Political Quotes

“Finally, Mr. President--a lot to say this morning--a word on taxes. Last night at the White House, President Trump said he didn't want his tax plan to benefit the very wealthy. That is a good thing. We Democrats agree. Forty-five of the forty-eight of us signed a letter that no tax breaks should go to the top 1 percent. They are doing great. God bless them. I am glad they are doing well. They don't need a tax break. Middle-class people do. But the devil, when the President says that, is always in the details, and we haven't seen any details. We haven't seen anything resembling a plan yet. We hear it is being written in a back room by the so-called Big 6--all Republican--but I haven't seen it, Ranking Member Wyden hasn't seen it, and no Democrat in the Senate has seen it. I can tell you one thing: If the President's tax plan repeals or rolls back the estate tax, it will be clear that a lot of this plan benefits the very rich, contrary to all of his words. I would remind everyone that only 5,200 of the over 2.7 million estates in this country will pay any taxes this year. The estate tax only kicks in when couples with estates of nearly $11 million transfer their wealth. Go to North Dakota--and I know the Acting President pro tempore has nice family farms out there--and ask how many have an estate worth $11 million, and if they do, I am willing to exempt from the estate tax a family farm that is over that. But almost no one does.…”