And because lease-sale revenues and royalties from energy production are a significant source of revenue to the federal treasury, increasing Gulf Coast energy exploration is crucial to addressing our nation’s fiscal crisis.
It won’t be easy to balance the federal budget and rein in the trillion-dollar deficits of the Obama administration, but a few simple changes can help. The president can start by allowing energy producers to buy the leases they want and by giving them the permits they need to develop the resources that fuel our economy.
It’s not complicated. As the president is fond of saying, “It’s just math.”
Sen. David Vitter (La.) is the No. 2 Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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