Please help me refute local neocons's column re:Obama's plan to steal money from you

[w8liftinglady]

Any input would be appreciated

Oil built modern Texas. Even much of the money that seeded our expanding technological base originated in the profits of the oil industry. More importantly, the entrepreneurial attitude that is a part of most business development in Texas was spawned in the great gamble known as the oil patch.

Texas oil production may be on the wane, but the industry is still a major employer in Texas. From coastal refineries (we need more) to the great and local Barnett Shale play, Texas benefits not just from oil and gas production itself but also from the export of the technology that makes oil and gas production possible. Much of the world benefits from Texas petroleum know-how, just as the United States benefits from Texas oil and gas production and refining, not to mention the positive impact of Texas and other energy-producing states on our trade balance.

The Obama administration wants to wreck oil and gas production in Texas. An open letter from Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken underlines my concerns. In general, the Obama administration proposes to make oil and gas exploration more expensive, ultimately punishing you for being an oil and gas consumer. The Obama administration is proposing to make your energy bills for your residential, commercial and vehicle use harder to pay during a recession. In their words, there will be energy available for government jets and limousines, but you may not be able to afford to run your home air conditioner due to artificial increases in prices.

Pauken’s letter refers to Obama’s proposals that will make energy harder to produce. They include a repeal of many of the deductions that make oil and gas exploration economical, especially for small and mid-sized producers. Ironically in an age where bashing large corporations is all the rage, Obama’s legislation may well make it where only the extremely large oil and gas corporations will be able to afford to explore or produce energy, and much of that will occur offshore. As Texas oil and gas production slows, our state tax revenues will be impacted. Our state will suffer, especially our school districts. Texans, some may be your neighbors, will lose their jobs.

Specifically Obama proposes to create a brand-new tax on oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. What states will be impacted there? Republican ones, including the largest Republican jewel, Texas. Make no mistake about it, although couched in terms of environmental responsibility, Obama’s energy plan is really a thinly disguised Chicago-style political hit on Republican industries and Republican states.

The desire to un-employ thousands by the so-called carbon cap and trade program is the dark capstone of his program. During a recession, mind you, Obama wants to make all carbon-based energy more expensive for you to use before so-called green energy is fully available. Early in his campaign, he made it clear in a speech to environmental groups that he thought there needed to be a drastic increase in the price of energy in order to cause a shift to green energy. Taxing coal-based electricity and gasoline and diesel is the method he plans to employ; his administration is public about it.

Natural gas is a low-emission fuel regarded by even many hard-core environmentalist as bridge fuel to a greener world. Many government vehicles and corporate fleets had been converting to its use. It would seem that even though carbon-based natural gas would be reasonably exempt from Obama’s tax scheme, the fact that it is not indicates that the administration’s plans are not really about carbon but about controlling your behavior.

This group of Washington plotters is against cheap energy of any type. The simple fact is they want to ruin the economy of our state and other states that produce energy. They want to alter and dominate your life, fellow Texan, like no recent administration.

Paul D. Perry is a contributing columnist for the Daily Light. He is a local businessman and mediator and a former Ellis County justice of the peace.
http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2009/05/17/opinion/doc4a0f7de0858cb321176401.txt

[47of74]

1. Ask that idiot how much energy cost...

...the American people during Chimpy McCokespoon's administration?

[smalll]

2. For one thing, that "dark capstone" seems to be already dead in the water --

the cap-and-trade dealie. From what I've read, it seems that the Congressional Dems (and perhaps the Administration itself) realizes that in today's major recession, the last thing we need to do right now is make the energy that runs our economy more expensive. I don't think people think it has much chance of passing now at all.

Sure, in the future, if and when our economy recovers, it may be something to consider. But Dems are generally NOT ideologues blind to circumstances at hand. We're not going to do it!

[w8liftinglady]

3. I'm kicking this for the morning crew-help me with some talking points for cap and trade