United for a Fair Economy and Public Citizen released a new report unveiling the 18 mega-rich families who are the primary finacial influence behind the decades long effort to repeal the estate tax. As detailed in the report, Spending Millions to Save Billions, the families include the candy magnate Mars family, the Waltons - owners of Wal-Mart stores, the Gallo wine dynasty, the Kochs of Koch Industries and Dorrance family of the Campbell’s Soup Company. Together, they are worth a total of $185.5 billion and would save upwards of $71.6 billion if the tax was repealed. According to the report, the families have sought to keep their activities anonymous by using associations to represent them and by forming a massive coalition of business and trade associations dedicated to pushing for estate tax repeal. The families have spent millions in personal wealth and used their companies’ resources and lobbying power in repeated attempts to influence members of Congress to repeal the tax. They have financed groups who have launched multimillion-dollar attack ads against Republican and Democratic senators alike, including former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Olympia Snow (R-Maine), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Lincoln Chaffee (R-R.I.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). Check out the report for more details about the sinister motives and actions of these families to oppose the public interest.