Rolling Stone: Owners of Walmart, Campbell's soup, M&M, Wegmans etc. finance estate tax campaign

[johan helge]

Excerpt from http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/28418678/the_death_tax_scam/2:

According to a joint report by Public Citizen and United for a Fair Economy, at least 18 families are actively working to repeal the estate tax by pumping money into campaign donations, advocacy groups that crank out slanted economic studies and political ads slamming estate-tax supporters. Eighteen members of those families are billionaires who can be found on the Forbes 400 list; by one estimate, their clans stand to save more than $70 billion from a total repeal of the tax.

Many of the families are household names. There is the Mars family, makers of M&Ms and other candy, who would avoid $10 billion in estate taxes. There is the Gallo family, whose winemaker patriarch hoped to save an estimated $500 million from abolishing the tax. There are the Nordstroms, of department-store fame; the Dorrances, makers of Campbell's soup; and the Wegmans, owners of supermarkets by the same name. And there is the Walton family, owners of Walmart, a clan whose worth may exceed $75 billion. Their personal profit from repealing the estate tax would total $30 billion — roughly the gross domestic product of Jordan.

[Ikonoklast]

1. That tax is the price they pay for living in a country

where they can amass that kind of wealth.

The founding fathers never wanted a permanent monied class, which is the direction we are headed. They can and will buy legislation with that wealth.

It will be the downfall of democracy if we let it continue.

[alstephenson]

2. Wow. 18 families. $70 billion in tax savings.

Those are some greedy MFs.

[closeupready]

3. It's good to expose that, as many already knew, this drive is spearheaded by a wealthy handful.

n/t