Don Nickles: “I, for one, am disappointed that we had to file cloture on a motion to proceed to take up this bill. That took a long…”

“I, for one, am disappointed that we had to file cloture on a motion to proceed to take up this bill. That took a long time. I am disappointed to see that now we may have a list of 10 amendments on each side, most of which have very little, if anything, to do with the underlying issue of estate tax repeal or reduction. In other words, it is unfortunate, but a lot of people want to play politics, or they want to have a lot of different amendments that have nothing to do with this issue. The American people want tax relief. They want to eliminate one of the most unfair taxes in America. Some people ask: Why are you doing this? Doesn't it only apply to 2 percent of the American people? The tax applies to a lot more than 2 percent of the American people. A lot of people aren't aware of the fact that they may well have to pay the tax. It is a very punitive tax. Again, I have heard my Democrat colleagues say they are willing to increase the exemptions so we can increase the number of people who pay zero and, therefore, make the problem go away. The tax doesn't go away. We are dealing with this tax on death.”