the various ongoing investigations:

– “I know that there’s going to be a lot of disappointment with this, but there is an ongoing criminal proceeding. … And so our principled stand of not commenting on ongoing legal investigations is going to continue.” [White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, 3/6/07]

– “I did talk to our counsel’s office because I forgot that there is a civil case that is pending on this issue. I did forget. The Wilsons have filed a case in civil court, it was dismissed, and they are on appeal.” [Perino, 12/12/07]

What will be the White House’s excuse once there are no more cases pending?

TPM notes that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) told OneNewsNow that the U.S. doesn’t need environmental advocates such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) because Jesus saved Earth already:

[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she’s just trying to save the planet. … We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet — we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that.

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