Government Whore

[Phil Mattison]

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