Policy and Posturing

The old saying has it that the two things you don't want to watch being made are laws and sausages. Republicans in Washington are demonstrating, again, the truth of that statement.

Scared of what will happen in November, with their constituents suffering under the weight of high gasoline costs and their old pals in the oil industry report record profits, Senate Republicans have proposed a $100 rebate for millions of taxpayers to reduce the effect of those prices. They've cleverly packaged this proposal with a provision opening up drilling ANWAR, the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, insuring much Democratic opposition. The idea, of course, is to paint Democrats as being in favor of high taxes and painful prices at the pump and against increasing the supply of fuel.

This is yet-another example of the unarticulated major premise of the Republican Party: that the American people are stupid. Beyond that, however, it is an example of really dumb and short-sighted (no further than November 7) public policy. At a time when the almost everyone accepts the dire consequences that accompany the burning of fossil fuels, when the effect of purchasing foreign fuels is to subsidize people who dislike or even hate us (the Iranian mullahs, the Sudanese murders, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, etc.), and when it's clear that even most vigorous efforts to increase domestic supplies will not bridge the shortfall created by demand, national policy should concentrate single-mindedly on conservation. Sure, we should ease the short-term burden of spiked costs on those who have trouble making ends meet, but a one-time payment such as Republicans propose will have little or no effect. The Republican measure is simply an attempt to buy votes, and to do so cheaply.

Sadly, Democrats are preparing their own measure to pander to voters: Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey proposes to suspend collection of the federal gasoline and diesel taxes for 60 days. This might actually be worse than the Republican measure, unless marketers are prevented from raising prices and so diverting the uncollected pockets into their coffers.

You can bet that no one is going to mention the effect that these proposals will have on the immense budget deficit.

When will someone have the courage to stand up and tell the American people that they are going to have to undergo pain while we change our ways, but that the hard times are the price to a better life for our children and our nation? I think such honesty could inspire voters, but don't hang by your thumbs til you hear such truth-telling.