WASHINGTON -- President Bush called for the House and Senate to repeal the estate tax last week in his first address to the joint houses of Congress since his inauguration.
from one generation to the next.
"It's not fair to tax the same earnings twice, once when you earn them and again when you die, so we must repeal the death tax," he said, about two-thirds of the way through his speech.
Bush then explained how a typical family with two children will save $1,600 on its federal income tax under his tax cut plan and did not return to the subject of the estate tax in the rest of his talk.
Other elements of the president's $1.6 trillion tax cut plan include: simplifying the tax code by reducing the number of tax brackets from five to four: 10%, 15%, 25% and 33%; reducing the marriage penalty; and expanding the incentives for charitable giving.
The previous day, Bush met with 35 business leaders -- including executive members of several food industry associations -- to thank them for their support in bringing his tax-cutting message to the business community.
At the meeting, Alfred A. Plamann, president and chief executive officer of Unified Western Grocers, Los Angeles, urged Bush to reach out to the Mexican-American community to help it better appreciate the benefits of the proposed tax cuts.
Also attending the meeting were John R. Block, FDI president and CEO; John Gray, president of the International Foodservice Distributors Association, Falls Church, Va.; and Ron Marshall, president and CEO, Nash Finch, Minneapolis.
Other groups represented at the White House meeting included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, the National Restaurant Association and the Food Marketing Institute, all Washington-based organizations.
"We are gratified that the president is interested in the opinions of the food distribution community," said Block. "We will continue our support for this administration on the issues that are central to the interests of our industry."
