Kerry's 8% Royalty Plan on Western Miners Options

[gold_tutor]

August 10, 2004

KERRY PLAN WOULD EXPORT THOUSANDS OF HIGH PAYING MINING JOBS,
KILL WESTERN ECONOMIES

A proposal unveiled yesterday by Senator John Kerry to impose an eight percent royalty fee on minerals operations in the West would cost between 18,000 and 44,000 jobs and result in a net loss to the federal Treasury of $400 million to $500 million based on independent analyses. The $600 million dollars raised by the proposal would go to maintenance in the nation's parks and hoped-for jobs creation in associated service businesses.

"We support the National Parks, but funding minimum wage jobs on the backs of miners is bad economics and is bad for the country," National Mining Association President Jack Gerard said today. "Senator Kerry obviously has not done his math. He would destroy the highest paying jobs in Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, for example, to pay for entry-level service industry jobs and devastate mining communities throughout the West in the bargain."

"At the same time he is promoting energy independence, Senator Kerry would force minerals exploration and production off-shore and would increase our reliance on outside sources for the materials that are critical to our economic and national security," Gerard continued. "Local, state and federal tax revenues would be depleted by hundreds of millions of dollars as mining operations are forced into closure."

"This is the worst example of robbing Peter to pay Paul," Gerard concluded. The plan follows additional announcements made by the Kerry campaign on Monday to tax parts of American industry to pay for some of his recent campaign promises.

Copyright © 2004. National Mining Association. All rights reserved.

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And this "brainiac" wants to be Prez? Good Grief!!!!!
Doesn't the cardboard cut-out politician understand that if it ain't GROWN, it's MINED!
Cannardly wait t'hear his bright ideas fer the farmer/rancher/forester types....