OIL AND DOLLAR POLITICS ON MAY 3, 2006-- WITH LESS THAN 1,000 MORE DAYS OF THE BUSH REGIME

All polls show the corrupt, thieving, looting Republicans are going to be booted out of power in November, finally giving congressional Democrats the kind of subpoena powers that could put dozens of congressmen and literally hundreds of Republican criminals behind bars.

Republican and their greed-obsessed allies are wasting no time in stealing everything that isn't nailed down before their time is up. The days of greasy, slimy, massive criminality on the part of big business going unchecked-- as when rubber-stamp Republicans protected Big Oil CEOs from perjury by allowing them to testify before Congress without taking an oath-- are nearly over. So now it's all about grab whatever you can on the way out the door-- and in this case that means billions of dollars in taxpayer money.

Remember when there was a whisper of windfall profits taxes on the oil industry... like a week ago? Well, instead, Bush and his co-conspirators in Congress have decided to heap even more tax exemptions on Big Oil and other major companies drowning in profits (and willing to kick back millions to GOP candidates for office). Today's WASHINGTON POST covers the obscene scandal most Americans will never hear about in an article called "Bush, Hill Republicans Agree To Extend Expiring Tax Cuts."

"Bush and congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on a $70 billion package of tax-cut extensions that they hope will help halt the deterioration of their political fortunes... The compromise is sure to spark a new round of recriminations from Democrats, who say the Republican Party continues to favor wealthy investors over lower- and middle-income workers, without regard to a budget deficit that is expected to reach $370 billion this year.

"For the Republicans, the tax cuts may have to substitute for other measures proposed last week to help consumers cope with gasoline prices. Proposals including a federal gas tax holiday and a $100 rebate have run into a buzz saw of opposition from businesses and oil interests as well as consumers. House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) dismissed the Senate Republicans' [the hapless and doomed James Talent of Missouri] proposed $100 rebate as "insulting," adding that his own constituents considered it 'stupid.' With little progress on the energy front, Bush summoned Republican leaders and tax writers to the Oval Office yesterday to force an agreement on a tax bill that has languished since late last year."

At the same time Bush and his congressional rubber-stampers are giving billions of dollars in tax breaks to Big Business and to investors, Bush's chief economics advisor, greed-and-selfishness guru Edward Lazear, chairman of the horrendous Council of Economic Advisors (a kind of reverse Robin Hood committee), is claiming that tax cuts for soaring energy prices is a no-no. "One of the things we worry about when we cut the tax on gasoline is that it basically stimulates additional use," said Lazear. "Over a longer period of time, it would be a significant problem ... because what it would do is it would encourage us to use more oil, not less and that is the way we got to the situation right now. That probably is one of the policies that we would like to avoid." Some Democrats are proposing the idea of a "tax holiday" by suspending the 18.4 cent a gallon federal gasoline tax for 60 days, something that will primarily help the working and middle class, rather than the big Republican campaign contributors to whom all Bush policies are geared.