Congress Short on Gas, Long on Gasbags

There’s nothing much Congress can do about gas prices, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, so in an effort to look busy it's doing what it always does—blaming the other party. Yesterday Capital Hill saw no less than 12 events on energy costs, and every last one came down to partisan jabs.

In one conference room, John Kerry is decrying the Bush administration's “toothless, feckless” regulators, while in a nearby building, Mitch McConnell is ripping Democrats for waiting for alternative energy. “Americans have cars and require gasoline today—today!” he thunders. Late in the day, one rep hits on a solution: Noting all the “hot air and wind” in Congress, he asks “if we could harvest all of this.” (More politics stories.)