Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) is working on a bill to cut back the estate tax. Pryor said his plan would increase the exemption to $5 million and set the tax rate at 35 percent. "It really takes care of the small business family farm problem we have in the state," Pryor said about his plan. "It doesn't completely fix up everybody, but it makes it so much better for virtually everybody." He said less than 3 percent of taxpayers actually pay the estate tax. "We're not talking about the 97, 98 percent who don't pay it," he said. "We're trying to fix it for people in small towns who own a car dealership, own a convenience store (or) have a farm." I hope the Waltons are happy.

Today, President Bush will sign another regressive tax cut into law. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I'm talking about the pension reform bill, which happens to not only fix some problems with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, but also makes permanent a handful of the temporary tax cuts passed in 2001. The Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the nonpartisan Brookings Institute and Urban Insitute, estimates that the tax cuts will save people in the top income quintile about $368 a year, while people in the bottom quintile get $8.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) may try to make an estate-tax compromise the first order of business when the Senate returns from recess, according to WebCPA: Spokespeople for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, are already saying that his take on an estate tax reform bill could be next on Congress's docket. A Republican-led effort resulted in the bill's second defeat on the Senate floor last week, but any legislation brought by Grassley would likely be a compromise crafted within the Finance Committee and aimed at winning the support of Democrats.