President Barack Obama’s proposed budget is going to create a recurring nightmare: pain at the pump. The low gasoline prices we’re all enjoying will be history if the president’s budget passes.

Obama’s budget proposal singles out the oil industry for tax hikes. This type of tax policy will discourage oil investors. To generate the money needed for exploration, research and production, oil companies will have to pass the tax levies on to consumers in the form of higher prices. And so the nightmare recurs.

Tax policy should encourage oil companies to grow domestic energy resources, create jobs and spur the economy. Decreased reliance on foreign oil and increased energy security should be policy goals as well.

Today’s low fuel prices are one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dreary economy, and I want them to stay that way.

Phil Klaus

Indianapolis