9.  Income Taxes 

Income tax expense of $8.0 million and $35.4 million was recorded during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively.  Our effective tax rate for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 was 36.1% and 35.9%, respectively, and differed from the federal statutory rate of 35.0% primarily as a result of state income taxes.  Income tax benefit of $2.2 million and income tax expense of $34.0 million was recorded during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively.  The effective tax rate for the three months ended September 30, 2012 was 59.7%, which exceeded the amount computed at the statutory rate as a result of a decrease in our full year forecasted effective tax rate.  Our effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 was 38.0% and differed from the federal statutory rate primarily as a result of the recapture of deductions for qualified domestic production activities under Section 199 of the IRC as a result of loss carrybacks to prior years.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, we received refunds of $59.1 million and of which $9.5 million of these refunds have been accounted for as unrecognized tax benefits.  We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense.  During the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2013, we had less than $0.1 million of accrued interest related to our unrecognized tax benefit.  We did not have an unrecognized tax benefit at December 31, 2012.  As of September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, we had a valuation allowance related to state net operating losses.  The realization of these assets depends on recognition of sufficient future taxable income in specific tax jurisdictions in which those temporary differences or net operating losses are deductible.  The tax years from 2009 through 2012 remain open to examination by the tax jurisdictions to which we are subject.