Senate Democrats want the government to determine how much profit is too much for the oil companies, and to take the "extra" through a windfall profits tax.

Why stop there? Why not just set profit amounts for every industry?

It's even easy, since the manual for doing so was written back in the early 20th century in a place called the Soviet Union.

A more updated model is available in today's Venezuela, where Hugo Chavez has simply confiscated oil fields and "nationalized" them. Kind of like Castro "nationalized" everything in 1959.

How's that working out?

Of course, the question must be asked: What will Congress do with "excess" oil profits? Put it down the same rat hole as they do with our money?

And since when can members of Congress tell anyone anything about money management? There may be no worse money managers in the world.

Think that's an exaggeration? Consider: In about a decade, Washington has turned the United States from the world's largest creditor nation to the world's largest debtor nation.

That's like coaching the 16-0 New England Patriots of last year to an 0-16 season this year. That kind of turnaround takes more than blissful negligence; it takes active malfeasance and chronic incompetence.

And these people want to run our energy companies. And our health-care system. And our education system. And our retirement system.

Every so often, a sensible member of Congress proposes that lawmakers should have to cite the constitutional authority for each law they pass -- to list the specific phrase of the Constitution that allows them to do what they're doing. You know what? They always reject the idea.

The reason is clear: A growing number of members of Congress want to act outside of the Constitution. They want to do whatever they darn well please. They don't need no stinking Constitution. They will "fix" what's right in society, whether we like it or not.

Well, for one thing, they're not authorized to do that. The Founding Fathers specifically limited the role of the federal government. Sadly, Washington has been violating the spirit and letter of the Constitution for decades.

For another thing, Washington has us $9 trillion in debt -- and owing another $70 trillion or more -- that's trillion -- in future unfunded costs for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Your brave lawmakers, some of whom now want to play chairman of the board at Energy Inc., have done absolutely nothing to plan for those costs. And every day, they are spending more than we can send them and digging a deeper ditch for us and our progeny.

Here's a better idea: How about Congress be required to get its own house in order before it runs around violating the Constitution by trying to run the economy for us?