As Obama touts Buffett tax, progressive ‘death’ tax comes under national siege

As President Barack Obama canvasses the United States pushing for an increase in taxes on the wealthy — something he is calling the Buffett tax, after billionaire progressive Warren Buffett — the campaign against the “death” tax is gaining momentum both on the state and federal level. The recent trend against the estate and inheritance taxes, favored by some of the same progressives who champion the Buffett tax, began in Ohio and has spread to Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Oregon and Nebraska Tax activists also hope to make gains in Minnesota and Maine. Twenty-two states collect such taxes — either an estate tax, which is automatically levied on a dead person’s assets, or an inheritance tax, which is collected when the beneficiary of a bequest receives money or property. In the Democrat-controlled Senate, Republican John Thune has introduced the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act to abolish the federal estate tax. That bill follows on the heels of identical legislation launched in the House of Representatives last year — with more than 200 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle — by Texas Republican Kevin Brady. Right-leaning activist organizations, think tanks and supply-side economists are also mobilizing, including the American Family Business Institute trade association. With seven months to go before the November election, 203 House and Senate candidates have signed its “Death Tax Repeal Pledge.”...more