Harry Reid: “I have to think--and I would like the Senator from Illinois to acknowledge--that prescription drug benefits for seniors…”

“I have to think--and I would like the Senator from Illinois to acknowledge--that prescription drug benefits for seniors may be more important than repealing the estate tax or making it permanent. We have already changed it. Something dealing with the Patients' Bill of Rights would also be something we should do. Going from one end of the spectrum where people have billions of dollars to the other end of the spectrum where people have nothing, does the Senator from Illinois think it is also important to raise the minimum wage for people who are struggling? I say to the Senator from Illinois that 60 percent--I remind the Senator, and I am sure he knows this--60 percent of the people who draw minimum wage are women, and for 40 percent of those women, that is the only money they get for themselves and their families. Speaking for myself, I am more concerned about that than whether Bill Gates is going to pay taxes when he passes away. There are other issues, of course, that are of stronger importance to the people of Nevada than the estate tax. Last year, the people who actually paid estate taxes in Nevada were fewer in number than the fingers on your hands.”