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Earlier this week, the Obama Administration unveiled plans to pay for its $450 billion jobs plan.  In a speech at the White House earlier this week, President Obama held a copy of the “American Jobs Act” and touted that the jobs stimulus plan would be paid in full by taxing middle income Americans and repealing vital tax incentives for the U.S. oil and gas industry.

Specifically, the Administration plans to limit itemized deductions for families with taxable income of $250,000 or more a year, which is estimated to raise over $400 billion over the next ten years.  The other $45 billion will come from repealing oil and gas tax incentives such as the intangible drilling deduction, the domestic manufacturing deduction, and the percentage depletion deduction.

Since his campaign in 2008, President Obama has relentlessly worked to repeal these tax deductions that most oil and gas producers depend on heavily.  For decades, these tax breaks have generated high-paying and long-term jobs for millions of Americans while ensuring the exploration and production of low-cost energy for all U.S. consumers.

In his unveiling speech, President Obama asked, “Do we keep tax loopholes for oil companies, or do we put teachers back to work? Should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or should we invest in education and technology and infrastructure?”

Of course, we all want to see advancements in technology and investments in our country.  However, the question we should ask ourselves is who can most effectively make those investments and grow them into viable opportunities and markets.

The idea that the federal government can tax certain individuals and reallocate those dollars generated to invest in other businesses does not only go against the American foundation of a free and fair market, it makes absolutely no economic sense.  It is only the marketplace that can effectively determine viable technologies and generate jobs and economic growth.

If there is a prime example where government investments into the private market have failed, we should look no further than the continued collapse of “green” energy companies nationwide.  The recent $530 million bankruptcy of Solyndra, a California based solar panel manufacturer, is one of a number of investments made with tax dollars that have gone belly-up after competing in the open market.  This example is very important given the fact that Solyndra was viewed as the poster child for the Administration’s plans to grant guaranteed loans to businesses of their choosing.

As these subsidized business failures prolong, the Administration has continued its support of a $38.6 billion loan guarantee program within the Energy Department that it claimed would create 65,000 jobs.  In a recent article, the Washington Post reported that over the two-year period since the program was implemented, only 3,545 new, permanent jobs have been generated after giving out almost half the allocated amount.

My father once told me, “When you’ve worked hard and purchase something on your own, you will then learn how to account and take care of it.”  His statement rings true today and should be applied to our dealings in the economy.   If we continue to invest in businesses that have no accountability and take little to no capital risk in the market, our economy will remain in the doldrums.

Last night, President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress to discuss his plan to generate jobs, instill some sense of confidence in the market, and give a greatly needed jolt to the U.S. economy.  What was meant to be the “speech of all speeches” turned out to be politically charged campaign rhetoric designed to place the deteriorating economic situation on a do-nothing Congress.

For the first time, the President acknowledged the fact that our nation’s economy has stalled.  And in an effort to get it going again, President Obama will propose his “American Jobs Act” as the solution to our stagnant economy.

From what was relayed in his speech, the “American Jobs Act” calls for approximately $450 billion to be spent over the next year on a number of initiatives that include infrastructure projects, tax credits for employee raises, an extension of jobless insurance, and money for the hiring of teachers nationwide.

First, let’s discuss the positives.  To the President’s credit, he showed a willingness to work side by side with American businesses and acknowledged that there are many over-burdensome regulations that hinder business growth.   His jobs plan calls for tax credits for business owners that hire unemployed workers and a 50% payroll tax cut for small businesses.  These are certainly positive solutions that will support our business community and stimulate the economy.

Now, let’s talk about the bad news.  What was missing from the speech was an explanation as to how he will find the money to pay for these initiatives.  How do we generate nearly one-and-a-half trillion dollars at the same time the Congressional “Super Committee” searches for over $1.5 trillion in cuts?  Have we forgotten that our nation is bankrupt?  Have we also forgotten that nearly 42% of Americans arenâ•˙t paying any taxes?

Let’s take a look at some numbers.  Currently, there are 14 million Americans that are unemployed.  Approximately, 7.17 million of those  potential workers are collecting unemployment insurance. Nearly 2.4 million jobs have been lost since President Obama took the oval office. The jobless rate in the U.S. has hovered around 9.0% or higher for 26 of the past 28 months.  A good sign of how bad things are is the fact that long-term unemployment is at its highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

So, for the sake of the argument, let’s assume that President Obamaâ•˙s re-election depends on gaining back those jobs that have been lost.  Letâ•˙s also assume that raising taxes in an economic depression is political suicide.  With that said, what if an industry could offer cutting those unemployment numbers in half?

Releasing the stranglehold on America’s oil and gas industry can generate those jobs and ensure sound economic growth without one tax increase.

In its recent study, the American Petroleum Institute found that U.S. policies which encourage the development and exploration of natural resources could, by 2030, increase domestic oil and natural gas production by over 10 million boed, generate 1.4 million jobs, and raise over $800 billion in government revenue.

In his speech, President Obama called for more products sold around the world stamped with the slogan, “Made in America.”  While our manufacturing sector has a long way to go, let’s start simple by ensuring that the energy we consume here at home has the stamp, “Produced in America.”