Louisiana Sen. Landrieu Claim Republicans Block Estate Tax Relief

WASHINGTON – According to a press release from US Senator Mary Landrieu, “Republicans have blocked her Estate Tax Relief by killing tax reduction for family farmers and business owners and voting instead to protect ‘unscrupolous offshore tax havens’”

In the press release, Landrieu said that her amendment to the 2009 Budget Resolution by to provide substantial, fully-paid-for estate tax relief for family farmers and business owners was defeated tonight in a 23-to-77 vote. She asserts that the amendment provided equal tax relief to an earlier Republican amendment, which was also defeated, but funded the cuts by closing loopholes often used to hide profits and dodge U.S. tax laws.

“The estate tax is onerous and unnecessary, and clouds the ability of many successful business owners from planning the growth and expansion of their businesses,” Sen. Landrieu said. “But in vote after vote, many Republicans and Democrats have been unwilling to come to the table of compromise to dial it back.

“My amendment is such a compromise. It gives nearly every family and business in Louisiana complete estate tax relief and does so without adding to the deficit. It is a commonsense approach, and I am disappointed it was defeated by partisans who put protecting tax cheats ahead of reducing the burden on honest American taxpayers.”

Here is the remainder of the press release “Both amendments would raise the individual estate tax exemption to $5 million, or $10 million for couples, and would beyond that drop the tax rate to 35 percent.

Sen. Landrieu offered her measure in an effort to achieve long-overdue bipartisan consensus on estate tax relief, and she delivered 17 additional Democratic votes previously opposed to the amendment offered by Arizona Republican Jon Kyl. Sen. Landrieu was one of only two Democrats to vote for the Kyl measure this morning.

His proposal, however, shifted the burden of the tax relief measure to middle-class Americans by tacking the $250 billion cost onto the national debt. When given the option to achieve the same tax reductions by instead closing offshore tax havens and loopholes that allow sham transactions to hide profits, 45 Republicans switched their votes to oppose the tax relief introduced by Sen. Landrieu. Closing these loopholes had previously been included in the budget proposal submitted by President Bush.

After Senate Republicans defeated Sen. Landrieu’s proposal, she voted against the Kyl amendment when it was brought back to the floor.

“This morning I voted in good faith to show a willingness to work together on reducing the estate tax,” said Sen. Landrieu, who earlier this week was named the Senate’s most moderate member by National Journal magazine. “I delivered on this gesture, and 18 other Democrats joined me in coming to the table. But this olive branch was refused.

“When my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are ready to join us in providing fiscally-responsible tax relief to our farmers and businesses, I stand ready to work with them. I will not, however, bend to partisan rhetoric and half-hearted attempts to score political points while ignoring their costs.”

Note: Bayoubuzz Italics

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