Max Baucus: “this is an amendment to help people who are not now putting aside money for their retirement. It is combined with…”

“this is an amendment to help people who are not now putting aside money for their retirement. It is combined with measures previously addressed by the Senator from Nebraska, Mr. Kerrey, with respect to KidSave. It is a combined amendment along with the Democratic estate tax alternative. So, like other Democratic amendments, this replaces the estate tax provisions in the House bill with the estate tax relief in the Democratic alternative. As I said before, there are two reasons we have our Democratic alternative. One, it provides more relief more quickly to the folks who really need it; that is, our family businesses, small businesses, ranchers and farmers; and the second part of the basic Democratic alternative amendment is it puts the $40 billion that is saved, compared with the House-passed bill, to better use. Instead of providing further estate tax relief for the few individuals who, by any measure, are very well off--that is, the top portion of the 2 percent-- we decided to encourage middle-class families to do more to provide for their own retirement. We give every child a stake in the American dream. Senator Kerrey mentioned the phenomenon of compounding interest. The rule of thumb is that, if you earn 7 percent interest, your money will double every 10 years, at 10 percent interest, your money doubles every 7 years. You can imagine the magic of compounding over a child's lifetime. Senator Kerrey has eloquently described that portion of the amendment.”