Sherrod Brown pumps gas plan

Now that the Senate Republicans' plan to pass out $100 fuel-cost rebate checks to American taxpayers has crashed and burned, Senate Democrats - and Senate wanna-be's like Ohio's Sherrod Brown - are out touting their own plan to ease the gasoline crisis: a 60-day moratorium on the collection of federal gasoline taxes, which would save consumers 18.4 cents a gallon.

Standing in the parking lot of the African-American Chamber of Commerce Monday afternoon, with a Shell gas station sign advertising $2.68.9 per gallon gas in the background, Brown argued for a temporary suspension of the 18.4 cent federal tax. Repealing some $10 billion in "unnecessary'' subsidies for oil companies granted by Congress would more than make up for the lost revenue.

But, Brown said, with former oilman George W. Bush in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress - the recipients of $73 million in campaign contributions from oil and gas companies - gasoline prices are almost certain to continue rising.

"Prices won't stabilize until the Republicans in Congress and the White House wean themselves from Big Oil contributions,'' Brown said.