Posted on 09/04/2008 6:57:35 AM PDT by steve-b
Alaska has no income tax and no sales tax - so there aren't many taxes over which the governor has direct control - yet she managed to find taxes to cut, anyway.
Meanwhile on the oil front, the $1.5B in severance tax increases are an estimate - not a hard number. What is a hard number is the $500M in subsidies the state of Alaska is offering oil companies in the form of rebates to do more exploration.
So the net new tax on the oil industry is potentially as high as $1B or as low as $0, depending on the interplay of market forces.
Perhaps this is why The Tax Foundation has named Alaska the fourth-friendliest state in the union to businesses.
but it has nothing to do with what they say on economics!
I consider myself a reason.org and not a reason.com person.
Note that this hit piece is not even signed. Their executive director ought to be red faced with embarassement, anger and shame that this sort of drivel could issue from their presses.
well I want Big oil to get tax cuts because I want more oil!!!!
Which is incredible when you consider that they would have to be the friendliest to individuals.
This article is nothing more than a hit piece and the author is betting that the average reader won't actually check any facts to see if it's true.
Profound, well-reasoned arguments - up to your usual gold standard.
Rants about BIG OIL? Did I somehow get connected to barackisthemessiah.com?
Energy producers are the recipients of corporate welfare as well as taxpayers.
Cato seems to worry only about the latter part of the equation.
Sorry about your guy not getting anywhere in the Presidential campaign. Sorry about him not getting picked for the VP slot.
Suck it up, bud.
Way to go, steve-b... Mitt still has a chance, doesn’t he? Sarah is obviously going to be forced to step-down, so it’s never too late.
Seriously, I love Cato — my daughter’s wedding reception was held in Cato’s lobby for heavens sake!. But critizing her record for not being libertarian enough in the less than 2 years she was there is a bit over-the-top. But I admire your persistence.
You mean as opposed to the steady diet of Palin hit pieces?
Perhaps you will answer this question:
In light of the FACT that Alaska's personal income tax and state sales tax rates are BOTH 0.00%, do you have a SINGLE suggestion on what SPECIFIC taxes Palin should cut?
Well then you are an idiot. Explain to me how tax cuts for big oil produces more oil.
Hint, if you knew anything about business taxation you would know that exploration and development costs are already written off, as are all reasonable business expenses, before you get a bottom line profit that is subject to tax.
Big oil is doing just fine and doesn't need special tax breaks beyond what anyone else can get.
Many people fail to observe that Alaskan taxpayers own the Alaska oilfields.
Alaska subsidizes oil company exploration massively - which makes sense in the case of Alaska, since this gift to energy producers has the positive effect of enhancing the value of Alaska's asset portfolio.
So in the case of Alaska, it is a matter of the property owner telling its tenant: I helped you set up your store when times were tough - now that the business that you are operating on my property is going like gangbusters, I'd like to enjoy a little more (1-2% more) of the upside, since I certainly shared with you on the downside. And the raw material of the goods you're selling was provided by me.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer. It’s about smarm, not analysis.
The author is betting the average reader won't realize that some irrelevant proposition C is not flow from a logical consequence of an if A is true then B must also be true argument. It is a hit piece in the truest of the US tradition (well it isn't necessarly Sarah's lies sex and scandal we are talking about).
It is intellectually dishonest irredeemable trash and CATO ought to be embarrassed to publish transparent rubbish like this.
Let's see, Alaska has no state personal income tax or sales tax (Got that? Almost no money comes in from individuals) and they have suspended the state gasoline tax. Where exactly do you expect Alaska to get revenues from?
Thank you for putting it so concisely. I used to pay attention to CATO, but now I know that their trash isn't worth trying to read.
REALLY embarassing yourself.....
She's happily married. Why don't you unglue yourself from your computer, take out the pocket protector and take off the Star Trek uniform replica shirt and try and find yourself a nice single girl.
the severance tax...which shouldn’t be raised.
LOL. I like it.
I know. I would never have guessed that a "libertarian think tank" was in the Kool-Aid drinking feces flinging business. I hope it works out for them. They lost my respect irredeemably.
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