Blum turns back on poor, middle class

To the editor:

The repeal of the estate tax is essentially a benefit for the wealthy and our Rep. Rod Blum continues to turn his back on the poor and middle class by helping the wealthy 1 percent.

Blum recently voted to permanently repeal the federal estate tax. The result of this vote could add $269 billion to our national debt through fiscal 2025. The beneficiaries of this are individuals with an estate over $5.4 million and married couples with estates valued over $10.8 million.

This only benefits less than 1 percent of estates or fewer than 6,000 families in the United States. However, guess who will have to pay the $269 billion if this bill passes in the Senate? The most needy in our community as the Republicans in the House of Representatives look to balance the budget. We can only hope enough members of the Senate will use their common sense and vote the bill down.

Please call Sen. Joni Ernst or Sen. Chuck Grassley and request they vote no on this bill. Hopefully, they're not in the wealthy 1 percent to benefit from this action.

Noreen Tonkin

Marion