A Stupid Idea Shot Down

That $100 rebate? It's been cancelled.

Republicans denounced their own gas price rebate plan Tuesday, acknowledging that sending a $100 check to American taxpayers would do little to ease the pain of high prices or address their cause.

The quick backtracking — the Senate plan was announced with great fanfare just five days ago — reflected the discord among GOP lawmakers as they confronted the political perils of $3-a-gallon gasoline.

The rhetoric was unusually sharp for an intramural fight. At his weekly meeting with reporters, House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) called the rebate idea "insulting" to taxpayers.

"The really insulting part of this whole proposal is the fact that somebody is offering $100 to every American family over this. This is not going to solve the problem," he said. "I don't like the proposal. And over the weekend I heard back from my constituents. They thought it was stupid."

They must be less stupid than the morons who proposed it...