Americans get it. With their appreciation for freedom, opportunity, and fairness, they instinctively know that legislative proposals to raise taxes on some companies but not others are bad for business and bad for consumers. And yet, some of the people who've been elected to public office insist on trotting out new tax proposals that strain the American sense of fair play.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), for example, wants to prohibit the five largest oil companies from using a standard tax deduction. The Senate Finance Committee, which Sen. Baucus chairs, says the deduction's goal--to encourage the production of more domestic energy--hasn't been met.

Never mind that companies aren't allowed to drill in many of America's most energy-rich areas. Never mind that oil companies already have an effe... more »

Voters in ten states oppose higher taxes on America's oil and natural gas industry by a 2-to-1 margin, according to a new poll released today.

The poll, conducted by Harris Interactive for API in ten states, found that 64 percent of registered voters oppose an increase, including 46 percent of voters who strongly oppose.

Only 27 percent support increasing taxes. The poll was conducted via telephone between July 15 and July 18 among 6,000 registered voters.

"Voters know raising taxes on an industry that provides most of their energy and supports more than 9.2 million jobs would hurt them and damage the economy," said API President and CEO Jack Gerard. "Raising taxes doesn't address their major concern, which is putting people back to work."

Both the administration and some members of Congre... more »