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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (188905)	6/8/2006 8:04:08 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

Some of wealthiest say go ahead, tax us usatoday.com <<...In opposing the estate tax, the Waltons have joined a battle made unusual by the fact that some rich families take the opposite stance. Supporters of the estate tax include William Gates Sr., father of Microsoft's co-founder, and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway. The younger Gates, the world's richest person, is worth $46.5 billion; Buffett is No. 2, with $44 billion, says Forbes. (Related: Wal-Mart family lobbies for tax cuts) Tax opponents, like the Waltons, include 65 families organized by the private Policy and Taxation Group of Santa Ana, Calif. It declines to identify the families. The group spent $800,000 lobbying Congress last year, public documents show. Government watchdogs say the group has included the winemaking Gallos of California and the candymaking Mars family of New Jersey and Virginia. The Gallos are worth $950 million and the Mars family, $20 billion, Forbes says. A Gallo spokesman said the tax is "not a priority for them." The Mars family declined to comment. The tax is now collected after death on stocks and other assets worth more than $1.5 million that aren't left to a spouse. This year's maximum rate for the tax is 47%. About 2% of all estates are hit with the tax, says Responsible Wealth, a non-profit group that supports the tax. It says the rich should pay the tax because they owe a special societal debt. Their riches, often from entrepreneurial ventures, wouldn't be possible, the argument goes, without taxpayer-supported schools, regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other basic infrastructure helping fuel business start-ups. The tax dates to 1916 and the era of big corporate trusts. Responsible Wealth and others say it keeps wealth from concentrating in too few hands, threatening democracy...>>