republican archives

You know that the Democratic race for president has become a roving Salvador Dali painting when Hillary Clinton starts comparing herself to Theodore Roosevelt. Take that, Barack Obama!

Hillary mentioned the Rough Rider as a role model for her proposal to slap a windfall profits tax on the oil companies. In point of fact, TR’s Justice Department initiated antitrust litigation against the Standard Oil trust, the monopolist behemoth of his time. Roosevelt did not oppose large corporations on principle, and carefully chose targets for antitrust action.

Historical quibbles aside, Senator Clinton’s proposal is of a piece with Democrats' usual line of attack against high oil prices – promises to vigorously police Big Oil and stop its supposed price gouging.

Ho hum. As the summer driving season nears, lawmakers in both parties have scraped threadbare ideas off the bottom of the banality barrel to show the voters that they’re doing something.

Neither the Democrats' sloppy populism, nor the drill-till-we-drop legislation submitted by Senate Republicans deserves to be taken seriously. ...