Believe it or not, the Democrats seem to be putting together an energy plan. Yesterday, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), a longtime influential member of the Democrats’ Appropriations team and Natural Resources Committee, as well as one of the Democrats’ leading environmental strategists, said that the federal government should just take over our oil refineries.

Fox News reports that U.S. Rep Maurice Hinchey, speaking off-camera to a gaggle of reporters yesterday, said:

“Should the people of the United States own refineries?  Maybe so.  Frankly, I think that’s a good idea.  Then we could control the amount of refined product much more capably that gets out on the market…” “So if there’s any seriousness about what some of our Republican colleagues are saying here in the House and elsewhere about improving the number of refineries, then maybe they’d be willing to have these refineries owned publicly, owned by the people of the United States, so that the people of the United States can determine how much of the product is refined and put out on the market.”

How does that sound to you?