Gerald Kleczka: “let us put this debate into some perspective. First of all, we do not have a death tax in this country. Nowhere in the…”

“let us put this debate into some perspective. First of all, we do not have a death tax in this country. Nowhere in the statute does it mention the word ``death tax.'' What we have and have had since 1916 is an inheritance tax paid to the government by the most wealthy. Why do we have it? Well, to fund this government. To fund the military, to fund the expensive farm programs we passed 2 weeks ago, we need revenue. What the country decided long before I was in Congress was a tax code like a three-3-legged stool. One leg will be the income tax for which everybody pays. Then we have another leg for the business people, which is a business, or corporate tax, and the third is an inheritance tax. And that was fair. What has happened since 1916, small businesses and farmers have flourished. Look just at the 1990s when the stock market went through the ceiling. The Gateses of the world were created. But now we are being told by my Republican friends that the country is going to hell in a handbasket unless we repeal this tax. How does it affect Americans? Currently, 2 percent of the American public will pay it.”