Gas relief

Wow, $100? That should change my life as much as that $300 check I got during Bush's Surplus Giveaway of 2001.

Well, one third as much.

Senate Republicans advocate sending $100 rebate checks to millions of taxpayers, and a Democrat is leading the campaign for a 60-day gasoline tax holiday.

Either way, it seems no one in Congress wants to be without a plan, however symbolic, to attack the election-year spike in gasoline prices.

A vote is possible as early as this week on the Senate GOP approach, which calls for $100 rebate checks for taxpayers to cushion the impact of higher gasoline prices. The measure seems unlikely to prevail, at least initially, since it includes a highly controversial proposal to open a portion of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Senate Republicans also favor extending a tax break that manufacturers receive for each hybrid vehicle they make, and want President Bush to suspend deliveries to the nation's strategic petroleum reserve for six months.

You gotta love Senate Republicans. Even when they're trying to help the little guy, they're really just pushing their own foul agenda -- attaching a piddling $100 rebate, which will fill most gas tanks twice, to tax breaks for big business and raping the environment. All without affecting oil company profits.

But don't judge Republicans too harshly. They have so little experience helping the little guy.

And if there weren't an election so soon, and rich people didn't drive, you better believe that even these insignificant steps wouldn't be taken. Think about what the Senate did in response to skyrocketing gas prices after Katrina (HINT: It starts with "N" and ends with "othing").