And they don’t want gas companies to pay for tearing up roads and fouling the environment.
The above are things you might say to the Republican Party’s effort to produce a partisan legislative veto of the severance tax agreement. But the Repubs can’t do it alone. Stephens Media story today shows the GOP House members, who constitute a quarter of the House, aren’t unanimous against the proposal yet. And, lacking a 25 percent contingent in the Senate, Republicans may not be able to count on all the members they do have there, based on comments from Sen. Dave Bisbee. He notes acidly that the party chairman does not speak for elected legislators. Rep. Horace Hardwick (R-Wal-Mart) also supports the tax.
Speaking of the severance tax: John Brummett interviews Death Star Bob Johnson. The cromagnum senator will oppose the tax, but the key nuance seems to be that he isn’t vowing to whip up The Brotherhood to join his evil games this time around.