Arkansas Blog

Aww...I'm so proud. They seem to be right on track for a ridiculious little waste of time up there at the ledge. I knew they wouldn't let me down when it came to getting sidetracked on pointless issues. Damn, I wanna work for 3 hours, skip out for a ballgame, and get paid for a full day, my travel expenses, a cell phone allowance, cheap insurance, a retirement package, etc, etc, etc.

You can.

Wow, I just found out today what the details are for the gas severance tax hike. Apparently, the 5% rate will NEVER kick in until an individual well produces 100 MCF per day. I wondered how likely this was, considering that they seem to be putting wells about 250 feet apart in northern Faulkner County. (That is, the gas companies may shrewdly get around the tax by just tapping each gas pool with multiple wells, spreading the yield to under 100 MCF/day/well.) Some info I found in an online article suggests that this would be quite feasible:

"Of particular interest are the rate classes of wells that produce gas in Oklahoma. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy has classified the Oklahoma gas wells producing in 1999 by average production rate (Fig. 14), showing that 97% of the wells produced less than 800 MCF per day. In fact, about two thirds of the gas wells active in 1999 produced less than 100 MCF per day (Hinton, 2001)." [Boyd, D.T., Oklahoma Geology Notes . v. 62, no. 4 . Winter 2002]

The Hinton (2001) citation is here:

Hinton, David (ed.), 2001, Petroleum profile: Oklahoma: U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, Web site: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/state/ok.htm

Yep, wells in the Antrim Shale (Michigan) produce, ON AVERAGE, about 150 MCF/day AT THEIR PEAK (!) (which follows six to 12 months of dewatering). This means that the vast majority of wells in the Antrim Shale are producing under 100 MCF/day. Can we expect the Fayetteville Play to be different?

SOURCE: Schlumberger, 2005; http://www.oilandgasinvestor.com/pdf/ShaleGas.pdf

Seems like a discrimination type suit in the making by giving little girls earlier freedom to marry than little boys. Just make it the same age for either gender now and save a lot of trouble later.. Not that the government needs to regulate marriage at all, but if they do, it needs to be a level playing field.

Also by saying someone can't get married.. aren't they assuring, legally condoning, sexual activity outside of wedlock?

Aren't they really here to enjoy the extravagant parties and free likker provided by the lobbyists? Per Diem to help pay for apartments in LR compliments of the Gas industry? Marriage for a 16 and 17 year old? Holy chit! Are we still living in the dark ages in this state - don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question.

This session is a TOTAL waste of our money. In fact the legeslature didn't even need to come to Little Rock for this tax hike deal. The vote could have been done on line and at no extra charge to the tax payer. But NO. They have to spend 50k per day sitting around acting like they are at the United Nations! The State Senators and State Reps should be serving on a volunteer basis. No cost. Every thing these characters do could be done on line. Cost cutting like this could help us do away with the disgraceful State Income Tax.

Well so they do it all online. How exactly do you propose we get all the member of the House and Senate online, and assure that they are capable of using a computer to do the work (I would venture some are completely techno-illiterate)? Do you know how much of the state has broadband internet access? Here's a hint: we're around 48th (I think) in terms of total broadband access. Oh, and the security issues, as well as putting the work of the legislature in the hands of a bunch of local mom-and-pop ISPs whose service goes out every time the wind blows hard.

Should the legislators debate using Skype, perhaps?

And in the end, you're still going to pay for it, whether they have to get dressed and drive to LR or sit in their pajamas at home in Smackover.

So, you're pretty sure that you are smarter than 135 Arkansans who were elected to serve in the legislature? Look, I'm all for criticising the har-har clubby atmosphere that takes place in the legislature because they are supposed to be debating and making laws based on reason. But lay some blame where it is due - these people were called by the Governor and asked to pledge a vote beforehand. Beebe insists on setting the deal before the session, getting pledged votes in hand, and then calling what is supposed to be a citizen's body to the capitol. Clearly, that is why you have no debate. What is left to do but hang out and go to the ballgame or whatever so ticks you off that they are doing? So what if they debated for another two days at taxpayer cost? They might close a loophole that would force a fabulously rich out-of-state corporation to pay millions of fair-share cash into the state coffers? Thought of that?

This process is compromised becuase, well, look at the new information in the comments above. Today there will be a committee hearing but no gas lobbyist will be asked to state how many wells might be made to produce less than 100 Mcf a day to take advantage of that loophole. It is a damn shame that debate has been stifled and a corporate-written patsy tax bill will fly through three days of session with no debate.