Kent Conrad: “The thing that strikes me is we have gotten off on a debate here that really is detached from reality. It is detached…”

“The thing that strikes me is we have gotten off on a debate here that really is detached from reality. It is detached from reality because the cost of full repeal in the next 10 years is $207 billion. How is that going to be financed? It is going to be financed by borrowing the money. It is going to be financed by taking it out of the Social Security trust fund surpluses. That is how it is going to be financed. Now, does that make any sense? I would say no. I would say to borrow the money to give a big tax cut to the wealthiest Americans really does not make a whole lot of sense. Does that mean the current estate tax ought to be retained? No, it should not. It ought to be reformed, not repealed. It ought to be altered, as I suggest, so that a couple could exempt $6 million dollars. That costs a fraction of repeal and would give immediate relief.”