Many of us have been trying to argue with folks like John McCain, the Flat Earth Society and National Public Radio that drilling in offshore protected areas will not affect the price of gas because there is too little oil there to make a difference. At least that is what the Energy Information Agency tells us, and no one has produced any evidence that suggests a qualitatively different story.

But, evidence obviously doesn't matter with such people. So, let's give em what they want. They get to drill anywhere, with one small qualification. Since they insist that drilling will bring down the price of gas, we take them at their word. The deal is that we put a 100 percent windfall profit tax on gas prices in excess of $3 a gallon.

If they believe what they claim, they should jump at this deal. After all, drilling everywhere should get us back to $2 a gallon gas in no time. What do you say Senator McCain?

Congress has probably done all that we can expect to prevent foreclosure with the housing bill passed last month. Because of its poor design, the Congressional Budget Office projects that it will only help 260,000 families facing foreclosure.

This bill also gave Fannie and Freddie a pass, bailing out its stockholders and its hugely overpaid and incompetent managers (competent managers don't put companies into bankruptcy) while imposing no real conditions on these companies' conduct. Congress only imposes conditions when the issue is welfare for poor people.

Among other things, Congress could have required that Fannie and Freddie follow the model that Sheila Bair of the FDIC is pursuing following its takeover of the bankrupt subprime lender IndyMac. She has stopped foreclosures on IndyMac's mortgages and is trying to arrange workouts with homeowners.

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