Here's an example of what a joke the concept of "equal protection under the law" has become: If you pick up a copy of the Internal Revenue Code, you can read the custom-tailored tax law written for AIG. It states, in part, that this section of the new tax law will apply to everyone except "any controlled foreign corporation which on August 16, 1986, was a member of an affiliated group (as defined in section 1504(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 without regard to subsection (b)(3) thereof) which had as its common parent a corporation incorporated in Delaware on July 9, 1967, with executive offices in New York, New York." AIG was incorporated in Delaware on July 9, 1967, and has its executive offices in New York. That little provision and a similarly arcane clause written for another big insurer --Cigna-- were worth an estimated $20 million to the two companies. They would have been obliged to pay that much in taxes had not a friendly, but anonymous, member of Congress's tax-writing committees inserted the exemption into law. Bartlett & Steele -- America: Who Stole The Dream -- Phil Mattison Ohmikron Corp. 480-722-9595 602-820-9452 Mobile