Necessarily Skyrocketing of Energy Prices is Tax Enough

It looks like Obama wants more than the pound of flesh that he has already carved out of the US economy. Not satisfied with $4 a gallon gas and electricity prices that are set to “necessarily skyrocket” because of his foolish energy policies, he now proposes to raise taxes on small businesses and the wealthy, the only segment left in society that has the potential to create jobs, in order to increase revenue for the bloated federal government.

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What Obama fails to appreciate is that his actions have already massively increased the cost of doing business in America. As pointed out in the Wall Street Journal ObamaCare wasn’t just about healthcare rationing, it was also one of the largest tax hikes in history to the tune of $569.2 billion. Added to his refusal to allow development our nation’s vast energy resources by killing oil production in the Gulf of Mexico and stopping drilling on public land in western states, the cumulative effects of Obama’s policies on the economy are no different than across the board tax hikes on every American, rich or poor. Foreign oil providers, most especially OPEC, have no reason to charge reasonable rates for their products knowing the American President will do nothing to stop them from gouging our already ailing economy. When Obama came into office the price for a gallon of gas was around $2 a gallon, now it is $3.64. In 2008 Oil cost around $37 a barrel, now it’s close to $100. Canadian oil sands, one of the largest oil deposits in the world, have the potential to eliminate our dependence on Middle East oil at an affordable $40-$60 per barrel. Rather than embrace this gift from the economic gods, the Obama administration is dragging its feet on approving a pipeline that would transport the much needed crude to the US. While the State Department and EPA diddles about climate change and the pipeline’s impact on non-existent herds of caribou, the Chinese have already committed $4 billion to take the Canadian oil for themselves. The EPA’s draconian coal-fired plant regulations are set to begin in 2012. Electricity rates will soon climb an estimated 12-24% and cost our nation 1.4 million jobs, which will “necessarily” migrate overseas to countries less concerned about nonexistent global warming. While Obama’s energy policies are not technically taxes, they may as well be. Without his administration’s interference in the energy marketplace, we would not be paying the unnecessarily high gas and electricity prices that we now do. His actions are already massively taxing the American economy with calamitous results: over 9% unemployment, anemic GDP growth, perpetually falling housing prices, and a never ending recession. The last thing we need is more of the same.

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