Sen. Lindsey Graham: Hey, let’s hike gas taxes!

(By Ed Morrissey; Hot Air) - Earlier today, I noted a Gallup survey in which a grand total of 3% of Americans believe that their federal government charges too little in taxes. Lindsey Graham has a plan sure to please that 3%, and his Senate Democrat friends are happy to have him along for the ride:

Leading voices in the Senate are considering a new tax on gasoline, as part of an effort to win Republican and oil industry support for the energy and climate bill now idling in Congress.

The tax, which according to early estimates would be in the range of 15 cents a gallon, was conceived with the input of several oil companies, including Shell, BP and Conoco Phillips, and is being championed by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

It is shaping up as a critical but controversial piece in the efforts by Graham, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to write a climate bill that moderate Republicans could support. Along those lines, the bill will also include an expansion of offshore oil drilling and major new incentives for nuclear power plant construction.