AFBI Helps Make Death Tax 2010 Election Issue

by Palmer Schoening - No Comments
Posted on July 27th, 2010 3:43 pm

Recent articles in U.S. News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal mention how the death tax issue is becoming a hot issue for many campaigns in the 2010 election cycle. As the Journal puts it, the estate tax &ldquo could become a sleeper issue in some races.&rdquo

At the American Family Business Institute (AFBI), we are leading the charge. We have asked every House and Senate candidate (including incumbents) to support &ldquo permanent repeal of the federal estate and gift taxes.&rdquo

So far this election season, over 400 total candidates have pledged to support repeal if elected. Of these, 113 are primary winners, 38 are incumbents, and 38 Senate and 254 House candidates are still in the running. View our clickable map to see who has signed in your state.

AFBI's "Death Tax Repeal Pledge" ensures that future officials are committed to repeal before they step foot in Washington. This is critical because it puts pressure on current members to act before the tax roars back to 55% on estates over $1 million starting on January 1st.

But it's also important for another reason. Should Congress, under the leadership of Sen. Harry Reid, continue to stall and not act on the estate tax this year, then we've set the stage for a slashing of the death tax in the next Congress.

Political experts suggest that significant turnover in both the House and Senate is likely. With that in mind, AFBI has identified several key races which could make a difference for future estate tax votes in the Senate. So far, we've signed:

CO - Ken Buck and Jane Norton
FL - Marco Rubio
IN - Dan Coats
KY - Rand Paul
MO - Roy Blunt
NC - Richard Burr
NH - Kelly Ayotte
NV - Sharron Angle
PA - Pat Toomey
WA - Dino Rossi
WI - Ron Johnson
(*DE - Castle has expressed his support but does not sign pledges.)

Just last week we were in Reno and Las Vegas with Senate candidate Sharron Angle, who signed our pledge at local family-owned businesses. Watch a video of the pledge ceremony taken by the Las Vegas Review Journal here.

In November we hope to welcome a fresh group of Congressional members ready to get to work on killing the death tax.

Current Primary Winners:

Martha Roby 2 AL
Robert Aderholt 4 AL

John Boozman Sen AR
Rick Crawford 1 AR
Tim Griffin 2 AR
Beth Anne Rankin 4 AR

Tom McClintock 4 CA
John Dennis 8 CA
David Harmer 11 CA
Andy Vidak 20 CA
Kevin McCarthy 22 CA
Merlin Froyd 28 CA
John Colbert 29 CA
Star Parker 37 CA
Chris Riggs 44 CA
Michael Crimmins 53 CA

Mike Keown 2 GA
Lynn Westmoreland 3 GA
Liz Carter 4 GA
Jody Hice 7 GA
Austin Scott 8 GA
Tom Graves 9 GA
Lee Hawkins 9 GA
Carl Smith 12 GA

Steve King 5 IA

Mike Crapo Sen ID
Raul Labrador 1 ID
Mike Simpson 2 ID

Dan Coats Sen IN
Jackie Walorski 2 IN
Marlin Stutzman 3 IN
Todd Rokita 4 IN
Danny Burton 5 IN
Mike Pence 6 IN
Larry Bucshon 8 IN

Isaac Hayes 2 IL
David Ratowitz 5 IL
Joel Pollak 9 IL
Randy Hultgren 14 IL
Bobby Schilling 17 IL

Rand Paul Sen KY
Ed Whitfield 1 KY
Todd Lally 3 KY
Andy Barr 6 KY

Jason Levesque 2 ME

Alan Nunnelee 1 MS
Denny Rehberg 1 MT

Richard Burr Sen NC
Ashley Woolard 1 NC
Renee Ellmers 2 NC
B.J. Lawson 4 NC
Virginia Foxx 5 NC
Howard Coble 6 NC
Ilario Pantano 7 NC
Harold Johnson 8 NC
Sue Myrick 9 NC
Patrick McHenry 10 NC

Rick Berg 1 ND

Dale Glading 1 NJ
Jon Runyan 3 NJ
Anna Little 6 NJ
Roland Straten 8 NJ
Michael Agosta 9 NJ

Jon Barela 1 NM
Steve Pearce 2 NM
Thomas Mullins 3 NM

blog comments powered by Disqus