Marathon Pundit: Punishing oil companies means fewer American jobs

Friday, August 27, 2010

Punishing oil companies means fewer American jobs

Once again I have to ask, what happened to President Obama's laser-focus on jobs?

Obama's jobs-killing agenda includes cap and trade, the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, letting the Bush tax cuts expire, and the 1099 form provision of ObamaCare.

Here's another: The possible elimination of a tax exemption for oil and gas firms, as the San Francisco Examiner explains:

Higher gas prices, fewer jobs and a competitive advantage for foreign energy firms. Congress needs to consider these consequences before signing off on President Obama's proposal to remove the domestic oil and gas industry's exemption from taxation of income earned overseas. Under Section 199 of the Internal Revenue Code, U.S. businesses are allowed to write off the cost of taxes they pay on overseas earnings as a foreign tax credit. Under Obama's proposal, that exemption and many others would be removed, but only from domestic energy companies, including giants such as ExxonMobil and the legions of wildcatters, oil-field equipment suppliers, and other smaller firms in the industry. By eliminating the foreign tax credit for U.S.-based oil and gas companies, the federal government would be taxing them twice on income for which they also pay foreign levies. Foreign-owned competitors could gain a significant competitive advantage.