Take from the rich...

Last spring, John McCain floated a proposal to suspend Federal gasoline taxes for the summer driving season. This was a bad idea, widely criticized. It would have taken millions out of the Federal highway fund those taxes go into, leading to shortages of money to keep roads and bridges in repair. It would have led to increased gasoline demand, keeping prices elevated. Finally, it would have saved the average family only about $3 a week.

Barack Obama opposed the gas tax holiday proposal, for all of these reasons. He got a lot of favorable press at the time for being wiling to take an unpopular stand and tell people the truth.

Now Obama has come out with some ideas of his own. He has proposed selling oil out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He also wants to place a windfall profits tax on large oil companies, and then provide a $1000 rebate to every American family out of that tax.

His campaign released a statement that actually said “Barack Obama will require oil companies to take a reasonable share of their record-breaking windfall profits and use it to provide direct relief worth $500 for an individual and $1,000 for a married couple.”

He might as well have said: “Vote for me, folks, and I’ll give you $500 in exchange for providing me the privilege of riding on Air Force One.”

His response to two different proposals reveals a mindset that taxes are good, and should not be lowered. Profits are bad, and should be taxed.

George W. Bush is often metaphorically referred to as a cowboy. This has both good and bad connotations. The cowboy is an icon for strength and self-reliance, admirable qualities. In the pejorative sense, calling someone a cowboy implies a lack of control and finesse. The European press has this in mind when they disparage President Bush as a cowboy.

Based on this part of his energy policy, a different mythic figure springs to mind with regard to Barack Obama. While the cowboy is an iconic American image, Obama is associated with a European figure. This is only fitting, given his wild popularity on the other side of the Atlantic.

He’s Robin Hood.