No Benjamin for you

Oh, man! And I had it all figured out what I was going to do with my $100. I was going to buy two tanks of gasoline. It was such a great idea, because two tanks is all I need to get through the entire summer.

Oh well, so much for that.

A Republican proposal to provide taxpayers with $100 rebates to compensate for higher fuel prices appeared all but dead on Tuesday, with leading Congressional Republicans saying that it had quickly fallen flat.

"I just think that trying to satisfy voters with a $100 voucher is insulting," said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House majority leader. "Over the weekend, I heard about it from my constituents a few times. They thought it was stupid."

Other Republicans in the House and Senate did not mince words either.

"It was a silly idea," said Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, a member of the Republican leadership, who predicted that the rebate would not be in the final energy package when it reached the floor.

But some Republicans have no appetite for admitting or walking away from a stupid idea.

Nevertheless, (Sen. Bill "Catkiller") Frist stuck by the rebate, calling it "a good idea" that makes up for having to pay nine months of federal gasoline taxes for the typical motorist.

And

"Every voter I've talked to has been excited of the fact that they get $100 tax relief," said Senator Rick Santorum, the Pennsylvania Republican who is in a tough re-election fight. "It does give a temporary help to consumers who are faced with higher prices."

Hmmm. Sen. Boehner of Ohio said his constituents thought it was stupid, and Ohio is right next to Pennsylvania. Makes you wonder how many voters these representatives actually talked to. And Santorum's ridiculous comment that voters are excited about such a half-assed attempt to address what for many is a serious financial hardship, a measure that has no impact whatsoever on the underlying problem or on record oil company profits, makes you wonder what color the sky is in his little world.