The Senate is currently debating a 5-year budget plan that accelerates repeal of the estate tax to 2009. Here is the statement from Americans for a Fair Estate Tax on the proposed budget.

Statement on Senate Action on Estate Tax in FY2005 Budget

The Senate Budget Committee has reported out a budget which includes includes $80.6 billion in tax cuts which would have reconciliation protection. Of this, around 3 billion is for repeal of the estate tax in 2009. The low cost figure is likely due to the fact that most of the revenue effects would take place outside of the 5 year budget window in 2010. The remaining $77 billion is used for the 3 "middle class" tax cuts - child credit, 10% bracket, and marriage penalty.

Americans for a Fair Estate Tax in partnership with United for a Fair Economy and the Fair Taxes for All coalition is working to organize people throughout the country to come to Washington DC on March 9-10 to speak out against permanent repeal of the estate tax.

Nonprofits have a special interest in the estate tax, since a full repeal would mean the removal of an important incentive to give to charity. The Brookings/Urban Tax Policy Center recently estimated that a repeal of the estate tax would lead to an estimated $10 billion annual reduction in charitable giving.

There was an interesting commentary in the Washington Post by Richard Cohen which followed up on the comments made last October by conservative Grover Norquist.

"...among other things, Norquist compared the estate tax to the Holocaust."

"...This is unbridled selfishness in the guise of ideology and makes wealth the moral equivalent of ethnicity or religion or even sexual preference. To Norquist, distinguishing between rich and poor is like making a selection at Auschwitz. It not only trivializes the Holocaust, it collapses all moral distinctions."