Erosion of Estate Tax Is a Lesson in Politics (washingtonpost.com)

Erosion of Estate Tax Is a Lesson in Politics (washingtonpost.com): "Erosion of Estate Tax Is a Lesson in Politics
A Break for the Well-to-Do Becomes an Everyman Issue
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 13, 2005; Page E01
In 1992, when heirs to the Mars Inc. fortune joined a few other wealthy families to hire the law firm Patton Boggs LLP to lobby for estate tax repeal, the joke on K Street was that few Washington sightseers had paid so much for a fruitless tour of the Capitol.
Today, the House is expected to vote to permanently repeal the estate tax, moving the Mars candy, Gallo wine and Campbell soup fortunes one step closer to a goal that once seemed quixotic at best: ending all taxation on inheritances. "