When the U.S. economy tanked in
2008, the companies lining up for taxpayer financed bailouts didn't include any of America's oil or natural gas producers. In fact, this segment of the energy industry supports 9 million U.S. jobs and has created 20,000 new jobs since the economy went into recession. With Kentucky's unemployment rate still at an ugly 9.4 percent, I ask, why is Washington waging an undeclared tax war on U.S. energy producers?
The Obama Administration claims job creation and economic growth are its top priorities, yet as Congress comes back in session the White House is pushing for new taxes on American oil and gas producers that would do just the opposite. The White House is trying to increase certain taxes, putting U.S. producers at a disadvantage versus their much larger foreign competitors as well as strip away manufacturing tax deductions from oil and gas producers, even though these deductions would continue to apply to all other manufacturers in America.
If this punitive tax attack is allowed to go forward, the average Kentucky families will end up be the victims of lost job opportunities and slowed economic recovery as well as reaching deeper into our pockets to pay higher energy prices.
This just doesn't make sense. If the Obama administration and Congress are serious about accelerating the economic recovery, they should be encouraging the industry that's leading the way, not sabotaging it with job-killing new taxes.
Cory Bridges
Lexington, Ky.
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