The Hill News

In an all-too-familiar rite of passage for American politics, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are scrambling to show their constituents that they’re “doing something” about gas prices that are rising almost as quickly as temperatures across the country. Unfortunately, for President Obama and some Democratic leaders in Congress, this means taking another swing at their favorite political piñata, the oil and gas industry, by suggesting it’s not paying a “fair share” of taxes amid  record first quarter profits.  

This week, Montana Senator Max Baucus will give chief executives from the country’s five largest oil and gas firms a chance to respond to his plan to roll back $21 billion worth of tax deductions and credits for companies in their industry only. This spectacle is likely to be more about attacking the oil and gas industry for political purposes than about real reforms to increase domestic production and reverse government meddling in energy ma! rkets (both conventional and alternative).

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