Arkansas Blog

Bidness rules, what's new, anyone surprised?!!
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It's only taken a few weeks for our crack media to realize this isn't truly a 5 percent severance tax. They were too busy praising Beebe and writing glorious headlines to notice that, as always, the devil is in the details.

While any additional revenue is good, yes, you can't overlook the sweetheart deal that Beebe "hammered out" with the gas companies. Sure, 1.5 percent on the vast majority of wells is better than what we currently have, but to sell this as a 5 percent severance tax I thought from the beginning was tooting the wrong horn.

I like Sheffield's 7 percent with no exemptions, or possibly a 5 percent exemption for "high-cost wells" in their first three years.

Don't think the gas companies weren't laughing all the way to the bank with the "tough" 1.5 percent tax being sold by Beebe.

if this plan passes as written next week,

will the legislature next year be able to amend parts of it by simple majority vote?

such as increasing the level of the 'reduced' rates?

or reducing the number of years they are eligible?

And there's Ernie's excellent explanation of the severance tax as well (click on blue).

Muleboy,
It won't matter how many votes would be needed to amend the amounts. After this sham tax is passed, the gas companies will have plenty of disposable income (profits) to be able to purchase enough votes to block any adverse (to them) changes in the severance tax scheme. This "compromise" will, as intended, defuse much of the popular support for any increases to a meaningful level. Any lawmakers who try to improve it will be excoriated as flagrant taxers. The only amendments that would sail through the General Assembly in future sessions would be to create even more exemptions and rebates for the gas companies.

Mike Beebe's "compromise" is a spiral-threaded nailing of the people of Arkansas. Call your legislators before Monday and tell them not to cheat us. Tell them to vote against Beebe's sell-out.

tyvm Jim Lendall,

that would be par for the course (especially in light of the current deceptions)

though i did not preface my question with it, i was thinking in terms of the possibility of an economic recession hurting the AR Govt's tax receipts enough that Legislators would go looking for "easy" money. (and the unspoken corollary is "are they thinking that far ahead?" )

Come on Mr. Nelson. We await your actions. You and most of us on this blog, especially Mr. Lendall,
knew our Guv has always been a corporate egg-sucker. And, he is an honest politician too.

Step up and make the announcement Mr. Nelson. Get the ballot petitions rolling before the deadline
elapses and once again Ark takes that giant step sideways to remain 49th.
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"The honest politician is one who, when he is bought, stays bought."
U.S. Senator Simon Cameron (1862)
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Don't ya just hate that "I'm Screwed" feeling ya have all the time? Here we are with record setting all time high energy prices and profits for the energy companies, and even with all that going for them, they still refuse to pay their fair share. Wait until the hedge fund guys who are forced to pay a whopping 15% on their income hear about the sweetheart deal Arkansas energy companies are getting.

I would feel sorry for the hedge fund kings if I wasn't paying in at a 30% rate. But by all means let's keep up the condemnation of Rev. Wright because it's plumb Commie to ever complain about a screwing you get from an American company. And of course everyone knows big energy companies are run by greedy blacks. Damn those greedy blacks!

It will only change when all of us switch to alternative methods to heat and cool our homes and power our cars. Oh to live long enough to see a former energy baron standing on the corner selling apples for 5 cents. It's why I'll always have large dogs so I'll have plenty of shit to sling at em from my sun powered chariot.