Washington – President Bush said Friday that taxing enormous oil-industry profits is not the way to calm Americans’ anxieties about pain at the gas pump and that his “inclination and instincts” are that major oil companies are not intentionally overcharging drivers.
Bush’s remarks suggested the former Texas oilman is unlikely to take harsh action against oil companies despite public anger about the rising cost of fuel.
Gasoline is averaging $2.92 a gallon across the country, up 69 cents from a year ago, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge report.
With politicians concerned that the issue could tilt what are expected to be close midterm elections this fall, the president and many in Congress have been rushing to offer solutions, most of which would offer little immediate relief.
Some Democrats have viewed last week’s announcement by major oil companies of huge first-quarter profits as a chance to renew their push for a windfall-profits tax.
But though a few Republicans, including Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, have said the idea ought to be examined, Bush and most GOP lawmakers strongly oppose it.
“The temptation in Washington is to tax everything,” the president said in a wide- ranging news conference.
Instead, Bush called on Congress to ease regulations that make it difficult to expand the nation’s refining capacity.
He also urged oil companies to plow their profits into finding and producing more energy, such as by building natural- gas pipelines or pursuing renewable energy sources.
