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On Energy Taxes, U.S. Should Learn the Lessons of Others
Tweet Share on Facebook May 31, 2012 CommentPete Sepp is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
When it comes to fiscal and energy policies here in the United States versus those in other countries, it's important to recognize details that can make comparisons and contrasts difficult. Sometimes, however, the indicators are so strong that it's impossible to avoid drawing some conclusions about whether the United States is staying ahead or lagging behind the rest of the world in key areas such as business taxes and energy development.
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Are U.N. Negotiations Just Buying Iran More Time?
Tweet Share on Facebook May 29, 2012 CommentGregg Laskoski is a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.
Americans have to pay attention to saber rattling. When it comes from an oil-producing nation in the Middle East, it makes commodity markets jump. In February, it pushed crude oil to $109 per barrel and the U.S. average price of gasoline north of $3.90 per gallon. Both stayed near that level until Iran quieted down and agreed to come to the bargaining table.
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Federal Reserve's Low Interest Rates Keep Oil Prices High
Tweet Share on Facebook May 24, 2012 CommentPete Sepp is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
It's been said that monetary policy is one of the few prescriptive remedies our leaders have at their disposal to maintain the health of the economy. Yet, behind this statement lies a great deal of controversy. The Federal Reserve's two rounds of "quantitative easing"—which have vigorously injected capital into markets—triggered concerns from some fiscal conservatives, even helping lead to legislation that would allow currencies to "compete" in setting their value. Whether or not one believes such an approach is feasible or desirable, could it be that today's monetary policies, coupled with poor domestic energy development plans, are acting as a one-two punch to aggravate our economic ailments rather than remedy them? A recent piece of expert research says "Yes."
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Dick Lugar's Energy Subsidies Are Special Interest Giveaways
Tweet Share on Facebook May 18, 2012 CommentTom Pyle is the president of the Institute for Energy Research
On May 8, Indiana's six-term senator, Dick Lugar, was handily defeated in the Hoosier state's Republican primary. To put this stunning defeat in context, consider the role Senator Lugar played in this year's boondoggle-laden farm bill.
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T. Boone Pickens Should Stop With the Oil Forecasting
Tweet Share on Facebook May 18, 2012 CommentMichael Lynch is the president and director of global petroleum service at Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
Watching the cable business news on Wednesday, I nearly fell off my chair listening to T. Boone Pickens describe himself as knowing more about energy than anybody in America, then admitting he couldn't explain falling oil prices given that world demand was 91 million barrels a day and the industry couldn't possibly keep that up.
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The Democrats' Plan to Jack Up Electricity Prices
Tweet Share on Facebook May 17, 2012 Comment (1)Daniel Simmons is the director of state affairs at the Institute for Energy Research.
It is difficult to understand why some people want to see electricity prices increase even more. According to the USA TODAY, household electricity bills have "skyrocketed" the past five years adding about $300 to the yearly household electricity costs. With an economy that continues to struggle, you would think that politicians would be feverishly working to lower electricity prices, but instead many are working to further increase prices.
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Energy Policies That Will Lead to Economic Growth
Tweet Share on Facebook May 17, 2012 Comment (1)Pete Sepp is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
Given the Federal Reserve's recent projection that the official unemployment rate could dip to 7.8 percent this year, many Washington pundits would have thought they'd see more politicians jumping for joy. But once again the pundits aren't looking outside the Beltway, where the jobs picture remains underwhelming for those politicians' constituents. Sensing the mood on the campaign trail—and remembering that Jimmy Carter lost an election when unemployment was at 7.8 percent—it's perhaps inevitable that elected officials would try to look like they're doing something, anything, to promote economic growth and development. Unfortunately, two recent votes in Congress show how the word "anything" can paradoxically translate into "nothing," even as a better energy policy offers that very "something" they seek.
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California's High Gas Prices Are Self-Inflicted
Tweet Share on Facebook May 16, 2012 Comment (13)Gregg Laskoski is a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.
Ordinarily, when gasoline prices trend downward, (which does not often happen at the approach of the summer driving season) that's good news for U.S. consumers. And indeed, many of us are somewhat relieved to see the nation's average price of gas at $3.72 today, since it was 17 cents more per gallon just one month ago.
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Beware the Green Energy Bias
Tweet Share on Facebook May 10, 2012 Comment (11)Michael Lynch is the president and director of global petroleum service at Strategic Energy & Economic Research.
One of my favorite movie scenes is Jack Nicholson in Batman saying, "Who do you trust? Me? I'm giving away free money." He then proceeds to gas the onlookers.
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The 'Trickle-Down' Effect of Obama's Oil and Gas Tax Hikes
Tweet Share on Facebook May 9, 2012 Comment (4)Pete Sepp is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
"Trickle-down economics" was a cynical phrase that media mavens enthusiastically perpetuated throughout the 1980s to snidely describe the Reagan administration's policies toward tax reduction, wealth creation, and employment. Reagan's record was far from perfect—after all, deficit spending during several years of his term in office crept above 5 percent of gross domestic product. Though opinions vary on how poorly our current president's record on job creation compares to Reagan's, on several other scores Barack Obama's performance has been unarguably worse. As a share of economic output, the federal budget deficit this year will be higher by about half than at the same point in Ronald Reagan's presidency. And then there's tax policy, specifically the Obama administration's relentless, discriminatory pursuit of the U.S. oil and gas industry.
