$100 gas rebate "insulting": Boehner

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is seen on Capitol Hill, February 2, 2006. (Jason Reed/Reuters).

Now this is interesting. From Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate Republican proposal to offer a $100 check to taxpayers to offset high gas prices is "insulting," House Majority Leader John Boehner said on Tuesday.

"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," Boehner said at a press conference.

"I don't like the proposal. And over the weekend I heard back from my constituents. They thought it was stupid," said Boehner, an Ohio Republican.

With gasoline prices above $3 a gallon in many U.S. cities, Boehner's comments showed senior Republicans deeply split about how to approach the issue. Lawmakers are fretting that voters will vent their rage at high prices in November's elections.

Senate Republicans proposed the $100 rebate last week in a package that also included incentives to build refineries and open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling.

So now House Majority Leader John Boehner is calling this $100 gas rebate "insulting?" Something tells me that Boehner has been hearing some very negative flack over this latest Republican bribe to the American people. And at the moment, he's siding against the rebate check.

So what does Boehner say about how to solve this nation's energy crisis, and the high gas prices? What are Boehner's proposals? Surprisingly little. Continuing on:

Boehner said the House would take up two energy bills this week: one that deals with price gouging and another that would encourage new refining capacity.

After that the House would take up bills dealing with Alaska drilling, "boutique" fuels and incentives for hydrogen fuel, Boehner said.

I'd say that once the midterm elections are over, all this talk about a $100 gas rebate check will dissipate, and Boehner will go back to being a Republican whore for Big Oil interests.

But the best is yet to come. Here's what House Speaker Dennis Hastert had to say:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert told reporters after a meeting with ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson that any consumer rebates would have to be offset by drilling in Alaska.

Hastert said he wanted to "make sure" American consumers were not the victims of price gouging or market manipulation.

"There is not a decrease in the supply" of gasoline, Hastert said, adding policymakers were trying to find out why prices have moved in a way that might be "disconnected" from supply and demand.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday, May 2, 2006, following a private meeting with Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

YIPEE! Denny Hastert is still trying to link this so-called gas rebate bribe with oil drilling in Alaska! So Denny, are you parroting what Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson secretly desires from the government--considering that this gas rebate is being paid for by the U.S. government and NOT from Big Oil, and Big Oil will be getting more government subsidies for drilling in ANWAR?

Then again, why should we be surprised at what Dennis Hastert said in this press conference? Remember this lovely photo:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., center, gets out of a Hydrogen Alternative Fueled automobile, left, as he prepares to board his SUV, which uses gasoline, after holding a news conference at a local gas station in Washington, Thursday, April 27, 2006 to discuss the recent rise in gas prices. Hastert and other members of Congress drove off in the Hydrogen-Fueled cars only to switch to their official cars to drive the few blocks back to the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Have some more Kool-Aid Denny.