Ricky Wants to Give Me $100.00

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Every American taxpayer would get a $100 rebate check to offset the pain of higher pump prices for gasoline, under an amendment Senate Republicans hope to bring to a vote Thursday.

However, the GOP energy package may face tough sledding because it also includes a controversial proposal to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge...

The energy package, sponsored by Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, Ted Stevens of Alaska, Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, will be offered as an amendment to an emergency spending measure now before the Senate funding the Iraq war and hurricane relief, according to a senior GOP leadership aide.

To put it mildly, this is a big pile of horse shit. $100.00? At the current rate of $2.95 a gallon for the cheap shit, my 27-gallon tank costs almost $80.00 to fill. That'll last me between one and two weeks. Then what?

Chuck, Ted, Pete, and Rick would do better to shove their rebate idea way up their collective assholes, and start figuring out how their government, so long the cocksucking whore of the oil industry even to the detriment of the common good, is going to get us out of this mess.

Hint: it ain't bribing the driving public. It's in rebates and incentives for high-mileage cars and hybrids; investments in biodiesel, wind, and alternative energy. It's coming up with a real energy plan that does more than just fatten the pockets of Exxon-Mobil and the rest of Dick Cheney's friends

This $100.00 rebate scheme is demagoguery. And the "increased Congressional scrutiny" detailed above? That's demagoguery too. Please. If gasoline was semen, Ted Stevens would look like a Cum on My Face girl.

And yeah, i'll post a nasty picture depicting that later today. But not now, I'm at work.

[Update: This piece, linked in Americablog's comments, should give you a good idea about what bullshit posturing this all is.

"Since George Bush and Dick Cheney took over as president and vice president, gas prices have doubled!" charged Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), standing at an Exxon station on Capitol Hill where regular unleaded hit $3.10. "They are too cozy with the oil industry."

She then hopped in a waiting Chrysler LHS (18 mpg) -- even though her Senate office was only a block away.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) used a Hyundai Elantra to take the one-block journey to and from the gas-station news conference. He posed in front of the fuel prices and gave them a thumbs-down. "Get tough on big oil!" he demanded of the Bush administration....

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) engaged his deputy, Dick Durbin (Ill.), in a riveting colloquy. "Is the senator aware that the L.A. Times headline reads today, 'Bush's Proposals Viewed as a Drop in the Bucket'?"

"I'm aware of that," Durbin replied.

Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) responded with an economics lesson. "Oil is worth what people pay for it," he argued.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) sounded the alarms. "We are one accident or one terrorist attack away from oil at $100 a barrel!"

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) made a plea for conservation. "We have to move quickly to increase our fuel efficiency," she urged.

But not too quickly. After lunchtime votes, senators emerged from the Capitol for the drive across the street to their offices.

Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) hopped in a GMC Yukon (14 mpg). Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) climbed aboard a Nissan Pathfinder (15). Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) stepped into an eight-cylinder Ford Explorer (14). Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) disappeared into a Lincoln Town Car (17). Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) met up with an idling Chrysler minivan (18).

Next came Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), greeted by a Ford Explorer XLT. On the Senate floor Tuesday, Menendez had complained that Bush "remains opposed to higher fuel-efficiency standards."

Also waiting: three Suburbans, a Nissan Armada V8, two Cadillacs and a Lexus. The greenest senator was Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), who was picked up by his hybrid Toyota Prius (60 mpg), at quadruple the fuel efficiency of his Indiana counterpart Evan Bayh (D), who was met by a Dodge Durango V8 (14).

See? Nothing but bullshit and posturing. If you want to know why our country is in such bad shape it's because our representatives are nothing but poseurs. Empty suits clinging to the perks of power. Not one of them is worth the paper I use to wipe my ass.