cheeved in 2009. in fact the rate in 2009 means 99.8% of the families in this country have no estate tax. zero. it went gradually lower and lower and 2009 hit a lower rate of taxation for estates than was ever the case under ronald railingen ronald reagan, was ever the case under george bush one, was ever the case under george w. bush. now why would we want to go with 2009 levels as opposed to the senate deal? simply a matter of money. $23 billion over two and quite possibly the levels in the senate bill would be the new rate for the estate tax. in that case wie lose $90 billion over 10. i ve heard on the other side such concern about unpaid for unemployment benefits. you know, i ve not heard one word bun paid for estate tax levels. they would add to the national debt $23 billion more than the 2009 levels, they won t pay for a cent of it and they seem to think that s fine. you know who benefits from the senate tax levels compared to the 2009 levels? 66 of the wealthiest ame