Street Theater
Jul 29th, 2006 at 7:00 pm by Susie
That’s our GOP - looking out for the welfare of Paris Hilton’s trust fund:
WASHINGTON, July 29 — A bitter fight over legislative tactics and the minimum wage shifted to the Senate after the House early on Saturday approved a $2.10 increase in the wage scale but tied it to a reduction in the estate tax and a package of tax breaks.
In an early-morning decision that Republican leaders said they hoped would provide political benefits to lawmakers headed home for five weeks of campaigning, the House voted 230 to 180 to increase the federally required pay rate to $7.25 over three years — the first increase in nearly a decade.
“This bill actually stands a chance of being signed into law,†said Representative Frank A. LoBiondo, Republican of New Jersey. “If we really want to give relief to working men and women who deserve this change, this is the opportunity.â€
But Democrats criticized the decision as a cynical charade intended to give Republicans the appearance of supporting an increase in the minimum wage through a bill that would not clear the Senate because of opposition to an estate tax change aimed at extremely affluent Americans.
“In all my years here, this is the height of hypocrisy,†said Representative Sander M. Levin, Democrat of Michigan, who said Republicans were moved to consider a raise in the minimum wage only out of fear of losing House seats in November. “If you really cared, you would have acted long ago. This is not an election-year conversion; it is an election-year trick.â€
House Plans Vote On Minimum Wage
Some House Republican leaders say they hope to vote on a raise in the minimum wage before leaving Wa
Looking out for Paris Hilton’s trust fund? Hardly. The current tax law created the situation where wealthy families have little control over trust funds…to have control means that ownership has not truly passed to the beneficiary and can be included in the gross estate of the decedent. Thus, the wealthy Hiltons who created the Hilton trusts were required to leave vast sums to all future Hiltons (perhaps even before Paris was born in order to avoid the estate tax).
The estate tax is a trap for the unwary. The mega wealthy families (like the Hiltons) can afford to spend millions of dollars in attorney fees and accountant fees in order to structure elaborate tax avoidance plans that reduce the tax bill. However, owners of successful businesses may not realize that their net worth has gone over the threshold for taxation and, on the death of the owner, find themselves stuck with a massive tax bill. It is not the family farm that I am worried about; it is these businesses.
Dems are demagoguing the hell out of this issue…but the current tax law was written BY very wealthy Dems in the 1950s with an eye towards protecting their estates. Other billionaires are frantic in their efforts to preserve the current tax structure…they have invested millions of dollars in their tax avoidance plans…money that would be wasted if the estate and gift tax is permanently repealed (especially since the property that was potentially subject to the estate and gift tax would be more likely to be taxed as income).