Montana's energy industry supports economic growth

Our nation has dug itself into a debt problem. Years of going without any national budget whatsoever have taken their toll. When you don’t plan for how to spend, you overspend — every teenager with his first job knows that.

Congress hasn’t exercised any fiscal discipline, and now we owe so much money we can’t keep track of it all. It almost seems futile to put a dollar value next to our national debt, because it goes up so fast that every figure you calculate goes out of date before publication. Currently it’s $16.7 trillion. Tomorrow it will be more.

You read that right. Sixteen trillion. When government spends, it really spends.

That kind of debt problem did not happen over night. It is the result of decades of irresponsible spending and a complete lack of accountability. One government shutdown and thousands of press releases later, Congress still hasn’t solved the problem.

We have to wonder if the longer our national debt goes unaddressed, the closer we get to a last-ditch, unplanned desperation solution that will cause more problems than it solves.

As irritating as park closures and “closed” signs on government office doors was, the real impact is far more severe. The gridlock in Washington makes business people wonder what Washington’s missteps will do to their investments down the road.

It makes investors skittish and wary about investing in the United States. It’s hard to bet on the future when Congress can’t see past next week. The result is economic uncertainty, which leads to a lack of economic investment and growth.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that some decision-makers in Washington propose to solve our debt problem with higher taxes. That answer keeps coming up, and usually from the same people. If the government got itself into money trouble, just give it more money.

Fact is, a recent U.S. Treasury report stated that U.S. tax collections for this year are the highest ever. We don’t need to collect more taxes. More taxes will never be enough to fix our debt crisis. It will only make our existing problems worse.

Among the many proposals to deal with the debt by hefting up taxes is one that’s especially pernicious. There is talk about raising taxes on the American energy industry. Unfortunately, when taxes increase on energy companies, the cost is passed on to energy consumers.

Worse, investment in research and development efforts will decrease. At a time when America has the ability to achieve clean and safe energy independence, that decision would be a huge setback.

Higher taxes on the energy industry will only harm the average American citizen at the gas pump and grocery store. That means that the industry will be weaker and our ordinary American citizens will be paying higher costs to live their lives. That doesn’t solve the debt problem — it only makes it worse.

There is a solution to America’s national debt crisis that will actually make things better. First of all, Congress needs to cut spending. If Congress will break Washington’s addiction to government spending, our national debt will shrink.

Second, the energy industry that some want to punish with higher taxes is already leading the way. The energy industry is creating jobs, generating revenue, supplying power and putting America back to work.

In Eastern Montana, oilfield workers and coal miners are doing the hard jobs that make our whole nation more profitable. They’re also providing economic stability that will make it easier for people to invest in America.

Our energy industry is a strong horse pulling the wagon of America’s economy. This is not the time to hobble them. With a strong energy industry, reduced spending and fair, stable tax rates, America can solve its debt problem. I hope Washington is listening to that idea.

Rep. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, represents Montana House District 33 and serves as chairwoman of the House Education Committee and as a member of the House Taxation Committee.