Death-Tax Watch
Comment by Rick Reiff
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, THE GRAMM-KYL AMENDMENT TO permanently repeal the estate tax, a.k.a. inheritance tax or death tax, received 54 votes in the U.S. Senate. That’s a clear majority (two more senators who also favor repeal were absent), but it was still short of the 60 votes needed for final passage in the Senate.
The estate tax is, of course, a bane of family-owned businesses. Thanks to last year’s tax-cut legislation, it is being phased out over 10 years,but at that point it will be reinstated! However, OC Rep. Chris Cox, a longtime champion of the tax’s repeal, is among those in Congress who will be trying in the coming years to make the repeal permanent. President Bush supports the effort, although he should have fought harder for it a year ago. The recent Senate vote was the first attempt to finish the job.
For the record, nine Democratic senators broke ranks and voted for repeal. Unsurprisingly, California’s Boxer and Feinstein weren’t among them. Besides 41 Democrats, only three others voted against repeal: Jeffords (I), Chafee (R) and, yep, McCain (R). If that trio would just go ahead and declare themselves Democrats, it would be a lot simpler to keep score.
, Rick Reiff
