Submitted for the Record to the Senate Finance Committee OMB Watch submitted a Statement for the record to the Senate Finance Committee to accompany the Committee report on yesterday's hearing, "Federal Estate Tax: Uncertainty in Planning Under the Current Law." The Statement addressed the irregularities of the estate tax under current law facing taxpayers and tax planners as well as the important principles behind the estate tax. We hope the Committee and other policymakers will heed these: OMB Watch favors an estate tax regime without any of the anomalies, gimmicks, and trap doors embedded in the current law. We strongly believe estate tax reform must not exacerbate the national deficit or force otherwise unnecessary and less progressive tax increases — there are certainly ways to structure a reform that is revenue neutral. We also believe it is crucial for any reform to maintain the important incentive for charitable giving present in the estate tax and honor the national commitment to social and economic mobility and equality of opportunity. We were particularly encouraged to hear this message echoed in the testimony of Warren Buffett. Perhaps the most important message of the day was driven home by Mr. Buffett: "A meaningful estate tax is needed to prevent our democracy from becoming a dynastic plutocracy." We were equally enouraged by the recognition by Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) -- as reported by Bloomberg -- of the political reality that "repeal of the estate tax lacks support in the Senate."