Received this e-mail today from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party regarding Governor Tom Corbett (R. PA) and the Marcellus Shale:
Maybe you’ve picked up on it as we have but it can be caught in his re-election announcement, campaign ad, and public speeches.
The “it” being Tom Corbett’s adversarial relationship with the truth.
Take, for instance, his claims about the Marcellus shale industry. Fact checks repeatedly call out Tom Corbett’s crass exaggeration of the number of jobs the industry employs. His lie places the number eight times the real figure.
Eight times. Think about that.
Beaver Stadium’s capacity on Saturdays is over 100,000 -- not 800,000.
There's only one Punxsutawney Phil -- not eight.
And Tom Corbett has served as governor for four -- not 32 years.
Forward this email to friends and family across our state. Tell them to demand Tom Corbett leaves his lies and distortions on the drawing board.
https://services.myngp.com/...
Tom Corbett is still the undisputed Most Vulnerable Governor in America and we must continue to push hard toward November.
Thank you for all that you do.
Pennsylvania Democratic Party
Click here to spread the word and add your name:
https://services.myngp.com/...
FYI, a drilling tax would be very beneficial for PA's revenue:
http://articles.mcall.com/...
The impact fee versus a severance tax has become one of the top issues in the 2014 election, with Democratic gubernatorial candidates and some Republican lawmakers saying a severance tax could raise more money for education. But Corbett has said the impact fee is good for business and local governments.
The impact fee is a 15-year fee companies pay whenever they break ground on a well, regardless of whether that well is producing gas. It is based on a sliding scale that allows drillers to pay more in the first years and less at the back end — but does not take into account how much gas is extracted. The gas is extracted through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Severance taxes are based on well production and gas prices. A 5 percent severance tax on the extracted gas in 2013 would have raised almost twice as much as the $224.5 million impact fee.
There is no guarantee higher taxes would raise more revenue than the impact fee, said Patrick Henderson, Corbett's deputy chief of staff and energy executive. Higher taxes could drive gas drilling to shut down, he said.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, the leading advocacy group for the natural gas industry, opposes a higher tax or fee because companies already pay other normal business taxes.
"It's also important to recognize that these fees are in addition to the Commonwealth's already substantial tax burden on job creators in the energy industry," Marcellus Shale Coalition President Dave Spigelmyer said in a statement.
But the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, which advocates for taxation that raises sufficient revenue for quality public services, said the impact fee benefits gas companies at the expense of taxpayers.
"For Pennsylvania residents, [Friday's] announcement is just a reminder that we are shortchanged by the failure of our elected leaders to enact an adequate severance tax," the center's executive director, Sharon Ward, said in a statement.
As gas production and gas prices increase, the impact fee loses value, according to a report issued last month by the Legislature's Independent Fiscal Office, which matches the findings of a Morning Call report published in February. - The Morning Call, 4/4/14
And support for the tax is growing on both sides:
http://www.delcotimes.com/...
Slapping Pennsylvania’s booming natural gas industry with a new tax has long been the currency of Democrats, and now an increasingly grim budget picture is turning Republican heads in the GOP-controlled state Legislature.
Some Republicans in the Capitol are predicting that a tax on natural gas extraction could end up in whatever final budget legislation emerges, probably in late June. The multinational industry has been a lightning rod since it arrived in Pennsylvania five years ago, and raising taxes on it would be preferable to cutting aid to schools or the poor, some Republicans say.
One obstacle is Gov. Tom Corbett. The Republican has publicly opposed a tax on the industry, both before and after he was persuaded by the Legislature’s Republican leaders to sign legislation in 2012 that imposed an impact fee on the industry.
Still, the tax-like impact fee is equivalent to a much lower tax rate than many other gas-producing states charge the industry, and the issue of raising taxes on Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry is popular in opinion surveys. - DelCo Times, 4/20/14
And Democrats running against Corbett see this as a political winner:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
Tom Corbett is very proud of Pennsylvania's fracking boom, and the Republican governor hopes to ride it to a second term in office.
Democrats have other plans: They think they can use the boom—or rather, Corbett's handling of it—to oust the incumbent.
And therein lies the energy messaging war of this state's hotly contested gubernatorial race. Corbett says he's been a catalyst for jobs and development tied to the state's natural-gas production surge. But Democrats say the governor's cozy relationship with the industry is leaving citizens on the short end of the stick as the state gives up its gas supplies.
To that end, every Democrat in the crowded primary race want energy companies to pay a new tax on their natural-gas production. The proceeds from the proposed "severance" tax on the value of gas produced would help fund education, infrastructure, and other needs.
Many other energy-producing states have such a policy, and Democrats argue that by refusing to push for one in Pennsylvania, the governor is giving energy companies a break at the expense of other critical needs.
The party thinks it's a winning line of attack. "I've seen a lot of internal polling. There's a reason that all the candidates are talking about it," said Dan Fee, a Democratic consultant who is not affiliated with any candidates.
The tax battle is playing a prominent role in the effort to unseat the vulnerable Corbett, who as of February held a 36 percent approval rating and trailed his Democratic rivals in a Quinnipiac University poll.
Whether or not Democrats' energy attacks are successful, the fact they are employing them at all underscores the changes fracking has brought to the state. - National Journal, 4/14/14
I'm still waiting to see who will emerge as the winner of the Democratic primary. I think any of the four Democrats would make a great candidate but I'm waiting to see who emerges the winner. Whoever wins will have my full support. In the mean time, if you want to donate and get involved with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, you can do so here:
http://www.padems.com/