Posted on 07/17/2005 5:22:53 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Oil industry greed cited by Dewhurst ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN (AP) - Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst believes the oil and petrochemical industry is being greedy in its opposition to a proposed bill that would reform the way businesses in the state are taxed.
Dewhurst, a Republican who presides over the state Senate, said special interest groups including the Texas Oil and Gas Association and the Texas Chemical Council are trying to kill legislation that would close tax loopholes exploited by some corporations in Texas.
The legislation is intended to help fix the state's ailing public school finance system.
"They're making themselves out to be the poster children for greed and hurting the school children, consumers and all Texas businesses," Dewhurst said Friday.
Telephone messages and e-mails to the Texas Oil and Gas Association and the Texas Chemical Council were not immediately returned to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Dewhurst said the industry looks particularly greedy because of the large profits they are making from record oil prices. He said proposed property tax reductions in the bill would actually benefit the companies.
The tax loophole allows companies that lease office space and are incorporated as limited liability corporations in tax-friendly states such as Delaware pay little in Texas taxes.
A Texas RINO? I didn't know there was such a thing but this guy sounds like one.
When Dewhurst was first elected land commissioner in 1998, he called himself a "George Bush Republican." When he ran for lt. governor in 2002, he made clear he stood with the public education lobby, or as he called it, "the children." Conservatives had little choice but to accept him anyway. Thus far, he appears to be facing little opposition for 2006.
You always have a choice, even if it's not voting.
Politicians never blame themselves, and rarely blame their predecessors, for laws that result in excessive spending or the growth of government. Texas, like most other states and certainly like the federal government, have reached the stage where everything that can go wrong is going to go wrong and that anything government does to fix it will inevitably make it worse. Government is both the least efficient and the worst possible way to do anything. Public education is an oxymoron. Education is a parental responsibility. As long as parents believe it is in their interests to turn the education of their children over to the state or as long as the state believes that it should co-opt parental responsibilities, Texas's problems are going to get worse. Dewhurst is smarter than a turnip; the unanswered question is how much smarter. Attacks on business like this one suggest that he might not be any smarter than most of the other jackasses that seek careers in politics.
How come cutting spending is never an option?
The Texas republican party has transformed into Dem Lites. The republicans are responsible for many, many new taxes coming to this state. They don't see a program in this state that deserves eliminating or cutting out altogether.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.