According to BNA ($), Former Minerals Management Service auditor Bobby L. Maxwell testified in Congress yesterday that the Interior Department tried to prevent him from collecting unpaid royalties from oil company Kerr-McGee Corp. He was told that pursuing the case would make MMS director Johnnie Burton "unhappy," and was subsequently fire from his job after filing a lawsuit under the False Claims Act.

As Adam notes below, the Blue Dog Coalition has endorsed the House Budget Committee's FY 2008 budget resolution. In fact, the Coalition considered but decided against offering an alternative to it. The alternative's author, Budget Committee member Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), could not convince the House Rules Committee to allow him to offer the alternative as an amendment, because the Blue Dogs had agreed to endorse the Budget Committee plan.

This afternoon, House Democrats announced they would permit consideration of three substitute budget proposals during debate of the FY 2008 budget resolution. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said today he expected substitute budgets from the Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the House Republicans. While this is far more options than Representatives have had in the past under Republican rule, Some feel a notable omission from that list is the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. While the Blue Dogs are unlikely to support the Black Caucus budget or the Progressive budget because the spending levels are a bit too hot for their taste, they will not support the Republican budget either, because the tax policies and low spending levels make cold. By opting not to offer their own version, it seems members of the Blue Dogs Coalition felt the main democratic proposal combined the right blend of fiscal responsibility and funding for pressing needs. While reestablishing a commitment to paying for changes to mandatory spending and taxes in the budget, the Democratic Leadership plan still boosts discretionary spending levels for under funded and neglected national priorities and investments, such as Head Start, child care, and housing. The Democrats' budget would allow about $25 billion more in discretionary spending in 2008 than President Bush has requested, and about $7 billion more than the Senate-adopted plan. In addition, like the Senate plan, the House budget would add additional funds (and deficit-neutral offsets) for mandatory nutrition and health care programs. While this is only a first step in repairing some of the damage done to important priorities in the federal budget over the past six years and before, it seems the Democrats have used a recipe that is neither too hot nor too cold, but just about right.

Jesse Jackson has a good editorial on the African American children being left behind by federal policy. One passage I thought needed playing up: We need longer school years and far better teachers, and teacher education. We need less discrimination in spending, in discipline, in advanced placement. Some of this costs money. But, Williams says, we're not spending the money we currently have well. For example, our broken health-care system is killing school budgets. Health-care costs are going up 10 to 15 percent a year, far outstripping normal increases in public funding.