State of the Union Address

[2centsworth]

What I read earlier today was (let's say) your company pays $5000 for health insurance. You are taxed on that $5000, but the $7500 (single person) deduction takes care of that (and then some).

That is flat out wrong! Health premiums are tax-free unless you are the business owner or partner (2% interest).

Always consult your CPA.

[boutons_]

the SPR is dipped into for all kinds of reasons, not just national emergencies:

"Emergency sales and loans

Oil has been released and sold in the open market under emergency conditions just twice, in 1991 and 2005. However, oil has also been temporarily loaned out or exchanged to private oil companies on several occasions, then returned to the reserve after the specified loan period including "premium barrels". These oil exchanges include an ARCO pipeline disruption in April 1996; an exchange of 11 million barrels (1,800,000 m³) of Maya crude oil for 8.5 million barrels (1,400,000 m³) of higher value crude oil in 1998; a dry dock collapse in June 2000 just north of the Intracoastal Waterway near Lake Charles, Louisiana used by CITGO and Conoco refineries; and temporary loans in response to supply disruptions following Hurricane Lili in 2002, Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

On August 31, 2005, President George W. Bush authorized the SPR to loan oil to help refineries whose operations had been affected by Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the President announced the sale of 30 million barrels to maintain supplies and calm markets. Katrina had shut down an estimated 95% of crude production and 88% of natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico. This amounted to a quarter of total U.S. output. About 735 oil and natural gas rigs and platforms had been evacuated due to the hurricane.

On April 25, 2006, President George W. Bush announced a temporary halt to petroleum deposits to the SPR in an attempt to alleviate high gas prices."


http://www.answers.com/topic/strateg...roleum-reserve

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Doubling the SPR is clearly another oilco-enriching boondoggle. The WH wants to make sure when the really hits the fan in the M/E, such being fundamental to the entire Iraq invasion reasoning, after the US retreats in defeat from Iraq, that the US oilcos will be able to obtain oil from the SPR at below-market costs and sell it at top-market prices.

US taxpayers buy the oil into the SPR from the oilcos, and then sell it back to them so the taxpayers can be gouged for windfall profits.

[xrayzebra]

I could just feel the love in Washington last night during his speech.
Couldn't you? Ah, bi-partnership.