Grateful Americans don't mind giving something back As a non-millionaire who paid an estate tax, I am tired of the false claims made in Thursday's guest column by Dick Patten. For starters, a recent non-partisan study found that virtually no farm or small business would pay estate taxes with a few simple changes to current law. In our state, raising the exempt amount to $3.5 million per person means that only 80 estates would likely pay any estate tax in 2006, and just 3 percent of them are family-owned farms or businesses. Millions of average Americans have good reasons to oppose repeal. Money from estate taxes helps support public schools, roads, hospitals, nursing homes, the postal service, national defense, farm subsidies and, yes, small businesses. The estate tax is a proven incentive for charitable giving. For 2006, estate tax repeal would cost our state's local charities $169 million. That's more than the $156 million in annual grants from the Gates Foundation. The state budget couldn't make up that loss. Third, it wasn't just assets that my parents passed along to me and my siblings, but values -- such as patriotism and a belief that U.S. citizenship includes shared responsibility as well as enormous benefits. The tax lets those who've benefited most from this country's stability and opportunity give back a little to the country that made it all possible. Nancy Amidei Seattle You can also find it here!