It's gas prices, stupid!
By RightMichigan.com Posted in Barack Obama | Breaking News | Detroit | drill | John McCain | Michigan | oil | refinery | taxes | www.RightMichigan.com — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.
With the Barackstar insisting that gas prices need to continue their incremental rise, apparently attempting to teach us the "hard way" about energy independence John McCain is making waves this morning with a different solution to the same problem. He's got a new proposal to offer big-time tax incentives to Detroit's Big 3 ($5,000 a vehicle) for every flex-fuel auto they produce and sell along with a bigger prize, a $300,000,000 payday for the man or woman who can develop an automobile battery that'd be powerful enough to send a car screaming down the road and inexpensive enough to mass produce.
Toss in Obama's scathing rebuke of Michigan's largest employers during his appearance at the Detroit Economic Club a year ago and his insistence on new fuel economy standards that are expected to add as much as $5,000 to the cost of every automobile rolling off the line in the motor city and you start to get the idea these guys aren't on the same page. What a difference a candidate makes.
Unfortunately for the Senator from Illinois the gas-price news gets worse. That incremental price hike he so desperately wants is going to have to mow through at least one more buffer as the DEQ finally approved a refinery expansion in the D. The Ivory Tower reports that if nothing else the new capacity is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs and 135 new full-time jobs by 2010 while increasing the nation's ability to refine oil from Canada.
No new refineries have been built in the United States for 30 years. That lack of refining capacity is a contributor to high oil prices, because it creates bottlenecks in supply, experts say.
Last October, the City Council approved a generous package of tax incentives to get Marathon executives to expand in Detroit, rather than in Minnesota or Illinois. Marathon got a total of $186 million in tax exemptions and credits spread over 10 years...
A relatively minor expansion of one refinery isn't guaranteed to drive down the cost of a gallon of gas in Newport Beach but it's a big move for Michigan. Not only does it represent a few jobs amidst a Democrat-spawned 8.5% unemployment rate but it'll increase supply right here in the Wolverine State.
If you ever watch the nightly news you probably get as frustrated as I do when you see the shocking headlines that gas has reached a new, unthinkably high national average that's still three cents a gallon less than you just paid to fill your tank. Michigan's gas prices are consistently among the highest in the nation. The reason? In part it's because we're a peninsula. We're literally not on the road TO anywhere. To come to Michigan one must intend, specifically, to come to Michigan. That means tanker trucks carrying gasoline to service stations have to make special trips and detours just to get in-state.
With increased refining capacity right here ON the peninsula the extra gas Marathon starts spitting out won't need the extra trip. Will it even dent the national average? Nope. Will it dent the Michigan average? It just might. Which would help, what with the Democrats in Lansing trying to raise taxes again, this time by expanding Michigan's unique bottle deposit law. State Government currently makes nearly $17 million a year in profit on the tax so why not cast a wider net?
Interestingly, though, according to the Detroit News, the only state in the Great Lakes region with a bottle law (us) still manages to have the lowest overall recycling rate. That couldn't have anything to do with the fact that we've brought up an entire generation believing that the only reason one should recycle is because you can get a dime at the supermarket on select items but nada on others, is it? Nah, couldn't be.
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Can we use it to drive out some freshmen Dems who have voted against offshore drilling?
One would hope so.