FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2000
CONTACT: David Foy
(661) 254-2111

AMERICANS NEED RELIEF FROM DEATH TAX, MARRIAGE PENALTY


By HOWARD P. "BUCK" McKEON

The era of the marriage penalty and death tax is over -- almost.

It can happen within a month. But first, the Clinton-Gore administration must reverse its opposition to Republican bills that would dump these immoral and unfair taxes. Most Americans agree that it is morally wrong to penalize couples for their decision to get married. Yet under the marriage penalty, approximately 25 million American couples pay an average $1,400 in additional taxes simply because they chose to get married rather than live together.

Most people also agree that the death tax is wrong because it double-taxes income: once when the person earns it, and again when the person dies and tries to pass it on to his or her children. Yet equally serious is the economic cost of the death tax.

According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, one-third of small business owners today will be forced to sell or liquidate a part of their business to pay estate taxes, and half of those will have to eliminate 30 or more jobs. It's these jobless Americans, usually near the bottom of the economic ladder, who pay the most severe price for the death tax.

However, in vetoing Republican legislation to provide relief from the marriage penalty, and vowing to veto a GOP bill to eliminate the death tax, the Clinton-Gore administration has claimed that these bills are "risky schemes" that will jeopardize Social Security, Medicare, education and repaying the national debt. I half expect Al Gore to claim these bills will cause cancer.

In his Aug. 5 radio address, President Clinton said: "So I asked the Republican leadership, do you really stand behind this $2 trillion tax cut strategy? If so, how do you justify leaving nothing for Social Security or Medicare, nothing for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit or education? And how will we ever make America debt-free?"

"Nothing?" The President is a smart guy and has some pretty smart staff people. He gets the newspapers sent right to his office. He surely must have read something about the Republican Congress' work in setting aside money for Social Security, Medicare, education and repaying the national debt. I suspect his comments have more to do with partisanship and defending big government than giving the American people an accurate version of the facts. Allow me.

First, Republicans in Congress have reserved $2.75 trillion of the projected surpluses for Social Security and Medicare, as well as added a new voluntary prescription drug benefit for seniors. This commitment totals 58 percent of the projected $4.56 trillion surplus (counting Social Security and non-Social Security revenues) over the next 10 years to strengthen Social Security and Medicare.

In addition, the Republican Congress is paying off $221 billion in publicly held national debt this year, and passed a budget that will pay off at least another $223 billion next year. This stands in stark contrast to when the Democrat-controlled Congress ran up almost $3.7 trillion in public debt.

Finally, the entire package of tax relief that the Republican Congress is considering would provide a total of $531 billion in tax relief for Americans over 10 years, or roughly 11.6 percent of the surplus, according to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation. And of course, even the $531 billion figure does not take into account the fact that tax cuts stimulate the economy, thus producing higher tax revenues, so the actual "cost" to the treasury of this tax relief may end up being nothing.

By contrast, the Clinton-Gore administration's own proposed budget calls for spending $1 trillion of the surplus on bigger government. The Clinton-Gore plan, in other words, spends twice as much on big government than the Republican plan would provide in tax relief.

Significantly, repeal of the death tax and marriage penalty has drawn substantial bipartisan support. The marriage penalty bill passed by a margin of 271-156 in the House, including 51 Democrats who voted for it. The death tax repeal passed by a 279-136 margin, with 65 Democrats supporting it.

Were all these Democrats also engaged in a risky scheme? Here's what Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, said in voting for repeal of the death tax: "This is an idea whose time has come. The support is broad and deep."

Abercrombie is universally recognized as one of the most liberal members of the House, having compiled a 95 percent rating by the liberal Americans for Democratic Action for his 1998 votes. If he is willing to vote for repeal of the death tax, that's a message the President ought to consider very seriously.

It's time to put partisanship aside and pass meaningful tax relief for working Americans. With the surplus far greater than projected a year ago, the Clinton-Gore administration has run out of excuses.

(U.S. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon represents the 25th District of California, encompassing the Antelope, Santa Clarita and northern San Fernando valleys)

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