Look at the Facts
Krayton Kerns
3.26.08
Until I served in the legislature I never understood what it meant to be an advocate. Oh sure, I knew the definition of the word, but I had never seen one in real life. An advocate is someone who gets paid to feel sorry for someone else. It is an interesting job.
Homeless advocates feel sorry for the homeless, children advocates feel sorry for children and medical marijuana advocates feel sorry for medical marijuana patients. Advocates attend every public hearing to express their sorrow for how certain legislation will affect their cause. Helena is such a happy place.
So, at the political risk of sounding like a big-oil advocate, I want to take a critical look at the price of gasoline. Both Senators Clinton and Obama are demanding a windfall profit tax on oil companies because they are making too much profit. Before you jump on the penalize-big-oil-bandwagon, look where the money goes when you buy one gallon of gasoline:
· Crude oil @ $100 / barrel……...…………..$2.51
· Refinery costs & profits……………………$0.33
· Distribution costs & profits………………...$0.11
· Montana State Taxes……………………….$0.2775
· Federal Taxes………………………………$0.18
· Total cost per gal. @ the pump…….………$3.4075
Look at the facts. Crude oil is the price driver of gasoline. Since 1869 the world crude oil price has averaged $21.66 per barrel using 2006 dollars. Today it is over $100 per barrel. For cheaper gas we need more crude oil. Unfortunately, the “clean and green” socialists have stopped crude oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Gulf of Mexico. We are at the mercy of Arab Sheiks and American Leftists.
Look at the facts. Oil companies take all the risks and, after paying refining costs from their 33 cent share, they are left with around a 10% return on investment. That is entirely reasonable. Big government risks nothing and pockets 45.75 cents in taxes. To force you to conserve fuel, John Dingle D-MI is proposing an additional 50 cent per gallon fuel tax. This will double Uncle Sam’s take to nearly $1 dollar per gallon. After doubling the tax, the tax-and-spend left will blame the rising cost of fuel on greedy big-oil. It works every time.
Look at the facts. Two enormous costs haven’t been assessed to a gallon of gas…yet. Both Governor Schweitzer’s Climate Change Panel’s recommendations and the federal Climate Security Act haven’t been implemented. Once passed, mandatory carbon taxes are projected to drive the cost of gasoline to $5.70 by 2020 and $8.46 by 2030…all to stop global warming; a problem that doesn’t exist.
The socialists are wrong; the problem is not big-oil, it is big government. Between 1977 and 2004 the domestic oil industry generated profits of $643 billion dollars while the government collected $1.34 trillion dollars in fuel taxes. You are paying enough in taxes.
It was a cold Thursday evening, December 16th 1773 when fifty patriots responded to one tax adjustment by dumping 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. Those patriots are long gone. Sadly, most of their descendents are now dependents that look to big government for handouts. That passion for freedom that gave us our great republic is dying and Boston Tea Parties are a thing of the past. Government’s insatiable thirst for tax revenue has turned citizens into subjects.
