Originally Posted by koop

Big Oil needed Bush’s help. Two of the industry’s sacred cows were in danger. One was a 27.5 percent tax depletion allowance, which dated back to 1926. The allowance benefited the oil industry by removing much of the financial risk investors faced when they invested in oil ventures, which required substantial start-up capital investment. Drillers argued that the risks of hitting a dry spot would be prohibitively high for most investors and national oil production would suffer if the allowance were repealed. /QUOTE]


The 27.5% allowance was in 1926 but the whole smelly mess was first introduced in 1913 at 5%. Also in 1913 Woodrow Wilson was president and if I'm not mistaken he was a dem. He also gets credit for handing over our monetary system to the devil.