Stop the repeal of the Estate Tax!

[deafdyke]

Just thought I'd post this here.......
Dear MoveOn member,
As soon as the Senate returns to Washington in September, they'll be voting on the permanent elimination of the Estate Tax for the richest 2 percent of Americans.1 Our federal deficit already exceeds $400 billion,2 if the Estate Tax is repealed millionaires will save another $1 trillion dollars in the first ten years and that tax burden will shift to ordinary Americans and future generations.3 The vote will be really close, Republican leaders are just one or two votes away.

Responsible Democratic senators have been able to hold the line on the Estate Tax for some time, but now a few Democrats are starting to waver. They continue to feel heat from President Bush and the tax-cut lobby, but they haven't heard from you. That's why we're launching an emergency petition to let the Senate know that we're paying attention and are ready to hold them accountable. If we can gather 200,000 signatures by next week, we will deliver them to senators in key states.

Will you sign our petition before the Senate vote?

http://political.moveon.org/estatetax/?id=5934-2482199-2nwF6NjXlqJDqWCCmZLsqg&t=3

Eliminating the Estate Tax amounts to an assault on middle class America. Losing over $1 trillion in tax revenue at a time when the federal deficit already exceeds $400 billion is a big deal—it is money that we're currently investing in education, tuition assistance, Social Security, Medicaid and so many other critical programs. Simply put, eliminating the Estate Tax forces working Americans and our children to pick up a trillion dollar tab that used to be paid by the wealthy. President Bush and his allies in Congress are telling us it is more important for them to protect Paris Hilton's inheritance than to protect us.

Even as President Bush tells us we can't afford to pay out Social Security, even during a time of war, he wants to give more to the super-rich at the expense of the rest of us and our children. Republicans are well known for passing laws that benefit their friends—and eliminating the Estate Tax will personally benefit President Bush, Vice President Cheney and 11 other cabinet members up to $344 million.4 Democrats shouldn't be helping them; they should be fighting for all of us.

Here are some facts about the Estate Tax:

Currently, only 2 percent of the wealthiest families in America pay an Estate Tax.5
Contrary to Bush's rhetoric, repealing the Estate Tax could actually hurt many small farms and businesses.6
Many of the super-rich farmers that are affected by the estate tax aren't really farmers at all—they're rich people who own farms and ranches and live elsewhere.7
Repealing the Estate Tax would cost us over $1 trillion in the first 10 years, and the burden of the tax income lost from collecting this tax from the richest Americans will be shifted to the working middle class.8
Repealing the Estate Tax will severely hurt charities and non-profits.9
As Newsweek put it, eliminating the Estate Tax would "create a new class of landed aristocrats who could inherit billions tax-free, invest the money, watch it compound tax-free and hand it down tax-free to their heirs."10 The Estate Tax has successfully worked to limit the concentration of wealth and level the playing field by ensuring that the richest Americans pay their fair share for close to 90 years. We should be working to increase opportunities for working people, not make it easier to pass wealth from generation to generation for free.

Just last week, hundreds of thousands of us gathered to honor the sacrifices made by our soldiers in Iraq—and their moms and families. Many military families still struggle to raise enough money to send body armor to their sons and daughters in Iraq, yet Congress is poised to pass a tax break for their wealthy friends. With all the problems we face today, saving money for billionaires should not be a priority.

Bush has weighed in and his tax-cut lobbying machine has, too—will you? Click here to sign the petition:

http://political.moveon.org/estatetax/?id=5934-2482199-2nwF6NjXlqJDqWCCmZLsqg&t=4

Thanks for all you do,

—Eli, Nita, Tom, Jennifer and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Friday, August 26th, 2005

P.S. After you sign the petition, the most important thing you can do is forward this to your friends.

Sources:

1. United for a Fair Economy Fact Sheet: Who Pays the Estate Tax
http://www.faireconomy.org/estatetax/ETWhoPays.html

2. Center for American Progress: Progress Report, April 13, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=852


3.Center for American Progresss: Tax Dodging
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=851


4. House Committee on Democratic Reform Fact Sheet: Estimated Tax Savings of Bush Cabinet if the Repeal of the Estate Tax Is Made Permanent
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=850

5. United for a Fair Economy Fact Sheet: Who Pays the Estate Tax
http://www.faireconomy.org/estatetax/ETWhoPays.html

6. United for a Fair Economy Fact Sheet: Estate Tax and Family Farms
http://www.faireconomy.org/estatetax/ETFarms.html

7. United for a Fair Economy Fact Sheet: Estate Tax and Family Farms
http://www.faireconomy.org/estatetax/ETFarms.html

8. CBPP: House to Vote on Permanent Repeal of Estate Tax
http://www.cbpp.org/4-12-05tax.htm

9. United for a Fair Economy Fact Sheet: Estate Tax and Charitable Giving
http://www.faireconomy.org/estatetax/ETCharity.html

10. "Why Your Tax Cut Doesn't Add Up," Newsweek, April 12, 2004
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4660655/site/newsweek/

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[diehardbiker]

These taxes needs to be repeled BECAUSE it DOES effect on lower and middle class. Does not make any effect on rich people.

I have seen the stress of these kinds of taxes on middle class people!

WHen somebody dies, and leave you estate, but no cash, you STILL need to come up with cash to pay taxes or lose that estate! Is this fair tax? I don't think so!

Whats more... The startling evidence shows, that when taxes is cut, of course the deficit will increase, BUT eventually it WILL shrink back! HOW?

The answer is simple, because rich people have more money in "Spending budget" thus willing to hire people to work for them, and viola! taxes is generated!

Increases taxes, meaning forcing rich people to take out "Spending" money PLUS "investment" money so therefore rich people WILL shift that money back to spending money BY cutting off people who work for them, then those people that lost job go back to government office to collect unemployment checks and other benefits that covers their loss... See how the "Cause and effect"? There is NO way we can screw with rich people NO MATTER how hard we try. They WILL always win. So be nice to them, they will be nice back to us.

In history that I have studied and watched, for every tax increases, the gov't debts mushrooms! New York State has the highest taxes in the nations, and guess what? They have the highest DEBTS!!! California is the next! Whats more, there are states with lowest taxes has the smallest debts or none at all.
Go figure!

 

[Reba]

We need to repeal the estate tax.

I would also like to see all income taxes gone.

We need to have the Fair Tax plan instead.

http://www.fairtax.org/

 

[sequoias]

The govt is eating itself up! That's all I can say.

 

[diehardbiker]

You got that right and hard.

Problem I see in our Gov't system is lack of dynamics! Without dynamics, they are doom to fail! Our Gov't is setting themself for collapse anytime soon, UNLESS they realize and must quit going on concrete establishment!

Good example, in Montana you could make 35k a year, and have same level of living cost as in Massachusetts when earning 100k a year, yet Uncle same view these Masshole as rich people and considered Montanaians poor people. So tax rates for masshole is three times more than Montana, is that fair? I don't think so! What we need to do is based on cost of living adjustment, that way, anyone in Montana earns more than 35k is considered rich, while in Masshole 95k a year considered as middle class. Then that would be fair.

The govt is eating itself up! That's all I can say.

 

[sequoias]

Great example there. I do think they need to have fair taxes depending on cost of living adjustment, not what they earn all over the states, it can be confusing but will get used to it overtime.

California is already in tax burden because they owe more than 35-40 billion in the hole. They messed it up big time and it's going to be a long time for them to catch up if they DO something about it.

You got that right and hard.

Problem I see in our Gov't system is lack of dynamics! Without dynamics, they are doom to fail! Our Gov't is setting themself for collapse anytime soon, UNLESS they realize and must quit going on concrete establishment!

Good example, in Montana you could make 35k a year, and have same level of living cost as in Massachusetts when earning 100k a year, yet Uncle same view these Masshole as rich people and considered Montanaians poor people. So tax rates for masshole is three times more than Montana, is that fair? I don't think so! What we need to do is based on cost of living adjustment, that way, anyone in Montana earns more than 35k is considered rich, while in Masshole 95k a year considered as middle class. Then that would be fair.

 

[diehardbiker]

Yes, exactly.

That is why Dynamic is SO SO SO important. As you see, all business are always in dynamic mode. In communist, it is opposite, and that is why Soviet was collapsed. They couldn't deal with the dynamics of customers.

I love Ross Perot's vision, he said that US gov't is TOO concrete with system.
He said that no business can handle concrete system. So therefore Gov't needs to go by dynamic and business like environments.

Other good example, once you work for uncle sam, you don't give DAMN about anything. Your supervisor will just say hello and bye. That is it, even if you did barely anything. No firing is going to happen UNLESS you were caught doing something illegal. Yes, that means if you made mistake and screw up a ttaxpayers and caused damages to this taxpayers. But because you are employee of uncle sam. NOTHING is gonna to happen to you. So your immune to them. On other hand, if you at private company, and made mistake... you can risk getting fired. Why can't Uncle sam fire those lazy rotten employees like private companies do?

Great example there. I do think they need to have fair taxes depending on cost of living adjustment, not what they earn all over the states, it can be confusing but will get used to it overtime.

California is already in tax burden because they owe more than 35-40 billion in the hole. They messed it up big time and it's going to be a long time for them to catch up if they DO something about it.