Fuel Tax Increase to Balance State Budget?

   One politician proposal to help balance the state budget is a 6 cent increase in the gas fuel tax and 7 cents for deisel fuel. Many Oklahomans believe this tax increase will affect families and the middle class much more than it will affect billionaire CEO's and corporate executives. As an example, I drive about 20,000 miles each year in my job as a cattle rancher. If the truck I drive gets 10 miles to the gallon (which it does), and fuel costs increase 6 cents per gallon - my fuel costs will increase by $140. This is a tax increase which will greatly affect me personally as well as many others. Simple arithmetic was utilized in determining the $140 figure, but several corporatists claim the math is a "questionable financial claim" and "ignores reality" and even "undermines public confidence". So now, a simple statement of facts, is being chided for being untruthful. Corporate economists in the news media also claim that the state superintendent is "wildly imprecise" when she says schools will lose more than $100 million by June. I agree, as schools will likely lose closer to $150 million.
   The corporate media (not conservative, but progressive) is attempting to persuade the public that tax increases for individuals are good, but tax increases for corporations and billionaire executives are bad. Corporatists are making a concerted effort to hide the fact that raising the oil and gas production tax from 2% to 7% can increase state revenue by $350 million, instead of the paltry $178 million increase by raising taxes for individuals. Sure, billionaire oil executives such as Harold Hamm may lose several million dollars, and he certainly may become a poorer billionaire - but who has ever heard of a poor billionaire?
   Very simply, corporate lawmakers now outnumber conservatives and liberals added together at the capitol. I've learned some undeniable truths recently about our state budget catastrophe such as:
1) Corporate lawmakers have received $hundreds of thousands from both out-of-state corporations and corporate non-profits such as Citizens United.
2) Corporate lawmakers have received very few campaign donations from individuals in their respective districts.
3) Corporate lawmakers answer to money, not their district constituents who elected them to office.
4) Corporations and corporate non-profits now rule the capitol, not ordinary citizens.
An example of the "undeniable truths":
   Prior to the November 8 elections in 2016, a corporatist, conservative, and progressive running for the same state office interviewed with an anonymous group in order to obtain campaign support. Members of the anonymous group included corporate executives and corporate attorneys. The three candidates spoke to the group at different times and answered questions pertaining to corporate support if elected, support of teacher pay raises if elected, etc... When entering the room for the interview, each candidate observed that the amount of campaign fund support garnered by all three (up to the interview) was displayed. The corporatist candidate already had $30 thousand in support, while the progressive had substantially less and the conservative had virtually no support. A few weeks after the interviews, campaign ads began appearing which supported the candidacy of one - while hammering the candidacy of the other two. One candidate also received campaign donations from corporations in the interview room, while the other candidates received no campaign support. I'll leave up to everyone's imagination as to which candidates received what. Many political experts believe the anonymous group which rewarded one candidate in particular, is Citizens United - the clandestine corporate advocate group, which runs negative campaign ads across the nation in support of corporatist lawmakers.
   In the opinion of many economists, conservatives, accountants, and budgetary experts, Oklahoma is now in such a sad state of affairs, because of the fact that corporations (which are only concerned with their bottom line - profits) now rule the Oklahoma Capitol. This "Golden Rule" of corporatism (he who has the gold, makes the rules), is unlikely to change soon, as more and more corporatists are being elected to office in Oklahoma.