From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Partisan politics and the administration of justice.

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues issues Americans care about most.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is headed back to Capitol Hill

to answer some controversial questions.

Have federal prosecutors been hired for their legal experience or their Republican leanings?

Were legal cases either filed or ignored because of their likely influence on close elections that determined the balance of congressional power?

On to the point, we'll hear from Justice Department veterans on both sides of issues that go to the heart of constitutional democracy.

On reporter's notebook later on, claims of a major archaeological discovery, King Harrod's tomb.

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again. Mormon Alany, back with To the Point. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez faces more questions about partisan politics in the administration of justice.

On To the Point, were federal prosecutors hired for the Republican leanings? Did they use their power to influence some of last year's closest elections? On reporter's

notebook, a sarcophagus broken into hundreds of pieces, is it the long-sought evidence of King

Harrod's tomb? First, this news update, the latest Lundberg survey shows that gasoline has gone

up to $3.7 nationwide, and that's a record. In California, $4 for premium could be a reality in the

near future. Democrats in Congress are preparing price-gouging legislation for later today.

Philip Verlager is an economist and consultant. He publishes the monthly newsletter, Petroleum Economic Monthly.

It's good to talk with you. It's good to talk to you, sir.

Seems to me we talk about this every year at this time. The pattern is always the same, just as the

...