Senator Snowbird, RIP

May 3, 2008

Former Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum, who died in March at age 90, was an ultraliberal as a politician but also a savvy and very rich businessman. Before going to Washington in 1976, he had made a fortune on parking lots.

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Outside the Box on Estate Tax Reform: Reviewing Ideas to Simplify Planning

Hearing in the Senate Finance Committee
Briefing Memo
April 3, 2008

Committee Chairman Max Baucus used his opening statement to frame the issue on the “uncertainty” theme – need for Congress to make a permanent estate tax law for tax planning purposes.

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How the Senate Continues to Block Consideration of Death Tax Repeal

April 3, 2008
by Dick Patten

Today’s Senate Finance Committee hearing was a great case-in-point for how a seemingly mundane hearing can be used to promote a very extreme (and un-American) agenda. How extreme?

Take witness Diana Aviv’s statement: “There are too many people of immense wealth who have benefited from large windfalls who are not giving as they should…it is the government’s job to make sure that all people of all generations start out equal.”

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Washington Report: Lawmakers Must Address Death Tax

By: Sen. John Thune
R-South Dakota
March 18, 2008
Press and Dakotan

The U.S. Senate spent a week in mid-March debating the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Resolution. This annual exercise seeks to establish a framework for the upcoming year's funding levels for federal programs, including the expected levels of tax revenues that allow the federal government to operate.

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Alternatives to the Current Federal Estate Tax System

U.S. Senate Finance Committee
March 12, 2008
Alternatives to the Current Federal Estate Tax System

The Senate considers an ‘alternative’ to the death tax – the following testimonies explain why the proposed “inheritance tax” is no alternative to the existing death tax:

John Ed Anthony

Warren Blum

Dick Patten

Bill Simkins

Duane Shumaker

John R. Woloshen

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Nothing's Certain Except for ....
Don’t like the tax? Just change the name.

The Senate Finance Committee is going to hold a hearing on March 12th on the estate tax, part of a series of hearings that Chairman Baucus promised to schedule last year. Unfortunately, the focus of the hearing will be to replace the estate tax with … an inheritance tax. That’s right. We’ll replace one bad tax with another bad tax.

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Singapore abolishes death tax - markets self as offshore jurisdiction

Tax Notes International
February 25, 2008
by Linda L. Ng

Singapore abolishes death tax, lowering tax burden on middle class and attracting new investment. Will the U.S. be next?”

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Axing death tax a boon to the middle class

A Singapore manufacturer did his sums after Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam scrapped estate duty last Friday.

He was surprised to discover that his family would save at least $200,000, based on his assets of a terrace house, cash in the bank, Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, shares and his stake in the company.

‘I didn’t know it would have cost me so much,’ said the 57-year-old, who put his net worth at about $6 million. He spoke to The Straits Times on condition that he would not be named.

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Opportunity to be a real maverick

By Dick Patten
February 20, 2008
Washington Times

Sen. John McCain faces an interesting quandary. On the one hand, he has achieved a unique and useful connection with independent voters. On the other hand, he has done that largely at the expense of the conservatives who make up the Republican base. Mr. McCain needs both voting blocs if he is to win the general election this November.

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Rep. Frey says estate tax drives people away

February 20, 2008
The Ridgefield Press

State Rep. John Frey of Ridgefield said this week an estate tax study proves Connecticut residents are fleeing the state to tax-friendly states to avoid the punitive tax policies of Connecticut.

“I strongly urge the state to repeal the estate tax this legislative session,” said Rep. Frey, a member of the legislature’s, tax writing Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. Rep. Frey said he is introducing a bill this year to repeal the “unjust tax.”

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