Blake Moore: “Tomorrow, the leadership of this House will ask us to support an estate tax cut that benefits fewer than two percent of…”

“Tomorrow, the leadership of this House will ask us to support an estate tax cut that benefits fewer than two percent of Americans. You might ask--how much will it cost to give a tax break to this tiny fraction of Americans? The answer is $104 billion over ten years, and an explosion of $50 billion per year after that. Today, the leadership of this House gives us the choice between special education children and our neediest children receiving Title I assistance, the children of the armed services, families who need child care and college students who need Pell Grants. Why must we rob Peter to pay Paul? Why do we have to choose today between our children with special needs and Ryan White AIDS funding? Or the Centers for Disease Control? Or mental health block grants? Or after-school funding? Because the leadership of this House would prefer to spend $104 billion giving tax cuts to the estates of the wealthiest one of every 1,000 people who die. But what about special education? The bill in front of us includes $6.6 billion in funding for special education, $514 million over last year's funding but far short of the $16 billion-plus we need to fulfill the longstanding federal commitment to our most vulnerable children. This $104 billion tax cut could fully fund the federal government's share of special education costs for six and a half years.”