"Estate taxes often result in the breakup of family farms."
-- Al Gore
("Gore Hits Farm Food Cost Role," The Tennessean, July 13, 1976)

"There are those who want to completely eliminate the estate tax. I have not, of course, endorsed that idea."
-- Al Gore
(Al Gore, Remarks at Associated Press Event, May 8, 2000)

AL GORE’S ACTIONS REVEAL HIS SUPPORT FOR THE ESTATE TAX

Despite his rhetoric, Al Gore’s record shows that he has always supported the death tax. Furthermore, Al Gore has proposed and has increased the death tax.

• The Clinton/Gore Administration twice vetoed bills that provided estate tax relief.
• In 1999, the Clinton/Gore Administration vetoed a tax bill that would have eliminated the estate tax. H.R. 2488 was vetoed by Clinton/Gore on September 23, 1999. Among other provisions, this bill would have completely eliminated the estate tax by 2009. (Joint Committee on Taxation, "Summary of the Revenue Provisions of the Conference Agreement on H.R. 2488, The "Taxpayer Refund and Relief Act of 1999," JCX-63-99, August 6, 1999, p. 10)
• In 1995, the Clinton/Gore Administration vetoed a bill containing estate tax relief. Congressional Republicans attempted to raise the amount of the estate tax exemption from $600,000 to $750,000 and to give farmers and small businesses an even bigger exemption. The President vetoed the tax bill. (CQ Almanac, 1995, p. 2-71)
• In 1993, the Clinton/Gore Administration permanently increased the estate tax. In their 1993 Economic Plan, Clinton/Gore included "seven increases on the death tax" and made permanent the top rates of 53 percent for estates between $2.5 and $3 million and 55 percent for estates over $3 million. These rates were made retroactive to January 1, 1993. Therefore, requiring those who have already died to pay their taxes. (Lawrence Kudlow, "Tax Man; An Al Gore Vulnerability," National Review, April 19, 1999; CQ Almanac, 1993, p. 130)
• In 1988, Al Gore proposed raising the estate tax. "When he was running for president in 1988, Mr. Gore proposed higher taxes, increasing levies on capital gains, raising the ‘death tax’ on inheritances, adding to corporate taxes and applying a 5 percent additional tax on ‘luxuries’ over $30,000." ("Mr. Gore for Taxing," Chattanooga Times, August 18, 1999) (emphasis added)

Al Gore tells you that the estate tax is bad but refuses to eliminate the tax.

• Al Gore’s rhetoric. Campaigning in 1976, Al Gore called for revising the estate tax law to help the family farm: "Estate taxes often result in the breakup of family farms." ("Gore Hits Farm Food Cost Role," The Tennessean, July 13, 1976) Campaigning in 2000, Al Gore is still using this same rhetoric to convey to the voters that he is against the estate tax. (Al Gore, Remarks at Associated Press Event, May 8, 2000) (emphasis added)
• However, Al Gore refuses to eliminate the estate tax. Despite the message he conveys to the voters and the evidence that the estate tax does not tax only the rich but hurts family-owned businesses and farms, Al Gore favors keeping the tax. At a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire this past fall he told a questioner who asked about abolishing the estate tax:

"There are some candidates out there who want to do away with the estate tax. You may want to look at them." (Jill Lawrence, "Gore Takes His Campaign to New Level: Face-to-Face," USA Today, October 27, 1999)

Again when asked if he thinks the estate tax is unfair and if he would commit to changing the law, Al Gore responded,

"There are those who want to completely eliminate the estate tax. I have not, of course, endorsed that idea." (Al Gore, Remarks at Associated Press Event, May 8, 2000)

AL GORE’S FELLOW DEMOCRATS SUPPORT THE REPEAL

Al Gore’s own party members support the repeal of the estate taxes. 45 Democrats and 1 Independent Member of the House of Representatives are co-sponsors of H.R. 8, the Death Tax Elimination Act. (H.R. 8, thomas.loc.gov, Introduced February 25, 1999) In supporting the Estate Tax Elimination Act, Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) stated:

"This is an idea whose time has definitely come. The support is broad and deep . . . We’re going to have to take it right to Vice President Gore, and point out that this has Democratic votes, and that it’s popular in states with electoral votes he’s going to need . . . This is in the interest of the Democratic Party." (Paul Gigot, "Why Death and Taxes Are No Longer Certain," The Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2000)

Even Hillary Rodham Clinton now recognizes that the estate tax is bad. In a recent campaign stop in rural upstate New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton stated that farmers should be given estate tax relief so businesses can be kept in the family. Clinton stated:

"You ought to be able to leave your land and the bulk of your fortunes to your children and not to the government. . . I know how tough it is in agriculture right now and I know the challenges you are up against." ("Clinton Calls for Breaks on Estate Taxes for Farmers," Associated Press, April 26, 2000)

Even liberal economists such as Henry Aaron and Alicia Munnell, a Gore advisor, have found the estate tax to be unfair. "In short, the estate and gift taxes in the United States have failed to achieve their intended purposes. They raise little revenue. They impose excess burdens. They are unfair." (Henry J. Aaron and Alicia H. Munnell, "Reassessing the Role for Wealth Transfer Taxes," National Tax Journal 45, no. 2, June 1992, p. 138 quoted in Joint Committee on Economics (House Staff), The Economics of the Estate Tax, December 1998, p. 1) (emphasis added)


AL GORE’S REFUSAL WILL BANKRUPT FAMILY FARMS AND SMALL AND MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES

• Estate taxes harm small businesses. "The estate tax is the leading cause of dissolution for family-run businesses. Large estate tax bills divert resources from investment and employment and often force families to develop environmentally sensitive land. The estate tax is ineffective at reducing inequality, and may actually increase inequality of consumption. The estate tax raises very little, if any, net revenue for the federal government." ("The Economics of the Estate Tax, Executive Summary" Joint Economic Committee (House Staff), December 1998)
• Estate taxes adversely affect minority-owned businesses. A 1995 survey by the Family Enterprise Center at Georgia’s Kennesaw State College found that 58 percent of minority business owners predicted that their firm would fail or have great difficulty surviving their death due to the impact of estate taxes. About 67 percent of these business owners had taken steps to shelter their assets from taxes and 50 percent said they wouldn’t have taken those steps had it not been for the estate tax. ("Survey: Estate Tax Affects Minorities, Family Businesses," National Center for Policy Analysis, 1996) (emphasis added)

AL GORE HAS NO EXCUSES