EVENT ADVISORY: MEDIA TELECONFERENCE, WEDNESDAY, JULY 21 at 11 A.M. EDT.

Contact:

• Susan Roth, 301-530-3539, [email protected];
• Anne Singer, 202-271-4679, [email protected]

Robert Rubin, Richard Trumka, Abigail Disney and Hedge Fund Pioneer Julian Robertson Ask Congress to Reinstate Estate Tax Before August Recess; Cite Urgent Need to Balance Federal Budget and Restore Prosperity

United for a Fair Economy Hosts a Press Conference Call Featuring Four Powerful Voices on the Estate Tax on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 11:00 A.M. Eastern.

Boston, MA – Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, President of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka, heiress and philanthropist Abigail Disney and Tiger Management founder Julian Robertson are asking Congress to move quickly to reinstate and strengthen the federal estate tax.  The tax was weakened and then suspended entirely in 2010 as part of the Bush tax cuts of 2001.  These three high wealth individuals with economic expertise will join a national labor leader and representatives from United for a Fair Economy (UFE), which has been fighting to preserve the estate tax since 1999, in a press teleconference on Wednesday, July 21 to discuss their reasons for supporting a permanent and robust estate tax. Participants will make opening remarks and take press questions regarding estate tax policy, including legislative proposals from Senator Kyl, Senator Sanders and Representative McDermott.

In 2001, President George W. Bush put forward a proposal to completely repeal the estate tax, but members of UFE’s Responsible Wealth network, a nonpartisan group of wealthy individuals, helped block several efforts at repeal by publicly signing on to Responsible Wealth’s Call to Preserve the Estate Tax.  The estate tax debate now centers on what exemption level and rate will be in place when the tax returns in 2011. To date, over 2,500 high net worth Americans have signed the Call, including Bill Gates, Sr., George Soros, Ted Turner, Vanguard founder John C. Bogle and Richard Rockefeller.

WHAT: Estate Tax Teleconference

WHO:

• Robert Rubin, U.S. Treasury Secretary 1995-99 under President Clinton, formerly at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, currently at the Council on Foreign Relations;
• Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO;
• Abigail Disney, grandniece of Walt Disney, Founder and President of the Daphne Foundation in New York City, Vice Chair of Shamrock Holdings board;
• Julian Robertson, founder of Tiger Management hedge funds, now a private investor, philanthropist, founder of Robertson Foundation;
• Lee Farris, Estate Tax Policy Coordinator at United for a Fair Economy;
• Mike Lapham, United for a Fair Economy’s Responsible Wealth Program Director.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 11: 00 AM EDT.

WHERE: Dial in number: 800-895-1549; Conference ID: 7TAX

An MP3 audio file of the teleconference will be available at http://http://www.faireconomy.org following the call.

RSVP REQUESTED TO SUSAN ROTH, [email protected], 301-530-3539 OR ANNE SINGER, [email protected], 202-271-4679

United for a Fair Economy is a national, independent, nonpartisan, 501(c) (3) non-profit organization located in Boston, MA, which advocates for progressive economic and tax policies. Responsible Wealth, a project of United for a Fair Economy, is a network of business leaders, investors and inheritors in the top 5% of wealth and/or income in the US, who use their surprising voice to advocate for more broadly shared prosperity, including progressive state and federal taxes and greater corporate accountability.  More at http://http://www.faireconomy.org.