Political responses to economic problems can do more harm than good. The US government is now rushing together a political fix for an economy unraveling at surprising speed. A $140 billion package of rebates to taxpayers and short-term incentives for business investment seems likely. At issue are eligibility and size of the rebate, the nature of the incentives, and immunization of the initiative against the special-interest leeches that attach themselves to fast-moving legislation when no one is looking.Debate so far has avoided the contribution of US energy policy to economic distress. National leaders, after all, don’t like talking about their mistakes. But the silence is regretta...