FROM THE ‘MATH IS HARD’ SCHOOL OF POLITICAL THOUGHT: Pennsylvania governor proposes new taxes on natural gas.

The cost of natural gas – as well as the profits from same – is at historic lows right now, and Pennsylvania’s drillers have to look long and hard at the bottom line before drilling a new well.

Now here’s a question for the Governor… if the energy company is barely making a profit and you drive up their production costs by 5% at the wellhead, what do you think happens next? The answer is… nothing. As in they don’t drill a new well. Now, let’s move on to the bonus round, Governor. Feel free to take out your calculator because I wouldn’t want to strain your gray matter with the harder forms of math. How much revenue do you think the state will bring in from a well that never gets drilled?

Contrary to the liberal view of mathematics, 5% of nothing is still nothing.