Taxation

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    It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Climate Change World

    mad worldWe think it’s hard to overstate the power play being made by those who assembled in Paris earlier this month for the United Nations COP21 Climate Change Conference. As we previously wrote two days ago, Obama will never get Congress to ratify a treaty based on the agreement he signed in Paris (see Paris Climate Treaty Signed by Obama NOT Binding on U.S.). However, like all good fascists, obeying our nation’s laws and Constitution won’t slow BHO down. He’ll figure out how to wave his magic Executive Orders wand and just “make it so.” That’s his plan. You may think we’ve gone mad, but we must point out, yet again, that IF the plan coming out of the Paris conference is actually implemented, it means the end of the fossil fuel industry. Period. We are NOT exaggerating this. That is their stated purpose–to end the world’s reliance on fossil energy. That’s how this agreement is being reported in mainstream media–have you bothered to read the reports? What’s even more insane is that yesterday we received a press release from the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP)–supposedly “the voice of the global upstream industry”–saying the IOGP “welcomes the historic COP21 agreement in Paris last week.” What? They “welcome” the end of fossil energy? Has everyone gone stark….raving….mad?….
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    Don’t Know Jack: Politician Lobbies for High OH Severance Tax

    The Marcellus and Utica Shale industry, like all shale industries in the U.S., is getting clobbered. Prices are at historic lows for natural gas–with no prospects it will go higher anytime soon (see Natural Gas Prices Hits 14-Year Low – When Will it Rebound?). Drillers (otherwise known as producers or E&Ps) can’t make a profit. Those who are making a profit are realizing profits that are razor thin–like break-even. So what does a “brilliant” politician like Ohio State Rep. Jack Cera (Democrat) lobby and advocate and agitate for? Raising the severance tax on shale drillers in Ohio. How utterly dense can you possibly be to not see that doing such a thing in this low-price climate would essentially shut down the Utica industry in the state? Or perhaps that’s what Jack really wants?…
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    Paris Climate Treaty Signed by Obama NOT Binding on U.S.

    On Saturday, our illustrious president, Barack Hussein Obama, claims to have committed the United States into giving up its national sovereignty in the name of so-called man-made global warming. Obama and nearly every country of the world signed a climate agreement/treaty that commits the nations of the world to lower carbon dioxide emissions. You know, CO2–the stuff you exhale with every breath you take. Yeah, that stuff is supposedly warming up ole Mom Earth–catastrophically. Except it’s not. There is no empirical data that shows the earth is heating up–only doctored computer models. Satellite data shows the opposite–the average temp of Mom Earth is not heating up and hasn’t been for 18 years–how many times do we have to HOLLER this for it to get through? But facts aren’t what the Paris agreement is about. We can tell you what the agreement is about in two simple points: (1) transferring massive amounts of hard-earned wealth away from America to other countries, via a carbon tax; (2) banning the use of all fossil energy–asap. No, this is not hyperbole. It’s not overstating the case. This is EXACTLY what the Paris Climate Conference was all about…
    Read More “Paris Climate Treaty Signed by Obama NOT Binding on U.S.”

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    PA Senator Predicts Chesapeake Energy Goes Bankrupt Within a Year

    drugs.jpgThe failed Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, “100 percent guarantees” an oil and gas severance tax will be part of next year’s state budget. That’s the claim made by Wolf’s inept Policy Secretary, John Hanger, last Friday. What hubris. Wolf and Hanger can’t even get THIS YEAR’S budget done! Nearly six months late!! And already they’re trying to grab money for next year. Democrats have a heroin-like addiction to OPM–Other People’s Money. (Coincidentally, when John Hanger ran for governor himself, he ran on a platform of legalizing marijuana, see Pass One Last Joint for John Hanger.) The problem (for Wolf and Hanger) is this: the shale industry in PA is in retrograde. It’s receding, not expanding. Drilled wells are either not being hooked up in the first place, or they’re being turned off, called being shut-in. When that happens, less gas flows–less gas to tax. Another lesson Dems never learn: You ALWAYS get less of what you tax, not more. It’s simple economics. A Republican State Senator from York, PA (Wolf’s home town) wrote Wolf a little love letter to school him in the economic realities of his bogus claim that “next year” he’ll get a severance tax. State Sen. Scott Wagner predicts, among other things, that Chesapeake Energy, PA’s largest natural gas producer, will file for bankruptcy within a year…
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    Wyoming Senator Exposes Obama Paris Climate Tax Plan

    U.S. Senator John Barrasso (Republican from Wyoming) is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy. Sen. Barrasso has done the country a huge favor by writing and releasing a new report titled: “Senate Outlook on United States International Strategy on Climate Change in Paris 2015” (full copy below). If we can sum up the report, it perfectly details how President Obama is attempting to hoodwink U.S. taxpayers into transferring their hard-earned money to foreign countries under the guise of global warming flummery. That is, according to Sen. Barrasso, President Obama intends to force American taxpayers to pay for past economic success through his contributions to the Green Climate Fund. It is an outrage and must opposed at every turn…
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    Wolf Can’t Get Current Budget Done, Vows Severance Tax Next Year

    Will Pennsylvania’s governor, Tom Wolf–the most liberal governor in America according to the nonpartisan website InsideGov–finally agree to a budget framework and budget to end a nearly six month delay he has caused? He promised to try and get the budget done by Thanksgiving–but you know all about politicians and promises. That promise is now out the door. The latest news we’ve been able to locate says Wolf’s plan to hike the sales tax in order to give a break on property taxes is now dead. The one thing that every news account we read says is this: Wolf is promising to resurrect the issue of a Marcellus Shale severance next year and every year thereafter of what we predict will be a very short tenure as PA’s governor. Wolf is fixated on raiding drillers and landowners in order to transfer their hard-earned money to those who don’t earn money–teachers unions…
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    WV Politicians: Raise Severance Tax, Lower Property Tax

    What is it about politicians needing to get their grubby hands on YOUR money? A group of West Virginia state politicians–delegates and one state senator, both Democrats and Republicans–held a town hall meeting at West Virginia Northern Community College last Thursday in which they pontificated that the severance tax in WV is too low, and property taxes for Marcellus/Utica Shale landowners are too high. Below is a summary of the back and forth at the meeting. The somewhat ominous (from our perspective) talk at the meeting is that in this down market politicians want to further kill the drilling industry (the one bright spot) in their state by taxing it higher…
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    PA Lib Dems Don’t Like Paying High Education Tax Themselves

    Pennsylvania Democrats are unhappy with their governor. They were all jazzed and giddy at the thought of taxing Republicans (i.e. drilling companies) to raise mountains of money for Big Education (i.e. Democrat voters). In the end, Gov. Tom Wolf had to settle for taxing other Democrats because, as Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman says, the drilling industry is “on its back” and more taxes would shut it down. Lack of a Marcellus Shale tax makes PA Dems grumpy–because they themselves (and their voters) will now pay for Wolf’s rash promise to Big Education. Hey, how does that shoe feel when it’s on your own foot, Lib Dems?…
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    PA LibDems Turn On/Attack Wolf Over No Severance Tax Budget

    Must be Pennsylvania’s liberal Democrats, like those in the Harrisburg Patriot-News news room, thought Tom Wolf was the Second Coming of Barack Hussein Obama. They actually thought that Wolf could jam huge tax increases, including a Marcellus Shale severance tax, down the throats of PA Republicans in the state legislature. Somehow (thank the Good Lord) Republicans grew a spine and resisted the withering pressure and harassment of Dems and their media organs, including the Patriot-News. So we thought is noteworthy (and funny) when the editorial board at the Patriot-News essentially turned on one of their own, Tom Wolf, and threw him and his budget deal with Republicans under the bus…
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    Wolf Says You’ll Love the Budget Deal; Repubs Say, What Deal?

    Yet another mass delusion campaign has begun to convince Pennsylvanians that what just happened didn’t happen. And what just happened? Newly-elected neophyte Gov. Tom Wolf didn’t get anything important he wanted in the budget deal that’s quickly taking form–except for getting the second highest sales tax rate in the country. That he got, and he’s trying to spin that as a big positive. What is Wolf, and a sycophantic, servile mainstream media, saying? “He hung tough. He didn’t get everything, but by gaw he got a lot of it and it’s all good for the state. Yeah he didn’t get a Marcellus severance tax, but pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Wolf got all this other great stuff for the teachers’ unions to pay them back for supporting him and everybody loves Wolf. You’re gonna love it–just you wait and see.” That about sums up the tone and style of “reporting” on the deal. Meanwhile, some rather honest Republicans from the Altoona area are saying, (1) the budget deal is most certainly not done yet, (2) schools are a never-ending sinkhole for money–they want more money in good times and bad, and (3) if the state had implemented a severance tax, it would have finished off the Marcellus industry where drilling is now at a minimum even without the extra tax. Wow, what a breath of fresh air to hear politicians who tell the truth…
    Read More “Wolf Says You’ll Love the Budget Deal; Repubs Say, What Deal?”

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    Huge Victory for PA Republicans – NO Severance Tax in Budget Deal!

    celebrateIt appears the fat lady is getting ready to sing with respect to no severance tax in Pennsylvania–at least for this year. The Republicans have won–kudos to them for hanging tough against the unreasonable Marcellus severance tax proposed by a neophyte governor attempting to pay off a political debt to teachers’ unions. There will be no new severance tax this year. Wolf has found another way to pay off the teachers–he’s going to siphon slot machine money for a big boost in education funding. The teachers’ unions don’t care–money is green and spends the same whether it comes from shale or slots. While a final deal is not yet done (let’s not count our chickens just yet), it does appear the outline of a budget deal, now more than five months late, is in place and moving toward passage in the next few weeks. Here’s the details…
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    PA Gov. Wolf Lectures Dem Reporter: Yes I Can Govern, I Can I Can!

    Several weeks ago MDN highlighted a story that the stubborn, obstinate, in-over-his-head Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf can’t govern. That was the title of an article running in Philadelphia Magazine: “No, Tom Wolf Can’t Govern Pennsylvania” (see our story PA Budget/Severance Tax Talks Resume Today – Without Gov. Wolf). Wolf refuses to compromise on a nosebleed shale severance tax, which has held up the state budget since the end of June. The man can’t compromise, and frankly, he can’t govern either. The Philly Magazine article had it right. Like a petulant child, first a Wolf spokesman and then Wolf himself phoned up that reporter to tell him to get his Democrat head screwed on straight and to quit telling the truth…
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    Marshall County Commissioner Still Opposes $615M Electric Plant

    say what you meanIn August 2014 the Marshall County, WV board of commissioners (a 3-person board) voted to approve a plan to build a Marcellus Shale-powered electric plant in the county (see Marshall County Votes to Accept Gas-Powered Electric Plant). The vote was a bit complicated. In a nutshell, Moundsville Power, a company owned by developers from Buffalo, NY, proposed a deal to the county. They want to build a 549-megawatt plant costing $615 million. But if Moundsville owns the plant, it’s subjected to high property taxes. Moundsville proposed selling the plant to the county but running it for them. In essence the county will own the plant on paper. Because it’s county owned, no property taxes! However, Moundsville would make rental payments to the county–or payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT). The payments would not be as much as if it were taxed–about $13 million less over 30 years. But the county still gets $31 million over those 30 years–and $31M is a whole lot better than $0. Moundsville would not have built the plant at all if not for the PILOT arrangement. One of the three commissioners, Bob Miller, voted against the plan. Now he’s trying to convince the state legislature to overturn the PILOT plan, although he says he still wants the deal with Moundsville to go forward…
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    OH Pipeline Projects in 2016: $8B of Investment, $360M in Taxes!

    tax revenueIn a somewhat related story posted today, MDN tackles the thorny issue of taxing pipelines in Pennsylvania. As serendipity would have it, last week Energy in Depth posted an excellent article on the financial impact pipelines are having in Ohio. Would you believe it if we told you that not only will an astounding $8 billion be spent to build new pipelines in the Buckeye State in 2016, but also an estimated $360 million in ad valorem property taxes (taxes on pipelines) will roll in to local municipal coffers. Next year. And every year thereafter! Here’s the numbers broken down by who is doing the spending and paying the taxes, and which pipelines will generate the most economic activity in Ohio next year…
    Read More “OH Pipeline Projects in 2016: $8B of Investment, $360M in Taxes!”

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    Is it Time to Tax Big Pipelines in PA?

    is it time yetAn Associated Press (AP) story appearing in multiple newspapers and in online outlets has returned to the meme of how unfair it is that pipelines in Pennsylvania are not taxed, as they are in other states like New York, Ohio and West Virginia. Perhaps they have a point? No, MDN isn’t going “soft”! We’ve long made the argument that a permanent structure in the ground should benefit landowners beyond a one-time, up-front payment (see the suggestion by Bryant LaTourette made at the Constitution Pipeline scoping hearing in April 2014: Vicariously Attend FERC Scoping Hearing on Constitution Pipeline). The counter to landowners receiving ongoing royalties for pipelines is the argument of electric power lines. They run everywhere over people’s property. You can’t build a structure under or near such lines once they are in place. Yes, they can be taken down/removed (i.e. not “permanent”), but when was the last time that happened? Landowners are not given an ongoing royalty for the electricity flowing through power lines that criss cross their land. Why would you grant an ongoing payment/royalty for a pipeline in the ground if you don’t for a power line above the ground? You see this is a thorny, complex issue. Although individual landowners in states like New York don’t receive an ongoing royalty for pipelines, the pipelines themselves are considered property and pipeline companies are taxed for having them in the ground, giving a community-wide benefit to all residents in a town or village. We’ve remarked before that the property taxes where we live (in NY) have gone DOWN because of a local pipeline. When’s the last time you heard about taxes going down in New York State?! In Pennsylvania, pipelines are NOT taxed, and therefore taxpayers in those communities don’t benefit. That’s the bone of contention…
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    OH Informal Working Group Report: No High Severance Tax for Now

    no taxMDN told you back in April that OH Gov. John Kasich’s insistence that the state budget include a higher severance tax would not happen as part of the 2015 budget (see Celebrate! Ohio Severance Tax Increase Dead in 2015). We also told you about an informal “working group” of OH Senate and House members, called 2020 Tax Policy Study Commission, who are studying the possibility of a new severance tax sooner rather than later (see Ohio Legislators Continue Dalliance with Kasich Severance Tax). That informal group released their formal report last Thursday (full copy below). The members of the group recommend NO TAX AT THIS TIME and further study of the severance tax issue. Specifically, they said with the industry stressed the way it currently is now, you risk killing it if you slap on a high tax. Finally! Some common sense from Republicans in OH. Of course that didn’t sit well with liberal Republican Gov. Kasich who wants to transfer the wealth from one particular group of companies to a different group who haven’t earned it. Kasich sounds more like the commie-lib Bernie Sanders than he does a Reagan Republican, which is what he was elected as back in the day when he joined Congress during the Reagan revolution (we were there, we remember)…
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