Your tax dollars at work

You can help this billionaire, or you can turn the page . . .

Yes, that’s right folks, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen, owner of various sports teams and some really big boats, is lined up to be a conspicuous beneficiary of the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Payback Scheme for Democratic Special Interests, sometimes referred to by its sponsors as a “stimulus package.” The Business Insider explains how it works:

* Allen owns a majority stake in cable provider Charter Communications.
* Charter Communications this month said it would reduce its debt load by $8 billion and enter Chapter 11.
* Normally, partners at a firm like Charter Communications would have to pay taxes on the amount of debt forgiven in this process, which is, in a sense a one-time income windfall. Tax law calls it a “deemed distribution.”
* But under the new bill, companies like Charter Communications will be able to avoid paying taxes on forgiven debt until 2014. Even then, Paul will have until 2018 to pay it completely off.
* Paul owns about half of Charter, so his share of the Charter Commuincations’ $8 billion debt forgiveness is around $4 billion. At a tax rate of 25%, Allen could avoid paying as much as $1 billion in taxes until 2014, tax expert Robert Willens told the WSJ.

Think about that the next time you look at the various taxes that are listed on your paycheck. Chances are, some of that money is going into Paul Allen’s coffers.
(h/t The Drudge Report.)