One thing you can say about Barack Obama is that he never misses a chance to screw the American people with new taxes. And, although he claims to be the friend of small businesses and family-owned farms, he wants to re-apply the tax that has done more damage to Mom & Pop businesses and small farms than any other tax: The Death Tax.
From Fox News:
| For those dying to take advantage of next year's zero percent federal "death tax," they may want to kill those plans. President Obama's budget keeps the estate tax at its 2009 level, which means the government gets 45 percent of a dead person's estate valued over $3.5 million dollars or $7 million for a couple. Republicans argue this tax doesn't just strike the wealthy. "It destroys a lot of small businesses and a lot of family farms and ranches in America," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. "People who aren't wealthy, who may have built up value in land over generations and many family farms find themselves in situations where they've got to sell the farm in order the pay the taxes," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. In 2001 and 2003, Republicans helped push through President Bush's tax cuts that lowered the estate tax from 55 percent to 45 percent this year and would have eliminated them next year. |
To understand how this works, read the following example:
Suppose a man started his own small business or purchased a farm back in the 50's or 60's. He bought property and built up his trade over the years. He bought a house and some land and paid it off over time. When he originally purchased his property, it was a total value of, say, $50,000.
Then he dies in 2009 leaving his business (or farm) and property to his family survivors. Today the business and property (or farmland) is worth over $5,000,000. If the Death Tax was 45%, then his survivors would owe $2,250,000 in taxes as a result. If he left only $20,000 in his bank account, his survivors would have to come up with $2,230,000 to pay off the tax or the government would come in and take everything leaving them with nothing.
What is the family going to do to raise $2,230,000? They sell the business (or farm) and the property, usually to a major corporation who developes the land for commercial or residential use.
The small business or farm is then lost forever, all due to a very unfair tax that the Democrats use to supposedly "stick it" to the rich, but end up sticking it to the middle class instead.
You can access the complete article on-line here:
Obama's Budget Resurrects 'Death Tax'
Molly Hennenberg
Fox News
April 1, 2009
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