It's all perfectly legal — closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill, that is. Politico broke the story of a January 18, 2011, meeting between House and Senate GOP aides and energy industry lobbyists to map out strategy for handcuffing President Obama and EPA on climate regulations.

Such closed-door meetings, where the real policies are often shaped, are not exactly new or news in the halls of Congress, where openness is more often talked about than practiced. The news is that somebody considered it news and published the story.

• "GOP Staff, Energy Lobby in Closed-Door Talks," [2] Politico, January 20, 2011, by Darren Goode and Robin Bravender.