Dear Editor:
I was surprised when Sen. Claire McCaskill recently co-sponsored a bill that would decrease tax breaks on U.S. oil and natural gas producers by $2 billion a year. Most Missourians are smarter than that. They know these tax breaks are available to all multi-national companies in this country. The federal government's money problems are a result of too much spending, not too little taxing.
I fully agree with McCaskill's stated intention to reduce the federal deficit, but her plan to do it is wrong. Increasing the tax burden on any American businesses would be counter-productive right now, with stagnant job creation and weak economic performance pushing the United States back toward recession. Singling out the oil and gas industry for higher taxes would be especially bad. They are literally one of the mainstays of our economy.
Oil and natural gas producers support 9.2 million American jobs and contribute $2 trillion a year to our economic output. Their profit margins are already some of the smallest among multi-national companies. With almost one American out of 10 still looking for work, and millions more underemployed or working multiple jobs, proposing investment-killing taxes on this vital industry simply doesn't make sense.
I like what our other senator said about McCaskill's bill. Sen. Roy Blunt stated that he didn't think raising taxes on American energy producers would lower gas prices or create jobs, and that he believes we should increase access to our own domestic energy resources, which would "provide approximately $150 billion in revenue, create over 500,000 jobs, and increase production by 4 million barrels per day."
To me, that sounds a lot better than penalizing an industry to support more unchecked government spending.
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