Barbara Boxer: “There is no doubt about it. If you define wealthy as $5 million, $6 million, $7 million, you are not going to have to…”

“There is no doubt about it. If you define wealthy as $5 million, $6 million, $7 million, you are not going to have to pay anything if you are handing down a business, and up to $4 million for just the normal family exemption. I say to my friend, another point I think we have not made strongly enough is that it is estimated by people on the Finance Committee that the Republican plan could discourage $250 billion in charitable contributions over 10 years. Why is that? We know people look at their estate planning and they look at different ways they are going to handle it. They say: OK, I will give so much to Uncle Sam, but I also want to give some to my favorite charities. The charities are up in arms about this. My friends on the other side of the aisle are often saying how important the role of charities are, and they are right; they are very important. Yet we have estimates that say the drain on charitable pursuits could go down $250 billion. That is not good news for those folks out there who run the community symphonies and the ballets and the various nonprofits.…”