No Deal on the Estate Tax Jude Wanniski July 14, 2000

The fact that the Senate amendments to the House-passed repeal of the estate tax were stripped from the bill appears to mean Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has given up any hope of negotiating a compromise with the Democrats and the White House. President Clinton will of course veto the bill when Congress sends it to him and there will be no override, given the fact that the Democrats would not break ranks on final passage -- and three Republicans did: Voinovich of Ohio, Jeffords of Vermont, and Chafee of Rhode Island. If we get word later in the afternoon of anything else that may be in the works, we will send another brief. As of now, it appears the estate tax will be used as a campaign issue, unless for some reason there is a change in the political calculations at the White House.