Republicans Love Black Gold

I'm not really a "no blood for oil" kind of guy, but this crap is ridiculous. Today, Senate Republicans blocked a new energy bill that would mandate new fuel efficiency standards for automobiles and increase production of ethanol-based fuel. The rub? Big tax increases on the oil companies, with the revenue going toward research into alternative fuels. The Republicans would rather let the oil companies enjoy their obscene profits and work toward eliminating their revenue source on their own. Oddly, this bill has already passed the House of Representatives, which is run with about the same level of efficiency as the sanitarium in 12 Monkeys. What's up with the Senate these days? More details here.