Sen. Vitter points out Sen. Reid's gold double standard on taxes

Democrats don’t like Big Oil or Little Oil either. There’s a definite anti-US oil policy pushed by the president and Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.) whose Democrats also control the U.S. Senate.

The federal government, in the words of one offshore towing company owner, shut down the whole Gulf Oil industry in a single day. President Barack Obama then praised Brazil’s oil exploration in the Gulf, after Brazil got a US taxpayer funded loan to drill.

Reid, however, has a double standard and it’s gold. Literally.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) responded to a letter circulated by Reid in May. In a formal statement Vitter said Reid claimed in the letter that “increasing taxes on domestic energy producers would be beneficial to the economy and help lower the price of gasoline at the pump.”

You don’t have to be a senator or an oil man to see the idiocy in Reid’s claims.

Ironically while Reid is going after oil, he’s quite satisfied with the sweet tax and regulatory deal gold mining operations enjoy. Why? Because Reid’s home state of Nevada is the fourth largest producer of gold in the world.

Here’s the real rub, reported by International Business Times in January, 2011: “Unlike coal and oil extraction, where mining companies pay royalties for minerals obtained from public land, gold mining companies do not pay any royalties for deposits claimed on federal public lands as mines on public land continue to operate under the General Mining Act of 1872.”

In a statement at his Senate website, Vitter makes a good point about Reid’s double standard: “Over the last two years the price of gold has nearly doubled. In fact, the trend in gold prices is quite similar to the trend in oil prices under this administration. If the only solution you can put forward to create jobs and lower the price of oil is to increase taxes – rather than boost domestic production here at home – then surely your strategy of increasing taxes would have the same effect on those who reap significant profits from Nevada’s gold mines.”

Vitter made it clear he was using the gold industry as a basis for policy comparison rather than a target. He said, “We shouldn’t focus our attention on specific tax credits for specific industries. In fact, we should engage President Obama on his offer to seriously consider lowering our top-ranking corporate tax rate, which would eliminate the need for any industry-specific tax credit.”

No word yet on whether Reid acknowledged the hypocrisy in his party policy when it comes to targeting industries by Democrats.

Related Articles at The US Report

Vitter wants answers on Brazil Drilling Loan; Paul wanted answers too

Harvey Gulf CEO: Obama ‘shut it down’ in a day

Tax on oil…will hit small biz, consumers and kill jobs*
*Includes facts about small businesses in oil industry

Drill ban begs question: Do Dems want U.S. to fail?

(Analysis by Kay B. Day/May 10, 2011)

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