In The Marietta Times article entitled, "Weekly Election Wrap" on Aug. 13, current County Commissioner Cora Marshall is on the record in favor of a much maligned oil and gas severance tax proposal. Does Ms. Marshall really believe charging folks to extract natural resources they already own is good economic policy? Does she think it is good business? Does she think it is the right and just thing to do?
Don't get me wrong, this is not solely about Cora Marshall. The Republican governor supports the same sort of economically-damaging confiscatory tax. In all sincerity, I cannot believe both politicians seriously think this is the best way to get the Ohio economy moving. Instead, I believe they both suffer from a brand of ideological elitism that says government knows better what to do with our resources than we (the owners of those resources) do.
Ohio citizens already pay personal income tax, sales tax, property tax. Ohio businesses pay personal and corporate income tax, commercial activity tax, sales tax, (oil and gas producers also pay ad alorem, severance, and fuel use taxes). The bottom line is this, Ohio does not have a tax problem. Rather, it has a spending problem that stems from the mindset of re-distributionists like Democrat Cora Marshall and Republican John Kasich.
Here in Southeast Ohio we have one chance to get this oil and gas boom right. With the right people in place, I am confident we can follow the lead of South Dakota which is enjoying unprecedented economic growth while the rest of the nation struggles. With the right leaders, we can protect both consumers and the environment while putting in place business-friendly legislation. So I say, it is time to get rid of those in both parties who hold to the aphorism, "if it moves, tax it."
Manuel J. Rubio
Marietta
