IT HAS BEEN A tough month for the White House, with a botched Supreme Court nomination and a staff indictment among the black marks pushing the president’s approval rating to an all-time low.
The Bush administration’s follies have helped to animate the efforts of political rivals. Consider the misguided and un-American legislation proposed in recent weeks by Senator Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.).
Schumer has called for a 50% tax on the profits of oil companies, the money being used to help pay for Hurricane Katrina relief as part of a proposal he has dubbed the REPAIR Act, or Recapture Excess Profits and Invest in Relief. According to Schumer, the largest oil conglomerates might reap $80 billion in windfall profits. “If we took half of that, $40 billion, that could go to Katrina relief, and that would be money taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay,” he said at a recent press conference. (more…)