WASHINGTON — Opening a new front in the battle over the estate tax, more than three dozen African American business leaders this week plan to publicly support repeal of the tax because they say it helps widen the wealth gap between whites and blacks.
President Bush, who fared poorly among African American voters in the election, has made repeal of the tax levied on the assets of wealthy Americans when they die a key part of his $1.6-trillion, 10-year tax cut plan. The House is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would slowly repeal the estate tax by 2011, and that same day the group will run full-page ads in major newspapers supporting the repeal.
