Executive Action on DVD

[John Simkin]

In a 1974 essay published in Jump Cut, a "reviewer of contemporary media," Fred Kaplan writes:

The most blatant manifestation of this milieu can be seen in the film, EXECUTIVE ACTION. Not a disguised fiction hidden behind veils of pseudonyms, this is a scenario of the JFK assassination itself. On paper, it’s a heavyweight project, written by Dalton Trumbo from a book by conspiracy freaks Mark Lane (Rush to Judgment) and Donald Freed (The Glasshouse Tapes), directed by David Miller, who helped out Trumbo in his blacklisted days.

There are whoppers all through this movie. Perhaps the biggest begins to strike us ten minutes through the plot. Namely, these businessmen (squintingly sinister and coldly unidentified) have many connections and great power, enough to pull together a grand conspiracy and an equally magnificent cover-up, stealing civil defense code books and disconnecting the D.C. phone lines to get the gunmen out of the country, and knocking off 18 witnesses to keep it hushed up. Thus one would think that they'd also be able to bargain for group-interest privileges, as they have throughout modern history, without having to resort to such risky dealings.

This is indeed what happened. During the 1960 presidential election JFK gave his support for the oil depletion allowance. In October, 1960, he said that he appreciated "the value and importance of the oil-depletion allowance. I realize its purpose and value... The oil-depletion allowance has served us well."

However, two years later, Kennedy decided to take on the oil industry. On 16th October, 1962, Kennedy was able to persuade Congress to pass an act that removed the distinction between repatriated profits and profits reinvested abroad. While this law applied to industry as a whole, it especially affected the oil companies. It was estimated that as a result of this legislation, wealthy oilmen saw a fall in their earnings on foreign investment from 30 per cent to 15 per cent.

On 17th January, 1963, President Kennedy presented his proposals for tax reform. This included relieving the tax burdens of low-income and elderly citizens. Kennedy also claimed he wanted to remove special privileges and loopholes. He even said he wanted to do away with the oil depletion allowance. It is estimated that the proposed removal of the oil depletion allowance would result in a loss of around $300 million a year to Texas oilmen.

The Texas oil multi-millionaires understandably considered themselves to be betrayed and felt they had the right to kill the man who had broken his promise.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKoildepletion.htm

[Jim Phelps]

FYI

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840408,00.html#ixzz1WqsYvY3z

Nation: Where the Kennedy Money Is

Nov. 28, 1969

""Kennedy began investing in oil in the late 1940s, principally to gain the tax break supplied by the oil depletion allowance. Kennedy's original partner, Tulsa Petroleum Engineer Raymond F. Kravis, remains a co-investor and an adviser on operations. He describes the Kennedy investment as "a big small company," amounting to some $10 million and producing an annual gross income of about $ 1,000,000.""