Sarah Palin, Like the Rest of Us, Isn’t Perfect
August 12, 2008 by Cato
Filed under Conservatism, Energy, National Politics, Taxes
I’ve been a huge fan of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. She’s honest. She’s tough. She’s not afraid to fight the good fight. Unfortunately, Palin obviously didn’t study much economics.
Palin and the Alaska legislature instituted a tax on oil companies very similar to the one being proposed by the man who would be Messiah – Barack Hussein Obama. The results – Conoco has delayed development of a refinery and BP-Alaska has delayed development in the western region region of the North Slope.
We can expect to hear from the left side of the aisle that this is merely “corporate greed”. Given that these folks believe that all industry should be state controlled (they just don’t have the guts to admit it publicly), they can’t grasp the concept that a company’s primary responsibility is to its shareholders, not some amorphous “public good”.
If Congress adopts a tax policy on oil akin to the one signed by Gov. Palin, we can expect more of the same – only on a global scale. Decline in development. Reduced investment. Why put capital at risk when the government is going to take the lion’s share?
Demand is set. It is going to continue to grow. The only control we have over the equation in both the short and medium terms is supply. To steal a line – IT’S THE SUPPLY STUPID!
It’s a shame that someone like Sarah Palin doesn’t grasp such a simple concept. I’ve always questioned whether she possessed a core philosophy. Perhaps she is too similar to Sen. John McCain. McCain’s biggest flaw as a leader is that he responds from the gut. There is no question that they both are endowed with a strong moral compass. Unfortunately, they both seem to lack the strong philosophical underpinnings of a Ronald Reagan or a Margaret Thatcher.
In McCain’s case, I have no doubt that this strong “gut instinct” served him well as a naval aviator. There is no question that this similar instinct has served Palin well in giving Alaska back to the people who live there rather than a few corrupt politicians.
If Gov. Palin wishes to be the leader I believe she was born to be, I would recommend that she start spending some of her downtime with a little light reading.
Thanks to the Delaware Curmudgeon for pointing me to the article on Gov. Palin.
I was really disappointed with this, as I am (was?) a big fan of Palin. I haven’t seen any response from her, and not knowing the ins and outs of Alaska politics I am wondering if she has some justification, or if there were things going on that we just don’t know about that resulted in this policy.
I still have great hopes for her in the future.
Just to clarify, the tax put through by Palin applies to state owned land only. I don’t agree with additional taxes on oil companies, since their business is a high volume low margin model. I do think that the more appropriate thing to do would be to reduce subsidies to oil companies and redirect them to alternative energy.
Shirley -
I’m sure that she has some justification for this. What really interested me about this was the fact that it shows how taxes can affect supply. Thanks again for pointing me to this.
Shore -
It may shock you to find out that I am in (partial) agreement with you on this. I don’t know how lease rights are handled in Alaska. I believe that federal leases are auctioned. If state lands are auctioned as well, the tax is a problem.
Unlike the US Chamber of Commerce, I am probably more opposed to corporate welfare than you are. As I have noted time and again, I am a true free marketeer. The only problem I have with “reducing subsidies to oil companies and redirect them to alternative energy” is that we are again putting government in the position of choosing winners and losers.
There is no doubt that we need to develop alternatives to petroleum. I just don’t trust the government to pick those alternatives.
There is a very good justification for this so called “tax”, as it’s not really a tax. It is Alaska being paid for the oil it owns with a formula on the NET profits the oil sale took in. This is fair because the oil companies don’t own the oil on state land.
Federal or private leases are not handled this way.
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If you personally had land with oil on it, would you think it fair for the oil company to share with you the NET profits the oil got on the open market? Of course. So why would it be any different on oil owned by the people of Alaska?
It’s in the Alaska constitution. Don’t hate on Gov. Palin for doing her job and don’t believe all what you read.
Big oil already got caught bribing Alaska legislators to get this rate lowered. After the legislators were sent to prison, the legislature and Palin put the rate back to the amount it would have been had the bribes to fix the rate not occurred.
These stories right now in the media about this originate from those who want to lower the rate back down. Guess what industry they are in.
The Dems and the MSM are salivating for McCain to pick Romney and are utterly terrified of McCain picking Palin!