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Make the Tax Cuts PERMANENT
And kill the death tax while you’re at it
Republicans are hoping to do one of the few good things they have done well: make President Bush’s tax cuts permanent. This will not only keep more money in the pockets of taxpayers, it is expected to generate more revenue and chop at the deficit.
It is believed that Bush’s tax cuts generated $100 billion in new tax revenues because taxpayers had more of their own money to invest, generating jobs that produced more tax revenues.
A popular target is the estate tax, known as the “death tax.” Remarks by Republican senators at a private session were made available to the public on March 20.
“And while we’re on the topic of taxes, you tell me what’s the most offensive tax of all,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). “This May I’ll bring the death tax to the Senate floor. And you have my word, I will do everything in my power to bury the death tax once and for all.”
“As a matter of principle, I don’t think death should be a taxable event,” said Sen. George Allen (R-Va.). “It is offensive that tax collectors hover like buzzards at a funeral. The death tax undermines the American dream and is unfair to working men and women, who save their whole lives to pass something meaningful to their children. That’s why we must work now to end the death tax for good. To paraphrase Virginia’s first governor, Patrick Henry, ‘there should be no taxation without respiration.’”
“We’re on a course to eliminate the death tax, which is socialism,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
The death tax is reduced steadily until 2010, when it is nothing. But if you are going to die, please do so before midnight, Dec. 31, 2010. After midnight—Jan. 1, 2011—it kicks all the way back in at a top rate of 60 percent.
Then, after paying taxes all your life, the IRS buzzards will hover above your grave.
Apologists argue that the death tax only hits the “rich.” Tell that to the children who cannot inherit the family dry cleaning company or corner grocery store. Also, tell that to farmers whose children must sell their land to pay taxes.
The government uses a “best use” measurement: if the farmer’s fields were subdivided into building lots, they would be worth big bucks. But the farmer grew crops and raised cattle, so the land is seized by the government.
The individual income tax rates will revert back, also, unless made permanent. They are now pegged to various income brackets, set at 10 percent, 15 percent, 28 percent, 33 percent and 35 percent.
If they expire, they will revert back to the higher rates of 14 percent, 28 percent, 31 percent, 36 percent and 39.6 percent. The 10 percent tax targets the poorest Americans, applying to the first $7,550 of income for individuals and $15,100 for couples.
The irrational law forcing married couples to pay more in income taxes than if they filed individually should be permanently banned, too. The $1,000 child tax credit, which would drop back to $500, needs to be made permanent.
(Issue #14, April 5, 2006)
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