Graham Repeats Lie That Estate Tax is Going to Devastate Small Businesses and Family Farms
If it's Sunday, it's another week of Republican politicians repeating more of their lies on the bobblehead shows. Lindsey Graham really wants to keep those Bush tax cuts in place and when asked by David Gregory if there's any way the Republicans will compromise with the Democrats on taxes, he offers up being willing to work with them on the "death tax" -- or the more aptly named estate tax, as it used to be called before the Republicans started paying Frank Luntz -- which he claims needs to be fixed before it's reinstated to "prevent devastation to small business and family farms."
GREGORY: Is there room for compromise on tax cuts? Say, if the president were to extend all the tax cuts for a period of a couple of years, would that be able to attract Republican support?
GRAHAM: It might. There's certainly some room to compromise on the death tax. In January it goes back to 55 percent, at the end of this year it's at 0. So maybe you could find a way to compromise on the death tax to have something below 55 percent, a $5 or $6 million exemption for American families out there that would prevent devastation to small business and family farms. But if the--the idea of increasing taxes now, David, makes no sense to most people.
And the agenda the president and his Democratic colleagues has offered the country has increased the deficit, increased the role of the federal government. And he ran as a centrist, and most Americans would say, "Well, I never believed he would do all this." And everything has been so partisan. There was a bipartisan bill on health care, Wyden-Bennett, that was rejected. Senator McCain had a $450 billion stimulus bill. But we didn't go down any of these compromise roses--roads, just big government, more spending. And the Democrats don't have a whole lot to talk about going into November other than more debt and more government.
That's some major projection Graham's got going on there when it comes to partisanship and the failure to compromise. He needs to go take a look in the mirror if he wants to see what a partisan hack looks like. And The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has more on why Graham's statements about the estate tax are ridiculous. It doesn't need to be fixed so that it doesn't "devastate family farms". It didn't do that before and won't after it is reinstated next year.
Unlimited Estate Tax Exemption For Farm Estates Is Unnecessary and Likely Harmful:
First, there is overwhelming evidence that the estate tax does not pose a significant problem for farmers. The Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center estimates that fewer than 110 small-farm estates in the entire nation would likely face the tax in 2011 if Congress reinstated the tax at its 2009 levels, as President Obama has proposed. Moreover, estate tax opponents have not been able to produce a single case in which a family farm had to be sold to pay the tax, even before the 2001 tax law began phasing down the tax significantly. [...]
In fact, the vast majority of small-farm estates already are exempt from the estate tax under the 2009 rules. The TaxPolicyCenter estimates that only 110 small-farm and small-business estates nationwide will owe any estate tax in 2011 if the 2009 estate tax levels are reinstated.[3] Since that figure also includes small business estates that are not farms, this means that fewer than 110 small-farm estates are likely to face the estate tax in 2011 if the 2009 rules are reinstated.
Moreover, this handful of taxable small-farm and small-business estates would owe only 11.3 percent of the estate’s value in tax, on average, according to the Tax Policy Center — well below the average effective tax rate of 18.9 percent for all taxable estates (and far below the top marginal rate for the estate tax of 45 percent under the 2009 rules).[4] One reason for the low effective tax rate is that the first $3.5 million of any estate (effectively $7 million for a couple) is entirely exempt from estate tax, and this large exemption generally protects a significant share of the value of small-business and small-farm estates from the tax. In addition, a number of special estate tax provisions targeted to small-business and small-farm estates (see page 4 for details) allow them to significantly reduce the amount of tax they owe, effectively increasing the exemption to $9 million per farming couple. Read on...
end. of. discussion.
What a scam. Republicans always pretend it's small businesses they're trying to help. Very few small business owners make enough money to begin to benefit from the tax cuts etc that Republicans propose.
And now it's "small businesses and family farms."
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
It's the same argument being used to extend the Bush tax cuts.
But remember, prior to the Bush tax cuts, surpluses were forecast through 2040 or thereabouts. Those surpluses would have enabled the Social Security trust fund to be repaid.
So, it is a class warfare issue. Should the middle class receive the Social Security payments that they already paid for, or should the IOUs in the Social Security trust fund be canceled to finance tax cuts for the rich, as Bush envisioned?
Last I heard, we have a "commission" to justify the latter.
I'd rather reduce our "world's policeman" role, starting with the Ron Paul/Barney Frank proposal.
If Dems want to win, they need to run on endorsing this military spending proposal. So far, I've not seen a specific endorsement in any political ad. Rather, the ads are why the candidate is the lesser of two evils.
They're trying to use this same line of argument on the DMN blogsite.
This dollar figure for who is exempt would come in handy. I didn't realize it was so high.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
As I stated in my latest Op/Ed, "Family Farms" are ALREADY exempt from the "Estate Tax", and if your "small business" is netting a quarter of a million dollars a year in "profit", can you REALLY call yourself a "small business"?
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
oooooops....... looks like a very small wall for Mr. Bush...or he could always put one up in his library......
..after all what is graham trying to do? Control the discussion about the estate tax? Nah, he wouldn't do that. But why is the media and the Democratic Party going to let him get away with it? When are the Dems going to learn to control the dialogue? When are they going to start to fight back hard? Maybe when the House, Senate and Executive is in republican't hands, maybe they'll start to complain a little. Hell of a lot of good that'll do.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
in the way most of us think. He is not decrying the plight of a group of related individuals who work and live on the land. He is towing the GOP line in defense of millionaires and billionaires.
The Making of Manhattan's Elite Welfare Farmers
Want fiscal reform? Let's start by targeting the fattest farm subsidy checks—which are mailed to the richest New York ZIP codes.
http://www.nypress.com/article-21342-the-maki...
I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America, and to the republic which it established, one nation from many peoples, promising liberty and justice for all
small businesses and their good health, why don't they pass the bill the President has that will give tax breaks to small business, and why don't they pressure the banks to make loans to small businesses (which they are not doing).....and, BTW, only 2% of the population would be affected by the estate tax....and as to "family farms"--which these days, are few and far between, well, unless they are worth more than $7 million ($3.5 Mil exception each for husband & wife), they will not be affected.
Of the 440 taxable family farm and business estates in 2004, two out of five paid an average rate of only 1.6 percent. These were taxable estates valued at less than $2 million.Very large estates valued at over $20 million paid at an average effective rate of just over 22 percent, a hefty tax bite but well short of "everything."
Opponents of the estate tax have long used the term "death tax" even though it is wealth, and not death, that is being taxed. Adding "IRS" to the mix makes it sound as though the unpopular tax collectors were responsible for enacting it, and not elected members of Congress.
It's just all a bunch of smoke and mirrors and scare tactics. Get over it, Rethugs....stop fearmongering.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
bear with me please:
We need jobs created...thus bringing up the deficit which would be cut by people WHO ARE WORKING paying payroll taxes INTO the govt...(am I correct on this?)
The very wealthy need to have their taxes increased to pay THEIR FAIR SHARE in order to CUT THE DEFICIT (am I correct in this?)
MUST BE BROUGHT UP BY THE (DAMN democrats)..the Republicans want it BOTH WAYS...
they want to keep their taxes low for the wealthy .... but the only people who actually have a job then are their brokers...because they (the wealthy) KEEP their money in the market...the only 'investing' is to themselves.
they don't want to pass jobs legislation because then the deficit will rise...but as I said above, won't it help more to have more people paying payroll taxes..thus reducing the deficit???????
or am I missing something. If I'm not. why the crap are the Democrats in Congress not listening...
..they don't want to vote in a bloc and too many are republican't lite or not willing to call the republican'ts on their crimes and hypocrisy. On that latter issue, I cite pelosi for not impeaching bush when she became speaker of the house and Obama for not charging the DOJ with going after the last administration for their crimes.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
Boy, howdy, you said it. I wonder if she regrets that.....I know, I still believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy......
Of course, if I was in his shoes and tasked by my overlords and masters to make this one-year bubble of vulnerability and enticement to heirs to "make something happen", I would probably lie like the dickens as well. The point is, for the next almost 4 months, until the end of the year, the next of kin and heirs apparent can assume the estate of their perhaps unwitting benefactors tax-free. After that, assuming Congress does nothing, the estate tax goes back up to pre-GW Bush levels -- nothing outrageous, just more expensive.
Personally, I would raise the cap, and then at least quadruple the rate on the estate tax. Fuck the wealthy. It's still pocket change to them, if they weren't all greedy freaking bastards.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
Why are Senators Graham, McCain, Liebermann, given waaaayyy above average national stage exposure in the national news media.
Answer: They are professional liars.
They will repeat any lie or talking point nearly perfectly. They have the capabilities to disguise their facial features, feigning moral and pious looks that a Shakespeare stage actor would envy.
I've always said that the national news will NEVER present any position or argument or discussion on any issue that directly affects the advertisers. When you want to know what information is being suppressed or distorted, look no further than who the advertisers are...ie defense contractors, financial institutions, healtcare, energy companies, etc.
I'm confused, but didn't the GOP poster boy Ronald "McDonald" Reagan raise taxes, propose giving amnesty to immigrants and also give arms/$$ for hostages? Aren't all of those things despised by the tea-baggers/GOP/Faux snooze viewers??
Yes he did. But you notice, none of the St. Ronnie lovers are paying any attention to that. But it would certainly be noticed if Ronnie had been a Democrat..but then he wouldn't be their 'saint' either.
..America and that his party deifies him is hypocrisy.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
All politicans do these days is throw something,anything out there, whether it's the truth or not, cause they know the dumbed down Fox and T-Baggers listeners won't bother to check up on what they say!
The Estate Tax is a tax break for heirs - in exchange for a tax on very large inheritances (but not the first 1 to 7 million dollars worth - depending on circumstances) every heir, rich or poor, gets a huge break on capital gains taxes. The break everyone gets as part of the estate tax is the step-up basis - which means when the heir sells the inheritance, they only owe capital gains on the value that increased from the time they inherited it - rather than from the time their predecessor acquired it.
Eliminating the estate tax - and the step-up basis that goes with it creates a Capital Gains Trap for heirs who previously had no tax liability at all.
Congress did pass a temporary limited step up basis to cover this year only while there is no estate tax - that applies to up to $1.3 million of an estate, but far more complicated than the regular step-up and will expose 2010 heir to considerable taxes that they didn't have to worry about when there was an estate tax.
The fact remains that eliminating the estate tax is a shifting of tax burden from the extremely wealthy to the middle class - who will lose their previously generous capital gains step-up basis on inheritances.
Of course the conservatives have a cure for this too - eliminate capital gains taxes (which are already taxed much less than "earned" income"), because money that is not acquired by hard work and wages shouldn't be taxed. For some reason.
My father runs a small family farm. When he dies guess how much in estate tax I'll have to pay. If you guessed anything higher than zero then you are wrong. There are some multi-millionaires who own farms, like Senator Brownback, who may have to pay an estate tax. However he gets government money not to farm. I don't think his kids will be scrounging after they get a huge inheritance from his (I hope) early death.
If there is no estate tax in place when you inherit the farm - you will be exposed to a much higher capital gains tax should you ever sell any part of it.
Not selling, therefore no taxes.
I wish we could just stop paying a tax to the Federal Reserve in order for them to issue our money supply.
Two documentaries at least go into this detail with amazing effectiveness. One is The Money Masters which is pretty long. And the shorter more recent one is The Secret of Oz.
Please watch The Secret of Oz if you haven't. You will really like it.
Here is the shortest film I can find on the subject which will give you a good introduction.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Thanks, Geronimo, for furnishing these links for everyone here to watch.
I have watched both videos more than once, and of the two I preferred "The Money Masters".
AFAIK there is nothing of greater importance than (1) a thorough and completely public audit of the Federal Reserve, as a precursor to then (2) dissolving the Federal Reserve in its entirety.
What I see as replacing the Federal Reserve is the creation of 49 more publicly owned non-profit state banks, just like North Dakota already has. Each bank would owned by the state it is in, and would have a basic charter in common, under the auspices of the US Treasury. The US Treasury would determine the amount of money that is in circulation, with adjustments made to account for the rate of inflation.
The Federal Reserve notes would be called in incrementally, and replaced with the modern equivalent of Lincoln's greenbacks, a fiat currency. Other commercial banks could exist under such a system, but the fractional reserve must be reduced in an orderly fashion to no more than 4 or 5 to 1. Reserve requirements must also be increased substantially. Neither Federal nor any State government would ever have to pay excessive interest rates, and control of the USA money supply would then remain in the hands of We the People, instead of an international band of private for-profit brigand bankers, who essentially answer to no one but themselves.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
Some things in life will never change. I notice Republicans have NEVER provided any example of someone devastated by estate tax.
Republicans are liars and simply cannot be trusted.
Gee....a rich politician paid by rich people to help rich people.
Quelle surprise!
Off topic---but a suggestion nonetheless....
wanna save social security?
INCREASE THE MAXIMUM INCOME LEVEL THAT PEOPLE
PAY SOCIAL SECURITY TAX ON....
right now...it's at 106,800 per year.
That means that people like BECK (30+million per year) and
the rest of these rich jerks only pay tax on the first 106,800 of their
income...they get a FREE RIDE for the rest of it.
How much money do you think would go into the trust fund
if the maximum income level for social security tax was, say...750K per year?
Sorry...just having a brain fart.
I know that can't happen here...there are too many republiclowns
like Graham and his ilk out there....
But I can dream, can't I?
hurt small businesses and farms because they know that nobody will support cutting it if they told the true and said that it only helps the extremely rich. They have being saying this for years and nobody has ask them how many farms and how many small businesses and can you name some so we can check for ourselves.
Barney Frank {and others} have asked how many farms had to be sold because of the estate tax. Their GOP colleagues couldn't answer. So they asked the American Farm Bureau - it couldn't find a single example.
You believe small businesses won't be hurt if we revert to the $2M exempt? Then you live off the system or worked for someone else your entire life! I dislike Paris Hilton, but there are those like me in a three generation family businesses that are not super wealthy and have toiled 7 days a week for years to develop enough equity and infrastructure to derive salaries and pay our own insurance, plan our own retirement to live off the business, not take handouts from the system, and employ others as well. Where do you think your salary comes from? Chances are it takes millions in infrastructure to setup where you work, and may take a small businessman decades to establish it so people can derive an honest living from it, not take on excessive debt or be forced liquidate and squander it. I gave up much of my youth for the business when other kids got to do stuff with their 9-5 working families. Later these same kids got college loans because their parents were in debt up to their eyes, but because we were frugal I was not entitled and had to pay out of pocket. Spent many a night and Christmas eves, with a pick axe digging up frozen water lines so we could be open the next day. When my grandfather bought the farm in the 1920's he was so poor he ate the rotting corn and radishes the neighbor gave him to feed his horse! My old man worked himself to death and I gave up half my life to help him out. Now because I do not have millions of dollars laying around you say I should pay you for 3X again after 3 generations already did it?
An American dream that forces you into debt or liquidate to pay taxes 3-4X? If so the lesson is clear. The American dream is a lie. Better to be irresponsible,work for another, and live in a socialist country, because they are a lot better at it than we are and at least you know what to expect.
BTW Both the Dems and the Reps are too extreme. I voted for Obama because I thought he was going to fix healthcare: That means tort reform and cutting the cost of it down so it is affordable for all so we can put more people on it. What does he do???...he spends more money we don't have without curbing the cost!!! He gets an F in business 101 and lost my vote!
I also voted for him because he claimed he would plug the overseas loophole that allows companies that outsource to defer profits! Any small businessman would give his soul for that deal. It's a no brainer to move overseas. Let's keep our money and jobs here. BUT If we're going to estate tax me out of business, by all means, I'm all for it! Lets all get on the boat and leave.
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