Voters Can Kill the Death Tax
Release Date: 09/11/00

WASHINGTON, September 11, 2000 -- With the crisp air and chilly nights come two time-honored American traditions: elections and football.

And as I watched the season-openers, I couldn't help but see the similarity between football teams fighting to reach the goal line and this summer's battle in Washington, DC, to repeal the death tax... and the potential for the November 7th elections to be the final "play" in that game.

Small business owners this year made a long, hard drive toward their goal of killing what they consider to be the most unfair tax on the books. After the Senate and House repealed the death tax with a strong bi-partisan majority, American small business felt like a team, first and goal, on the five-yard line, ready to score... and then President Clinton's veto was like a 15-yard sack.

But that doesn't mean we won't still score. You see, thanks to the November elections, we have three downs left.

The second down is re-electing a House of Representatives that understands how punishing the death tax is to America's family-owned businesses and farms. The third down is re-electing a Senate that also understands. And the fourth down is electing a president who will sign that bill.

A word to the wise candidate (congressional or presidential): if you are committed to repealing the death tax, you need to tell small-business owners now in order to secure their votes in November.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this issue to America's entrepreneurs. And I have faith that one sack will not keep them down. Because they've had enough, and this summer they got so close to the goal line, they could taste it.

Ask them. They will tell you that it is just plain wrong that the people who create the majority of new jobs in this country must spend countless hours and dollars preparing to face an enormous tax that is levied for the sole reason that a family member has died.

The death tax was established in 1916, the era of families like the Rockefellers, out of a fear that a few clans would amass a majority of the nation's wealth. It was not indexed to inflation, so it has gone the way of so many taxes aimed at the very-rich: the middle class must struggle to pay it... or, in this case, lose their businesses because of it.

President Clinton insists that this tax only affects 2 percent of Americans because only 2 percent pay the tax... but that statistic completely ignores the scores of businesses that spend so much of their valuable resources on lawyers and life insurance in an effort to keep the business in the family. Believe me, business owners would much rather spend that time and money creating jobs, expanding benefits for their employees and giving back to their communities.

If we succeed in these last three downs - and I believe we will - there will be no more stories like that of Mike Nobis, owner of a printing business in Quincy, Illinois, who was handed a tax bill of over $300,000 last year because his parents were both killed in a tragic car accident. And there will be no more stories like that of Norman Thomas, owner of Cumberland Paint & Wallpaper in Fayetteville, North Carolina, who is going to have to take out a loan this year to pay the $100,000 -$150,000 tax on his father's death.

Coming this close and losing was tough... but we will remember, in November, what that goal line looked like. And we will be rushing toward it as we enter the voting booth. The death tax has drawn its final breath.




Publications are encouraged to re-print these columns in their entirety. Please ensure that the following credit information is included in re-prints: "Jack Faris is president of NFIB, the nation's largest small business advocacy group. A non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. More information is available on-line at www.nfib.com."

CONTACT: Jean Card, NFIB Special Assistant to the President at 202.314.2018

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