Huge Bonanza - Not Taxing the Dead

From Bloomberg - Senate Republicans won one of their top priorities in tax-cut negotiations with President Barack Obama by securing what would be the second-lowest U.S. estate tax in 80 years. That victory has now become a focal point for House Democrats, who are venting over what they say is a poor deal that gives a disproportionate amount of benefits to the very rich while padding deficits. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California described the estate tax plan yesterday as “a bridge too far,” and one of her lieutenants, Maryland Representative Chris Van Hollen, called it a “huge bonanza.” “The estate tax has really put people over the edge,” said Representative Allyson Schwartz, a Pennsylvania Democrat and a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Democrats as diverse as Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who belongs to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, cited the estate tax as a factor in their decisions to oppose Obama’s proposal. Read full story here:

Huge Bonanza - Not Taxing the Dead