Congress Wants to Cut Your Pay 12% to Give 5,500 Multi-Millionaires a $269 Billion Tax Break
April 17, 2015
Just weeks after voting to cut your pay by 12%, Congress has already figured out what they want to do with your money: repeal the estate tax. By a vote of 240-179, the House of Representatives agreed to take billions of dollars from the pockets of working men and women, and give it to a few thousand multi-millionaires and billionaires. This move would widen the wealth gap and cost the country billions of dollars, making an unequal playing field even more unfair.
We say enough is enough. This week AFGE joined 65 leading organizations in a letter to House members urging them to oppose H.R. 1105, a bill to repeal the federal estate tax.
“The arguments made for repealing the estate tax are fraudulent and cloak the real aim of this legislation, which is to provide a large tax cut to the wealthy,” the letter states. “Despite wild assertions to the contrary, only about 20 small business and small family farm estates nationwide owed any estate tax in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center (TPC).”
Looking at the immense cost of the proposed repeal, it’s no wonder why supporters are lying through their teeth. Every dime given back to the millionaires and billionaires who benefit from this bill will be paid out of the pockets of government employees and other working Americans who rely on government to keep our water safe, our borders secure, and veterans healthy.
“Repealing the estate tax would lose $269 billion in revenues over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). This is an unnecessary giveaway to the richest Americans, but it would have a big impact on the country. The estate tax is a small step to level the playing field and create an economy that works for all.”
We are becoming a divided nation—with the extremely rich on one side and the working poor on the other. The top 1% owns 42% of the nation’s total wealth. The estate tax exists to balance this growing concentration of wealth and provide a safety net for the remaining 99% of Americans. Eliminating the federal estate tax creates an economy that works for a few, instead of one that works for all.
