I since you cannot respond with a factual, logical argument you respond with an ad hominem attack.

My argument is based on principle, though, not what investments I may or may not have.

The severance tax case being discussed covers 7 years of tax payments. So, the refund(correction)annualized is small. There have been several severance tax cases go before the Alabama Supreme Court over the years. The state has never won a case…even when Democrats controlled the court.

Another item to consider. The state owns the natural gas in the offshore area. The state does not own the natural gas, oil or other minerals onshore. The state might have a few pockets of minerals here and there, but it is not significant at all. Small independent companies do most of the exploration onshore.

Who owns these minerals? Citizens, families and businesses own these minerals. It is a property right just like an acre of dirt is. These folks lease the minerals to companies who have the money to pay for drilling the wells. More often than not, the well is not commercially viable. If the well is good the mineral owner will receive royalty (provided for in a private contract)after expenses, which include the payment of taxes like severance.

So, jacking up severance taxes by any manner (value or volume) will take money out of the pockets of the mineral owners. By the way, the royalty income (which already has had taxes taken out) is also subject to income taxes.

Most large oil and gas producing states use a value system. Most of them have similar issues with working out the details of the taxable value of the product upon which the taxes are paid.

The best way to discourage domestic energy production at a time when we need it the most is to increase the cost of doing business in Alabama. Our state goes out of the way to throw money at manufactures to get them to locate here and invest billions in building their plants. The oil and gas industry has invested billions as well, but all some state leaders want is to beat up on them.

When you jack up severance taxes (by volume or value) you hit hundreds of independent producers and tens of thousands of Alabama citizens at the same time you take out your vengeance on Exxon.

And whether or not you recognize it, Folsom is using Exxon’s size against them by pointing out their “record setting profits.” Lot’s of companies make record profits all the time. I believe the company I work for recorded record profits last year, but that will never make the papers because we are quite small relative to Exxon. Large as it may be, Exxon is a dwarf in the global oil business and must be large to be competitive. With large companies comes large revenues and (hopefully) large profits. But the actual dollar amount is meaningless – it is profit margin that counts. For all the talk about Exxon’s “record profits” their profit margin is only about 10%, while 20-30% is quite common in some industries. When Folsom and other politicians speak of Exxon’s record profits they are attempting to win over the financially ignorant. I guess he hooked you.

(Aside, we should be applauding the fact that an American based company that hires lots of our citizens can be so successful, not demagoguing their “record profits” and concluding that they should bear a greater tax burden as a direct result of their success.)

And taxes on businesses are costs of business – costs that are reflected in higher prices for consumers, i.e. consumers effectively pay corporate taxes. This isn’t some “trickle down economics” notion. Two Democrat presidential candidates (Obama and Richardson) explicitly admitted during a recent debate that business taxes are borne by consumers.

And like I said in my post, the switch to a volume based system (like we pay) shouldn’t be made without careful consideration. That pricing method yields less revenue for Alabama than a value based system if prices keep rising.

Also, I linked to an article in my response where the state was found guilty of under refunding money related to oil taxes. I guess by Folsom’s logic the state should implement some punitive measure against itself.

WE the people are already paying high gas prices.

Related to this… Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom wants the legislature to change the oil and gas severance tax that ExxonMobil pays the state of Alabama “from a value based system to a volume based system. That way Exxon will have to pay the same way you do — based on what they pump.”

The size of the corporation has nothing to do with the matter. Should Exxon, or any other company, be punished for having the nerve to be large? And in the end consumers pay corporate taxes through higher prices.

Your thoughts are to verbose for me to fully comprend, but it appears as if you are for the big corporations, the present tax code and the trail lawyers who will benfit from “jackpot justice”,