Jim Martin, “We don’t need a reduction of the death tax, we need to bury it for good! Too many are content for compromise, 60 Plus is committed to killing it, not wounding it.”
(Alexandria, Virginia) – The 60 Plus Association, the nation’s largest and most influential conservative seniors organization with over 7.2 million supporters, announced this month it is re-assuming its leadership role in the fight to end the death tax. With the recent and sudden demise of Dick Patten’s American Family Business Institute, many on Capitol Hill and around the nation have called upon 60 Plus to retake the leadership reins in the death tax battle, a mission the organization spearheaded during the 90s.
60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin offered comments as part of a press conference today at the Capitol Hill Club led by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA) and other conservative members of Congress, opposing new taxes as any part of a deal on the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’
“The death tax is a bad tax, plain and simple,” said Martin, “far worse than most. It kills jobs, it strangles prosperity, it destroys opportunity, and it raises little revenue for the Treasury despite the fact it has a disparate impact on minority-owned farms and businesses. Letting the government have the power to devour more than half of a person’s lifetime achievement in the form of taxes on top of the taxes already taken, it goes against everything this country should stand for.
“America has a long history of repealing the death tax. When enacted in 1797, 1862 and 1898 to help finance our military, it was quickly repealed. But the tax enacted in 1916 to help finance America’s WWI efforts was NEVER repealed, and last time I checked, the Kaiser said that war was long over. Since then we’ve fought WWII, the Cold War, and several conflicts in Asia along the way, yet the death tax remains. In the next three years we’ll be coming upon the tax’s 100th anniversary, and I have vowed not to retire until it’s been repealed for a fourth and final time before 2016, so it will celebrate no more birthdays.
“This is not an issue for ‘the rich’ – in fact the rich don’t pay it, they have lawyers and accountants to make sure of that. It is average Americans, minorities, farmers, new family businesses, who have assets but little cash, and are forced to sell off the family business because of greedy Uncle Sam. It’s wrong, it’s damaging, it’s corrupt and it is immoral. We are going to put an end to it, once and for all.
“The battle to eliminate the death tax once and for all is central to America’s future. At stake is the fundamental relationship between the citizens and their government, and with it the answer to the question “who decides” what happens to the property and success we’ve worked so hard to achieve: us or the federal government? Will we be a nation that rewards hard work and savings, and encourages wealth creation and success, or do we become a nation where people are allowed to work and achieve success only at the pleasure of the government?
“The death tax has become part of the ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations, used as a back-and-forth bargaining chip by the President and a megaphone to rail against the so-called ‘rich.’ But like the medical devices tax which the Democrats are now back-tracking on, this tax hurts average Americans the most, family farms and businesses especially. President Obama wants to lower the exemption to $3.5 million and cap the tax at 45%, but this is no compromise, it is still outrageous. The House should vote for permanent repeal IMMEDIATELY to kill this tax once and for all. The War is over, the Democrats need to stop playing games and help America bury the death tax for good.”
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