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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ecommerceman who wrote (127721)	2/17/2001 4:35:13 PM
From: mst2000	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

ecommerceman - DMA's viewpoint is worse than laughable. Elimination of the estate tax will hurt the poor far more than its existence does -- because it makes it less likely that a person of moderate means can become rich when the children of the rich, who have earned nothing on their own, begin their adult lives with such a ridiculous economic advantage -- and it will reduce philanthropy, which helps the poor, since the estate tax is one of the greatest reasons why the rich are as philanthropic as they are at the time of their death. If they want to eliminate the effect of the estate tax on family farms or small family businesses, increase the exemption to $2-3 Million over 10 years, or better yet, make a family business exception that exempts from the tax a business under $5 Million that has been held within a family for more the 20 years. But to eliminate the estate tax as a whole is nuts, and little more than a windfall to the 650 multimillionaires who funded Dubya's election campaign in the last election (and to the Bush family itself). Last point - as somebody said recently, eliminating the estate tax would be analogous to choosing Olympic athletes from only the children of former Olympic champions rather than choosing the best athletes on the basis of merit. It is difficult enough for the children of the middle and working class to rise from their economic circumstances to attain the American dream (at least materialistically) -- building in even greater advantages for the children of privilege does nothing to help the middle class, the working class, or the family farmer. Another ripe piece of right wing propaganda. MST