Why buy a hamburger when you have steak at home? We spend billions each year buying oil when we have access to our own oil. The U.S. has oil and we could use it to better America. The U.S. should increase it's domestic production of oil. By doing so we could lessen our dependency on other countries, create more US jobs, and use the savings to boost the U.S. economy.
While it is evident and obvious that the more we do for ourselves (as a country) the less we will depend on others. Helping ourselves can have great side effects, one of them being more jobs for Americans. Not only would it create approximately 1.2 million (pg. 19) jobs, but better paying jobs. For example; Utahans that are employed by oil companies make almost twice as much per year as the average annual income of all other Utah residents. Not only will it create jobs stemming directly from the oil companies themselves, but it would create jobs within companies that build and support the oil companies.
More jobs and better income is great for America and its citizens, and even better for States and Federal Government. More jobs with better income means taxes, not just on the employees but the oil companies too. State and Government agencies would be able to tax the oil and be entitled to lease and royalty payments. The new taxes could total up to $18 billion for State and local areas, and $54 billion (pg. 19) for federal tax income. That could mean a total of $560 billion in State taxes, and $1.64 trillion in federal taxes over a 30 yr period. That is a lot of money that can be put back into the U.S. economy.
Oil, black shiny liquid substance...OIL. When I hear the word "oil" I think "Middle East" (insert assumptive thinking). Upon research of my proposition to use more domestic oil, I was shocked to find that a majority of the oil we use comes from...us! We produce nearly 40% of the oil we use as a country. We receive more oil from Latin America and Canada than we do from the Middle East. Even though a majority of the oil used comes from us, America still spends around $400 billion per year on imported oil. That is a big chunk of U.S. tax dollars being spent on something we already have (Hamburger...Steak). If the U.S. increased domestic oil production by 10% it could be saving Americans $40 billion dollars each year. Increasing domestic oil could also mean a decrease in what we pay at the pump, thus saving more. If the U.S. were to increase its oil production it could become the top producer world wide, and possibly become self sufficient (as far as energy is concerned).
The U.S. could benefit greatly by increasing domestic oil. There would more jobs, better paying jobs, revenue created from royalties and taxes and, best of all we would become more independent from the oil monopolies.
