"News that Surprises Absolutely No One" Dept.

Gee, I feel so sorry for him, don't you?

Ready the fainting couch! You may catch the vapors after reading this headline...

Frist Backs off Oil Co. Tax Increase

NO!!!! You're kidding!!! (Bolds mine)

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, under pressure from business leaders, retreated Monday from a plan that would have used a tax increase on oil companies and other businesses to fund a $100 gasoline rebate for millions of motorists.

Frist, the Tennessee Republican, had proposed an accounting change that would have required oil companies to pay more taxes on their inventory of crude as a way to pay the one-time rebate which GOP leaders rolled out last week as they scrambled to find ways to ease public anger over soaring gasoline prices.

In a statement, Frist said he will still push the rebate, but abandoned the accounting change and said the Senate Finance Committee planned a hearing on the issue in the near future.

So he's still thinking Americans are going to fall for the bribe. Fat chance, when a hundred bucks will fill gas-guzzling swinemobile SUVs and Hummers, oh, all of once.

Frist gave no indication how the rebate, estimated to cost about $10 billion, will be paid for, although he said he still planned to "find a way to bring our proposals to the Senate floor for a vote."

Apparently, these "Democrats only want to throw money at a problem" Republicans think that magical elves are going to supply the cash. How much have we spent on Bush's cowboy adventure in Iraq, again?

The rebate proposal, meanwhile, seemed to have little appeal among motorists who would benefit.

Aids to several Republican senators, including some who support the proposal, said Monday they have received generally negative feedback from the public in telephone calls and e-mails.

Well, if it looks like a bribe, and it smells like a bribe....

Another Senate staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the senator was among those who have been pushing the GOP energy package, said voters know that with gas costing more than $3 a gallon the rebate likely will pay for only a couple of tanks of gas.

"It's probably one fill-up for a Sequoia," added the aide, referring to the Toyota SUV that gets 15 miles to the gallon in city driving.

But Frist said the rebate "will help people who are emptying their wallets at the pump. ... We've got to help those who are feeling pain ... as quickly as possible." Single taxpayers earning up to $145,950 and married couples earning up to $218,950 would get the rebate in August under the Frist proposal.

People "emptying their wallets at the pump."

Those people making over a hundred grand a year.

Emptying their wallets at the pump.

So... the richest people benefit again, under the Republican "plan."

Mercy me, Ruth-Ann, I do believe I have the vapors! Fetch me the smelling salts and a mint julep.

Update: Upon re-reading that paragraph, I realized I read it wrong. People earning up to $145,950 would include people making below that. So this isn't simply a rich person's benefit. Mea Culpa.

It's still a bribe, though. A stupid bribe with no plan on how to pay for it. So there. Nyeah.

(Whoops, forgot to cross-post.)