(Alexandria, VA) -- Today's one-year anniversary of the House's vote to permanently repeal the destructive Death Tax is the latest grim reminder of the Senate's failure to finish the job, according to the 350,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU). In response, the non-partisan citizen group has unveiled a multi-pronged grassroots strategy to mobilize its supporters and other concerned Americans.
"Another year has passed since the House opted to bury the Death Tax for good, and with it another year of needless anxiety over whether this punitive tax burden will ever be lifted from the backs of small businesses." NTU Government Affairs Manager Kristina Rasmussen said. Over 40 obstructionist Senators and 365 days add up to plenty of reasons why taxpayers are tired of waiting for Washington to wake up and put a permanent end to the Death Tax nightmare."
Rasmussen added that NTU, in conjunction with other organizations, is preparing a major push over the coming weeks to cement into law the termination of the federal Death Tax that is currently slated to occur for just one year, 2010. Elements planned or under consideration for the campaign to obtain a "filibuster proof" Senate majority include:
- A constant interactive e-mail alert system for over 90,000 online NTU subscribers.
- Mobilization of small business owners, employees, and family farmers for Death Tax repeal, through NTU's database of over 500 community-level taxpayer groups.
- Activation of NTU's nationwide network of radio talk-show hosts, which can reach hundreds of thousands of concerned Americans; and,
- Targeted paid advertising and phone banking in key states (the latter efforts allowed NTU to help in enlisting the razor-thin majority of House approval for the Central American Free Trade Agreement).
Rasmussen stressed that all of these projects will reflect the growing bipartisan aversion to taxation beyond the grave. The group will also seek to demonstrate that merely exempting a certain amount from taxation will still put pressure on businesses and families to stay on the "right side" of Congress's arbitrary exemption amount. The compliance costs, which are over $20 billion, would still exist if the Senate takes the low road and compromises on this immoral method of double and sometimes triple taxation.
"Full Death Tax repeal will remove the government's noose around taxpayers' necks and finally allow them to breathe a little easier," Rasmussen concluded. "With a final vote on full repeal looming on the Senate's horizon, the fate of small businesses and families depends on a handful of Senators to vote to dispel this ominous cloud of uncertainty."
NTU is a non-profit citizen group working for lower taxes and smaller government at all levels. Note: Numerous commentaries and studies on the Death Tax, along with other details on NTU's upcoming projects, are available online at www.ntu.org.
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