Democrats and a few brave Republicans joined together today to beat back an attempt to repeal the estate tax. Such a repeal would have cost Americans "an estimated one trillion dollars in lost revenue over ten years," according to the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries. "The estate tax is the most income proportional provision of the tax code and only about one percent of estates are assessed estate taxes. This tax also includes personal exemptions that guarantee that very few family farms or family-owned and operated small businesses with most of their assets tied up in land and capital are subject to the estate tax." This repeal would have undermined "our ability to fund education, meet the growing fiscal challenges of an aging population, and pay for social services to eliminate poverty." Voting against a bill which would have only benefited the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the least of these were:
| NAYs ---41 | ||
| Akaka (D-HI) Bayh (D-IN) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA) Carper (D-DE) Chafee (R-RI) Clinton (D-NY) Conrad (D-ND) Dayton (D-MN) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) |
Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Jeffords (I-VT) Johnson (D-SD) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) |
Lieberman (D-CT) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Obama (D-IL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Salazar (D-CO) Sarbanes (D-MD) Stabenow (D-MI) Voinovich (R-OH) Wyden (D-OR) |
We owe these United States Senators our thanks.
