Bubblin' crude

MANIFESTO

If ever there was a policy that Democrats could campaign against, it must surely be the Republicans' recalcitrance regarding assessing a windfall profits tax against the oil companies.

Senators were to vote Tuesday on whether to consider a windfall profits tax against the five largest U.S. oil companies and rescind $17 billion in tax breaks the companies expect to enjoy over the next decade.

Given the fact that the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline has now passed four dollars, and the fact that the five largest U.S. oil companies earned $36 billion during the first three months of the year, it's seems like a no-brainer, in these parlous economic times, to try to get some of that money back.

But, of course, the plutocratic Republicans will have none of it. They'll filibuster, the cloture vote will fall short of sixty ayes, and the whole thing will go down the drain as so many consumer-oriented proposals have.

If the Democrats have any intelligence at all, they'll hammer away at this episode in the fall because everybody has been affected by high gasoline prices—from those who have to pay at the pump to the shoppers who have to pay more for goods because transportation costs are so high. It'll likely become an episode where Republicans once again show their utter disdain for American consumers and so is a ready-made campaign issue for those who would use it.

UPDATE — Sure enough, the Republicans blocked the measure. Let the games begin.