Gilbert Gutknecht: “Let us not be too willing. The truth of the matter is, no family should have to visit the undertaker and the IRS in the…”

“Let us not be too willing. The truth of the matter is, no family should have to visit the undertaker and the IRS in the same week. I do not think most Americans realize that very quickly, and it does not take much of a farm in my part of the world to quickly be worth $2 million, perhaps $3 million, that has been the family farm perhaps for a couple of generations, all of a sudden the patriarch dies, and in a very short period of time the family could have to cough up upwards of 55 percent. So I hope we are not too willing to compromise. I agree with the gentleman, we have to be willing to meet the President halfway. Frankly, I do not want to meet the President halfway going in the wrong direction. Frankly, I think it is time for us to say, this is not the government's money. At some point, I think every one of these estates, every one of these businesses, we have to be honest, they have been paying taxes all through the years. They have paid sales taxes, they have paid income taxes. As the gentleman mentioned, they have paid property taxes. For the Federal government to step right in and say, oh, by the way, we want upwards of 55 percent of the value of that estate, I am willing to compromise and I think we are willing to meet the President halfway on this, but I think the principle that families should not have to meet the undertaker and the IRS in the same week is a very important principle.”