There is no doubt it is hard to feel sorry for Big Oil. It pulls in  billions of dollars in profits whenever oil prices go up, and yet higher oil prices result in higher petrol prices for the public.

So whenever these companies are doing well, the public is doing worse. And that, inevitably, leads to talk about punitive taxes (or at least a loss of tax breaks) for the oil industry.

That time has come once again. A few weeks ago, the world’s biggest oil companies reported massive profits just as petrol moved up and beyond, in some cases, $4 a gallon. That is a big deal in the US, where people often commute long distances to work, particularly in sprawling cities like Houston, Chicago, Los Angelos, and other highly populated areas. And it is particularly important now when the economy has not fully recovered, unemployment remains high and the public at large is still having economic difficulties.