Frist backs off $100 gas rebate proposal - Not really

[liberal N proud]

Frist only backs off part of the proposal, you will still get your $100 bucks, but who is going to pay for it?

Frist 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 that 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.

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."

Frist defends rebate proposal

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.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/02/oil.congress.ap/index.html

[havocmom]

1. Your kids & grandkids will pay for it, plus interest

Read my sig line. Tell your neighbors to tell Congress we will all give that disgusting bribe to worthy DEM candidates so we can start fixing the mess the GOP keeps making bigger, knowing the next generations will be saddled with the clean up.

The prospect of a million of us doing that with their chump change bribe attempts might make them re-think their dumb ass plan ;)

[subterranean]

2. Wait a minute...

I thought Repubs were against redistribution of wealth and government handouts (except, of course, to multimillionaires and corporations). Are they abandoning those principles? I'm sure this proposal has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that the election is only 6 months away. When you factor in the cost of processing and sending out the checks, I imagine the actual cost would be considerably higher than $100 per person. But that's nothing to the party of "fiscal responsibility."

[liberal N proud]

3. It is hush money

It is intended to keep the people quite until the neo-cons have completely transformed the government into a totalitarian theocracy for the corporations.