Robert Ehrlich: “It is a tax cut for every stage of life. The elderly realize a disproportionate amount of capital gains. In 1993, think…”

“It is a tax cut for every stage of life. The elderly realize a disproportionate amount of capital gains. In 1993, think about this, those over age 65 realized 40 percent of all capital gains. All those folks make up just 12 percent of the population. Tax relief for every stage of life. It is a cliche, it is a theme, but it is real when it comes to this tax package. I know there is another tax initiative near and dear to the heart of my friend, the gentleman from Indiana, family-owned small businesses and farms, estate taxes, the death tax, or, as we like to call it around here, the tax-on-success tax. Only 3 years ago, the minority leader in this House was talking about lowering the threshold from $600,000 to $300,000. Today, we stand before the American people and we talk about an immediate exclusion up to $1.3 million for small businesses and family farms, those folks who are not surviving to the second generation, let alone the third generation. And that is un-American. It is very un-American, in my view, and in the view of the majority of folks in the Second District of Maryland, that the Federal Tax Code penalizes folks because they happen to be successful small business people.”