Senator Johnson Holds Firm Against Severance Tax...Who Will Join Him?

I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize real leadership. Sen. Bob Johnson, D-Bigelow, is holding firm in his commitment to oppose this or any tax.

Even though (part of) the natural gas industry has "agreed" to have it taxes raised, Sen. Johnson is firm in his commitment to jobs and economic growth over the growth of government. I know there will be some Republicans with some guts, too, who will oppose this brazen assault on the private sector for the benefit of the government.

A note, I believe it was John Brummett who wrote a column not too long ago talking about how this is Gov. Beebe's style to work backroom deals to get things done. If he is successful doing this now, you can expect he'll do it again. If (part of) the natural gas industry is willing to hurt itself to avoid making a tough stand, it will embolden the governor. I've been satirizing the foolishness of this situation lately, by saying that it's time to tax other "evil" industries, too, but if this succeeds, you can bet some of those industries won't be too far behind.

In the meantime, I'm thankful for Sen. Johnson and I look forward to seeing which Republicans are in this to win and which are just in office for the ride.

Another note, thanks to Max for publishing the governor's predicted revenue increases from this tax:

"The rate increase would take effect Jan. 1. Predicted revenue: $57 million the first year, rising to $100 million by 2013. The tax currently nets about $600,000."

Sooooo, am I the only one who sees $57-100 million being taken out of the economy and the natural gas industry as a bad thing? I know I'm not, but consider how many people won't be employed because the natural gas industry has that much less money to grow. Oh, and if this tax goes into effect, you can bet it will never reach those numbers because the estimate is based on the industry continuing to grow at its current rate, which it won't do if this tax is passed.

More on this later.

Originally published on 3/11/08 at 2:28 p.m.