On Capitol Hill, Republicans have dropped a proposal to provide consumers with $100 dollar rebates to offset rising gas costs. The idea was floated last week amidst a growing public outcry over record fuel prices. The abandonment of the rebate plan comes just one day after Republicans said they would also drop a tax proposal opposed by the oil industry and other business leaders. Republican House Speaker Denis Hastert said Republicans would focus their efforts on opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Hastert made the announcement after meeting with ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Speaking in Washington, New York Senator Chuck Schumer criticized the Republicans’ ties to the oil industry: “The last person in the world you want to make oil policy in America is George Bush. Because George Bush believes in his bones that what is good for Exxon Mobil is good for America that’s how he was raised, that’s how he was brought up, he can’t do anything against. And that’s why the policies that he and his Republican leadership have come up with are sort of a joke.”