Like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, oil spill victims are about to get kicked by the IRS while they are down.
According to a recent Associated Press report, payments by British Petroleum to oil spill victims will be taxed as regular income.
The same report quoted several Gulf Coast residents as saying that the money has been entirely spent to make house payments and keep food on the table. They are understandably angry that they will be billed by the IRS for what little help has arrived.
After Katrina, many New Orleans residents found that the shortage of carpenters made rebuilding their homes within arbitrary IRS time deadlines impossible.
To wait meant that insurance company payments would count as taxable income and a lot of people chose to rebuild in other cities where carpenters and homebuilders were not in such short supply. It hurt New Orleans and hurt our citizens.