Duane Gran’s log of thoughts

A report (pdf file) from Public Citizen details “how 18 families worth a total of $185.5 billion have financed and coordinated a 10-year effort to repeal the estate tax, a move that would collectively net them a windfall of $71.6 billion.” I’m not disposed to elaborate explanations or conspiracy, but the group has done an effective job of unmasking the layers of anonymity which a handful of wealthy people have used to fund a campaign to discredit the estate tax, leading to its temporary repeal.

The legislation is up for renewal in 2011, but we can hope that the congress disregards the anti-estate tax lobby’s rhetoric. See my previous notes about the history behind the re-branding of the estate tax for some context on the issue.

Update (9 June 2006): The LA Times reports that Republicans don’t have the votes necessary to make the repeal permanent. This is a victory for the 98% who would not have benefited from the repeal.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 at 7:38 am and is filed under public policy, social science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.