Kevin Brady: Getting Rid of the Death Tax ‘Creates 140,000 New American Jobs’

WALLACE: Good, thank you.

I want to go through some other big differences between the House and Senate plans. They are technical but they are important, as you well know, to every individual taxpayer. For wealthy people and businesses, your bill, the House Republican bill, repeals the estate tax over six years and cuts the corporate rate to 20 percent right away. The Senate plan delays that corporate rate cut a year, and does not repeal the estate tax ever.

But with the money that the Senate plan saves, while you eliminate the deductions for medical expenses and student loans, the Senate would allow people to keep taking those deductions. My question is, isn’t the Senate plan better for the middle class taxpayer than your plan is?

BRADY: Yes, I don’t believe so. But here’s the point. I think I know that everyone is stressing the differences. There are some. But there’s far more common ground.

And in this regard, look, on the death tax, I’m just convinced this is the number one reason our family owned farms and businesses aren’t passed down to the next generation. Having Washington swoop in and take almost half of what you’ve earned over your lifetime over certain amount is just wrong, and getting rid of it creates 140,000 new American jobs because our local businesses aren’t hindered by it.

And so, I’m convinced it needs to go, I also believe we delivered dramatic middle class tax relief all up and down that area, especially for suburbs and rural communities that I represent.