Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Income Taxes

Note 10 — Income Taxes

The Company's corporate organizational structure requires the filing of two separate consolidated U.S. Federal income tax returns. As a result, taxable income of one return cannot be offset by tax attributes, including net operating losses, of the other return.

The effective income tax rates for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 were 31.0% and 13.5%, respectively. Fluctuations in effective tax rates are impacted by non-cash changes in the fair value of the Company's warrant liability, a permanent tax difference with no associated income tax impact and by deferred tax asset valuation allowances. Future changes in estimates of taxable income could result in a significant change in the valuation allowance.

As of March 31, 2012, one group had a net deferred tax asset of approximately $18.9 million. The Company continues to maintain a full valuation allowance for this net deferred tax asset.