AP Photo

Christopher Helman of Forbes argues that U.S. major oil companies are heavily taxed and should not have their U.S. corporate income taxes raised by repeal of LIFO and oil-specific tax breaks. He has not made his case. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2012/04/16/which-megacorps-pay-megataxes/.)

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization. U.S. multinationals have the protection of the U.S. military as they venture around the world and deal with obnoxious governments, which include mineral-rich countries’ governments almost by ...