We are not 'big oil' and can't afford more taxes
I disagree with Rep. Bill DeWeese's Feb. 23 letter ("Municipalities Must Benefit From Natural Gas").
It is not proper to tax oil and gas as real estate, because oil and gas deposits are fugacious substances that may move from one location to another through sandstone and shale. How can you tax, as real estate, something that may not be in the same place year after year? This was one of the rationales used by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in its 2002 decision against Fayette County.
Most of the traditional gas companies that have operated in the commonwealth for years are not "wealthy" but are independently owned and invest most of their free cash flow in new wells just to keep production from declining. We are not "big oil."
All wells are not created equal. The conventional gas and oil wells drilled in Pennsylvania are not as productive as wells drilled in other states where gas and oil production is taxed. Low-reserve, low-production wells simply cannot operate in the same tax climate as high-volume wells.
Pennsylvania's 9.99 percent corporate net income tax rate and 3.07 percent Pennsylvania income tax rate are among the highest in the country, and with natural gas and oil prices now at the lowest level in years, the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania simply cannot pay any new taxes.
Contrary to Mr. DeWeese's assertion, at $4/MCF (thousand cubic feet) gas prices, there may not be any Marcellus Shale "boom" in the near future; finding, operating and regulatory costs are simply too high.
TERRENCE S. JACOBS
President and CEO
Penneco Oil Company
Delmont
The wrong direction
Regarding the Feb. 26 column "In Defense of Government": E.J. Dionne Jr. was absolutely correct that President Barack Obama "is proposing nothing less than an ideological transformation" of the American system -- which, apparently, Mr. Dionne is very excited about.
Unfortunately, neither he nor President Obama seem to have read Amity Shlaes' history of the Great Depression, "The Forgotten Man." In the introduction Ms. Shlaes describes how the policies of Herbert Hoover and then especially FDR actually caused, then deepened and lengthened the Great Depression. Remember that in 1940, seven-and-a-half years after the start of the New Deal, unemployment was still in the double digits and the stock market did not reach its pre-1929 highs until almost 10 years after FDR's death or 22 years after the start of the New Deal.
Ms. Shlaes also describes how FDR arrogantly pushed through the New Deal while demonizing business and business leaders, fanned the flames of class warfare and humiliated and tried to silence any critics of his policies. The similarities between FDR's first 100 days and the first month of the Obama administration are chilling.
President Obama's policies are leading us into the next Great Depression. We can only hope that this time, instead of re-electing him after four years of failure, as we did with FDR, the country will wake up and realize that the solutions are not found in the government but in the power of private enterprise.
GREGG NISSLY
Peters
The sour GOP
Members of the current minority party in Washington have become Recalcitrant, Eco-hostile Public servants Usually Bickering Lamely In Congress And Nationally.
This is a sad fate for a once-grand old party -- all because some of its legislators are clinging to theories that recent events have shown do not work. They are like people sitting in a sinking boat, insisting that it can still float if we just bail hard enough.
The same theories prevailed in the 1920s, leading to an unhealthy ballooning of the economy similar to what we have seen recently, and the inevitable collapse. History repeats itself, they say, because nobody listens the first time. Unfortunately, the leadership then continued to insist that market forces would correct the situation. It was 38 months before the nation got new leadership that took appropriate action, but by then the problem had become much harder to correct.
Lucky for us, new leadership took office just four months after this collapse. It would behoove us, legislators and citizens alike, to help President Obama help us, rather than fight him tooth and nail.
A healthy democracy requires a healthy loyal, repeat loyal, opposition. If this sour-grapes attitude continues, I fear that the Republican Party will lose even more ground in the 2010 elections. The American people are awake now, looking at both the economy and the environment more clearly and more hopefully.
MARY ALICE SHEMO
Whitehall
Out of touch
In response to the Feb. 25 letter "A Business Essential" by Patrick J. Reidy: Mr. Reidy defends the use of corporate jets as essential for the security of top executives. I'm sorry but if money from the taxpayers is given to these banking institution, they need to find a more economical means for travel. If executives need security then they should pay for it themselves.
With more than 40 million people without health-care coverage and millions who have lost their jobs and retirement benefits, a jet for banking executives seems a little extreme. At some point, these people lost touch with the real world.
JIM PREMOSHIS
Fayette City
The writer is a member of Utility Workers Union of America, Local 102.
Let's fight for arts and education, which helped to save our region
I appeal to the people of Pittsburgh to remember the city in 1978, shortly after the steel mills closed.
The stillness. The unemployment. The empty factories. The crowded bars. The beautiful neighborhoods becoming places you were scared to walk through at night.
What saved us from that depression and caused Pittsburgh to be voted Most Livable City a few short years later? Three things: sports, arts and education.
The Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence are free, five-week residential programs in a specific subject area for high school students entering their senior year. Though the result is that their alumni become leaders in their fields, and though their cost is only .01 percent of the state budget, they might be axed ("Elite Summer School Program Facing Pa. Budget Ax," Feb. 4).
The stars have aligned to help: Kevin Bacon ('74), Alice Sebold ('79), and Zachary Quinto ('94) are not only alumni of PGSE but have publicly given it their support. Kevin Bacon said, "Programs like the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts are essential for the future of the arts in America, and the arts are vital to our culture and our economy."
There is no city for which this is more true than Pittsburgh: Our economy is dependent upon our world-famous universities and arts organizations. If they are allowed to crumble, we will return to 1978, and I don't know what will save us this time around.
Pittsburghers, please do not allow the best free education program in our state to be pulled out from under us. Please speak out for the Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence.
HESTER KAMIN
Director of Education
Hawaii Theatre
Honolulu, Hawaii
The writer, formerly of East Liberty, attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, Class of 1992.
Opportunities lost
It is my understanding that the Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence are being canceled this year. As a parent of a 2009 applicant, it is very distressing to think that the children worked so hard on their application requirements only to watch the deadline for (acceptance/rejection) notices pass by and not a word received.
Not only will these children not be going to PGSE this year, but the delay in finding out the status of the program has caused many of them to miss out on deadlines for other summer programs.
On the bright side: Pet projects such as Pittsburgh's North Shore Connector are alive and well in this economic crisis! I'll never figure that one out.
RENEE CHESNIC
Burgettstown
Can't wait to respond to our letter writers? Go to community.post-gazette.com/blogs.
We welcome your letters. Please include your name, address and phone number, and send to Letters to the Editor, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222. E-mail letters to letters@post-gazette.com or fax to 412-263-2014. Letters should be 250 words or less, original and exclusive to the Post-Gazette. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity and accuracy and will be verified before being published.
First Published: March 4, 2009, 5:00 a.m.
