Recently some of the best "Political" conversations have been in the break room at work where it is possible to sit with other "middle class" workers in varying economic situations and talk about current "political" events... It has been a pleasure to watch several of my co-workers who have been and some who are still JMU students, and were past supporters of Candidate\President Obama and now have a better understanding of the real "Hope & Change" he was selling as Candidate Obama...
.
One of my friends sent me his observations of the recent speech by our President regarding the war he is obviously promoting between the evil oil companies vs. the people...
.
A few weeks back in New Hampshire, President Obama said in a speech, “You can stand with oil companies, or you can stand with the American people.” A choice between oil companies and the American people? Hardly. President Obama should get an A+ for playing politics, however when it comes to leadership and economics, he deserves an F.
This administration will say and do almost anything to increase oil and gas companies’ tax rates. But the question is why would we ever want to do that? The oil and gas industry is one of the few areas of our economy supporting economic growth and lots of jobs, more than 9 million jobs in fact. The industry also pumps over $1 trillion into the American economy. Best of all, U.S. oil and gas companies are actually positioned to stimulate the economy in the future without having to use government IOUs.
So why do some people not understand that placing new taxes and regulations on this industry will have dangerous repercussions? It’s because President Obama continues to frame the issue as oil companies vs. Americans as if it’s a zero-sum game. This may sound good in a speech, but let’s think about that for a second. These oil companies that President Obama so openly vilifies are actually American businesses that employ millions of American workers and contribute to the American economy. Let’s not forget to mention they provide American energy so we can drive to work and transport goods.
Most troubling is that Obama’s agenda of higher energy taxes and more regulations disregards basic energy research. According to a statistic from the American Energy Alliance, repealing oil and gas sector tax provisions would reduce household earnings by almost $35 billion over the next 10 years. Another study from Dr. Joseph Mason at LSU shows that eliminating these provisions would bring in $30 billion in federal tax revenue at the expense of $341 billion in economic output.
The math clearly doesn’t match Obama’s rhetoric. More than 20,000 new jobs have been created by the U.S. oil and gas industry since the recession started, yet this president continues to use “oil companies” as a scapegoat for his own failed economic policies. American energy can help create more jobs and help turn the economy around, but it will take real leadership from a reluctant White House. It appears President Obama needs some more education on American energy and the vast potential it holds for our economy.
