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We already noticed that Exxon/Mobil officials were downplaying the severity of that oil spill in the Yellowstone River. Now it turns out -- to absolutely no one's surprise -- that they were lying through their teeth:

Federal documents show it took Exxon Mobil nearly twice as long as it publicly disclosed to fully seal a pipeline that spilled roughly 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River.

Details about the company's response to the Montana pipeline burst emerged late Tuesday as the Department of Transportation ordered the company bury the duct deeper beneath the riverbed, where it is buried 5 to 8 feet underground to deliver 40,000 barrels of oil a day to a refinery in Billings.

The federal agency's records indicate the pipeline was not fully shut down for 56 minutes after the break occurred Friday near Laurel. That's longer than the 30 minutes that company officials claimed Tuesday in a briefing with federal officials and Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

An Exxon Mobil spokesman said the longer time span was based on information provided to the agency by the company and the discrepancy might have come about because Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing was speaking without any notes in front of him when he addressed Schweitzer.

There's also been a startling lack of information for the people who are directly affected by the spill.

Gee, who could have foreseen this? Drill, baby, drill!

Congressional Democrats have just introduced a new package of legislation – the DISCLOSE Act – to blunt the Supreme Court’s disastrous January ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which opened American elections at all levels to unlimited corporate spending. The 5-4 ruling gave companies like Goldman Sachs and Exxon Mobil the same right as individual Americans to spend money in elections, but unlike you or me these companies have billions in the bank and billions more at stake in Congress and state legislatures.

Now Democrats are racing to pass legislation before a wave of corporate cash sweeps through the mid-term elections. They have overwhelming public opinion on their side, but the US Chamber of Commerce and other corporate lobbyists are working hard to head them off and time is short.

The newly unveiled DISCLOSE Act is all about forcing election spending out into the open, where it belongs. Thanks to the Roberts Court, giant companies can spend unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates – without disclosing a dime of it. They can simply pass the money through a front group or PR agency. The legislation would close this glaring loophole, as Sen. Chuck Schumer explained on Thursday:

Our bill will follow the money. In cases where corporations try to mask their activities through shadow groups, we drill down so that ultimate funder of the expenditure is disclosed.

Corporations would be required to disclose political spending to their shareholders, and a broad array of corporations and advocacy groups would be required to disclose previously confidential details about their political spending, including funding sources. Foreign corporations, government contractors, and recipients of government bail-outs would be altogether banned from spending money in elections.

The DISCLOSE Act is a huge first step in restoring genuine democracy in the wake of the Roberts Court's irresponsible activism, but it's just a first step. Only a constitutional amendment or new ruling by a more progressive Supreme Court can truly 'fix' Citizens United.

In the meantime, maybe we should require politicians to wear the logos of their "sponsors." Hey, if it works for NASCAR, why not Congress:

...please take a sweet draw on the tailpipe of my minivan...

Love and linkage to Media Bloodhound, who sent me this Youtube, and comments: "Nothing bought the crazy more than these [2006] commercials. These Competitive Enterprise Institute*** ads seem worth revisiting in light of Gore's Nobel yesterday: 'Carbon dioxide. They call it pollution. We call it life.'"

If Al Gore and those so-called "scientists" had just adopted this "run the camera backwards" solution to global warming, they woulda won their Nobel and saved a few more glaciers years ago.

***Who the hell are these people, and why is Exxon Mobil funding them? Just guessing, actually. Google google....oops sorry

it's Ford Motor Company. Let the record stand corrected.

Open thread below. Don't do too much CO2 before you post. "Life" is precious!

Nice. Real nice... love it: gas is $2:40+ here in La La Land and we get this sort of stuff:

OIL INDUSTRY COFFERS SWELLING WITH CASH: According to the Wall Street Journal, "Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch/Shell Group both reported huge increases in first-quarter income, benefiting from the industrywide bonanza also swelling the coffers of their peers: high prices for the oil they pump and high margins for refining it." [Wall Street Journal, 4/29/05]

Time to face facts folks: this is a scam and nobody is remotely doing anything about it.
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Nice. Real nice... love it:gas is $2:40+ here in La La Land and we get this sort of stuff:

OIL INDUSTRY COFFERS SWELLING WITH CASH: According to the Wall Street Journal, "Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch/Shell Group both reported huge increases in first-quarter income, benefiting from the industrywide bonanza also swelling the coffers of their peers: high prices for the oil they pump and high margins for refining it." [Wall Street Journal, 4/29/05]

Time to face facts folks: this is a scam and nobody is remotely doing anything about it.