Oh, THAT'S brilliant.

Hey everybody, Tennessee Senator Bill Frist (R, natch) is offering you a "bold package that will give consumers some relief"! (His words, not mine.) Move over Bob Dole, there's a new man in town.

Hot on the heels of Bush's equally brilliant announcement that he would like to waive Clean Air provisions with regard to gasoline fuel additives in an effort to reduce soaring gas prices, Senate Republicans come up with this doozy-- $100 rebate checks for everyone! That'll buy a tank of gas for my new Excursion! Oh, and while we're at it, we'll start drilling in ANWR! Wait, look over here-- don't pay any attention to the men behind the remarkably American flag-like curtain who voted for over $2 BILLION in tax breaks for oil companies just last year-- which the oil executives now say they don't need.

Meanwhile, oil companies post record profits, as do manufacturers of pharmaceuticals that promise "bold packages that will give . . . relief." Whoa!