On the recordFebruary 25, 2010
The administration's new budget proposal will strangle small business. But there's one small business the new budget is targeting with both barrels: the small, independent mom-and-pop oil and gas producers. Getting energy out of the ground is a tough business, and it's expensive. These wildcatters hire a lot of people and risk a lot of their own money to find oil and natural gas. Banks don't lend money to these people for risky propositions; so a group of investors has to come together and risk their own money to drill in an oil or gas well, and the Federal Government gives incentives for taking this risk with a tax writeoff for part of their drilling expenses, because, frankly, America needs this energy. The removal of the tax deduction plus new taxes on all energy producers will be in the billions. But removal of tax deductions especially hurts small businesses that take the risk. Ninety percent of the wells drilled, owned, and operated in this country are independent small operators. Let me repeat. Ninety percent of the wells drilled, owned, and operated in this country are independent small operators. They're called the 'wildcatters.'
