Should combined Estate Tax repeal/minimum wage legislation pass?

[Lasher]

The Senate is now considering combined legislation to permanently repeal the Estate Tax and to raise the minimum wage from $5 to $7. Assuming there is no other option at this time, do you think the legislation should pass?

[msongs]

1. surrender monkeys, anyone? nt

[blonndee]

2. Who combined this legislation, I'd like to know?

What a bullshit deal.

[Donnachaidh]

4. the thugs combined this

the Dems wanted a straight vote on minimum wage. The Republicans put in the *poison pill* to ensure it wouldn't get passed by the Senate.

The Republicans did this so they can go back to their districts and say that they had voted on raising the minimum wage. Nice little spin project of theirs. Lie lie lie lie...

[Iniquitous Bunny]

8. Bam!

It wasn't about anything other than more manipulative garbage. Of course minimum wage needs to be raised, but not at this price. :thumbsdown:

[blonndee]

11. Shameless, heartless, without conscience, the whole

stinking lot of them. And I guess any Dems who vote against this will be likewise spun: "We TRIED to raise the minimum wage, but those Dems wouldn't go along with it." And that's what the public will believe.

[babylonsister]

13. And that's what the repigs do so well. nt

[sallyseven]

16. Who do you think. The repukes

[blonndee]

19. Well, that pretty much goes without saying.

I was sort of going for who, specifically, but they're all the same anyway, I guess it doesn't matter much who the author(s) are.

[Lasher]

25. The measures were linked by the House GOP leadership

Dennis Hastert and his cronies are behind this.

The whole thing started with 50 moderate House Republicans from suburban areas, who are anxious to avoid getting tagged as insensitive to the economic plight of the working class. The group threatened to vote against adjourning for the August recess until their party's leaders agreed to give them a chance to vote on a minimum-wage increase. On Friday afternoon, GOP House leaders announced they had tacked minimum wage increase onto another bill that would cut the estate tax and extend a host of temporary tax cuts.

Note that the 'moderate' House Republicans aren't actually trying to get a minimum wage increase passed. They've just insisted on a chance to vote for one, so that they can convey an impression that they support such a measure.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/07/30/bill_linking_minimum_wage_estate_tax_faces_fight_in_senate/

Something I've just noticed is that this legislation might not provide for a total repeal of the Estate Tax. Without any other legislation being passed, the sunset provision of the Tax Relief Act of 2001 would cause a return to the $1M exemption ($2M for couples) threshold, with a 55% tax rate above that. I'm starting to think that the proposed legislation would provide a $5M/$10M exemption beyond 2011. I'm not sure how this would affect cost projections, but I think that fewer than 1% of estates would be subject to any tax at all.

[blonndee]

30. Thanks for the info! nt

[papau]

3. We can raise it state by state-screw the GOP and their Billionaire masters

n/t

[sallyseven]

17. Unless you live in MA. Mittens vetoed the raise in the min,.

wage. Too expensive. Then he vetoed the truck inspection in Boston./ the Corporations did not want the inspections. Can you say transporting hazardous waste and over weight vehicles? He is worse than bush.

[papau]

32. I agree - but the min wage veto was overturned in MA n/t

n/t

[ovidsen]

5. Time to turn the tables

Democrats should accuse the GOP of trying to ram through yet another tax cut for the rich by shamelessly linking it to needed relief for working Americans.

Show the US just how selfish and greedy Republicans are.

[Donnachaidh]

7. they have --

Did you watch Cspan last night?

[nam78_two]

10. I think they did make that point /nt

[Vincardog]

6. Reject the combined BS. Pass the raise in MW after we regain control and

IMPEACH the Chimp

[blonndee]

9. I'm with you. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

12. No, a permanent repeal of the Estate Tax will destroy this country n/t

[gristy]

15. No such thing as a "permanent" repeal.

Congress gets to pass tax laws at any time.

[Swamp Rat]

20. Take it up with the OP.

[gristy]

14. Do you mean pass the Senate?

It passed the House last night.

[Lasher]

21. Yes, I mean the Senate

Actually, I wanted to know if you would like to see the measure signed into law, but passing in the Senate would pretty much be the same thing at this point.

On edit, I'm going to offer my thoughts about making the Estate Tax repeal 'permanent'. You are quite correct to say that there is no such thing as a permanent repeal, since Congress could at any time in the future pass a law to restore the levy. It is easier, however, to block legislation than it is to get a measure signed into law.

When Clinton left office, estates of up to $1 million in value ($2 million per couple) could be left to their heirs, tax free. The value of inheritances above this threshold were taxed at a 55% rate. Bush and his Republican Congress passed a 2001 bill (the Tax Relief Act of 2001) to phase out the Estate Tax, by raising the $1M ceiling with total elimination scheduled for 2010. The bill has a sunset clause, so the tax would revert to its pre-2001 state in 2011 if no more legislation is passed.

When we discuss a permanent repeal, we're talking about eliminating this sunset provision. If this occurs, then it would be possible to pass future legislation, as you suggest, to reinstate this levy. But that would be a brand new bill. To enact such a law, we would have to control both the House and Senate, and also the Presidency - or have a veto proof majority in Congress.

The total cost of permanent Estate Tax repeal would be $1 trillion over the 2012-2021 period.



http://www.cbpp.org/6-5-06tax.htm

The estate tax exemption level has been on the rise since enactment of the Tax Relief Act of 2001. As a result, the number of estates subject to the estate tax has fallen steadily, from 2.2 percent of all estates in 2000 to 0.5 percent this year. By 2009 it is projected to fall to 0.3 percent.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/08/pf/taxes/estate_tax_debate/index.htm

I appreciate all the survey responses. I don't believe we should support a permanent Estate Tax repeal, even if it is tied to a very desirable minimum wage increase, and I have learned that most respondents agree.

[Balbus]

18. I think the Estate Tax staying is more important than raising

minimum wage - so I vote no.

[RB TexLa]

22. Other. I support both provisions passing n/t

[Lasher]

26. The two provisions have been combined into one bill by the House GOP

So the two initiatives will both either pass or fail by the same Senate vote.

[RB TexLa]

27. I know that, I was saying that my vote was other and as you asked

I explained.

[Justice Is Comin]

23. This is the lowest thing these scum bags

have ever tried. We need to hang this around their necks from now until election and make the voters want to spit at them.

They knew they couldn't even get enough of their own members to kill the estate tax on a stand alone bill. So in the middle of the night, when no one sees them and the reporters are sleeping, they conspire to piggyback it onto the MW increase bill as though they gave a shit about the poor. Knowing it would never pass the Senate.

We should be able to embarrass them with this charade so bad, that they will be lucky if they aren't ducking tomatoes by November. We have them boxed in with no way to explain it, other than the shameless insult it was to 99% of America. Because the Dems made them vote on a separate bill with only the minimum wage, and help for the coal miners and it was straight party line vote. Every republican voted against it. This shows unequivocally what a bottom feeding bunch these pricks are.

After 9 years of blatant give a shit less attitude to help the poor, but now shitting in their pants that they're about to lose control, all of a sudden they get a vision of compassion that they must help the minimum wage worker. But only if they can Christmas wrap 800 billion dollars and give it to 7,500 of their wealthiest mf campaign contributors so they will be at the back door with those donations for the election.

We ought to be able to make them look like child molesters asking to babysit the kids.

[Lasher]

28. Very good rant, Justice

I'll give that one a 9.5.

The House GOP'S 'thief in the night' tactics were even worse than you describe.

Just before midnight on Sunday, December 18, the House adopted the “martial law rule” that allowed the leadership to bring up the conference report on the reconciliation bill shortly after the conference report was finalized, without waiting until the next legislative day as required by House rules.

At 1:12 a.m. on Monday, December 19, the 774 page conference report on the reconciliation spending cut bill was filed in the House.

At 5:43 a.m. Monday morning, after less than 40 minutes of debate on the measure, the House began the final vote on the reconciliation spending cut bill.

http://www.cbpp.org/12-18-05bud.htm

[Selatius]

24. Repealing the estate tax will usher in an even wealthier plutocracy

You have trouble with wealthy individuals having influence over "your" politicians, but you haven't seen trouble until you encounter individuals who are several hundred times wealthier than that.

[Lasher]

31. The Waltons are determined to have their way

Check this out, it is quite sinister:

I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors

By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON
Published: July 23, 2006

The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others.

The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin Brown, an I.R.S. deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after The New York Times was given internal documents by people inside the I.R.S. who oppose them.

The Bush administration has passed measures that reduce the number of Americans who are subject to the estate tax — which opponents refer to as the “death tax” — but has failed in its efforts to eliminate the tax entirely. Mr. Brown said in a telephone interview Friday that he had ordered the staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes under President Bush’s legislation.

But six I.R.S. estate tax lawyers whose jobs are likely to be eliminated said in interviews that the cuts were just the latest moves behind the scenes at the I.R.S. to shield people with political connections and complex tax-avoidance devices from thorough audits.

<snip>

Sharyn Phillips, a veteran I.R.S. estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called the cuts a “back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/business/23tax.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[Massacure]

29. Minimum wage can wait until January.

Kill the bill for now.