http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/palin-uninspiring-tax-policy-record/
Palin: Uninspiring Tax Policy Record
Posted by Chris Edwards
On tax policy, Alaska governor Sarah Palin has a rather uninspiring, albeit brief, record. The following is some information gleaned from State Tax Notes.
Palin supported and signed into law a $1.5 billion tax increase on oil companies in the form of higher severance taxes. One rule of thumb is that higher taxes cause less investment. Sure enough, State Tax Notes reported (January 7): “After ACES was passed, ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s most active oil exploration company and one of the top three producers, announced it was canceling plans to build a diesel fuel refinery at the Kuparuk oil field. ConocoPhillips blamed the cancellation on passage of ACES [the new tax]. The refinery would have allowed the company to produce low-sulfur diesel fuel onsite for its vehicles and other uses on the North Slope, rather than haul the fuel there from existing refineries.”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/01/07/could_oil_tax_hike_come_back_to_bite_palin.html
"Alaska was in the mid range of oil tax regimes for competitiveness under the Murkowski Administration, but enacted the highest marginal tax rate in the world under Palin," Murkowski wrote. "Alaskans simply cannot compete with the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration and development capital by imposing a tax that is twice the amount charged there."
If anyone other than Palin had implemented this tax, you'd be all over him or her like white on rice.
As I said oil production in Alaska has been gradually declining thru both higher production taxes and thru lower production taxes.
If anyone other than Palin had implemented this tax, you'd be all over him or her like white on rice.
Don't put words in my mouth.
I've covered all the facts around Palin's on average 2% increase in oil production taxes in numerous posts.