Letters
Letters Money Matters I must disagree with your assertion that the words on our August cover, "Beat the Biggest Tax Hike Ever," were a lie ["Tilting at Windmills," September]. As our article...
...Reich has appeared on several occasions as an interview guest to discuss labor and economic issues...
...I do not think cowardice was one of them...
...and possessions: one year, $38...
...T]he unlimited marital deduction makes it possible for a husband and wife to pass along any amount to a spouse free of estate taxes...
...Labor secretary, was a regular commentator on the program before he accepted his current position...
...three years, $98...
...This program was not "devoted" to estate taxes...
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...Shows on the stock market do not only appeal to the "2 percent that trade stocks each year," but to the 20 percent of Americans who own them, not to mention many more who might be interested in the fate of millions of dollars in pension funds they will rely on for their retirement...
...I take serious issue with a reporter who throw darts about fairness in reporting, but doesn't take the time himself to present a fair and accurate story...
...its command post is near the front lines...
...Konigsberg's conclusion is based on inaccurate assumptions...
...2. Your suggestion that President Kennedy really intended to withdraw from Vietnam after the 1964 election seems more an attack than a defense...
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...You accuse him of political cowardice...
...JFK had his faults...
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...Furthermore, the Kennedy escalation was qualitative even more than quantitative...
...But I was impressed by a reply by Kenneth O'Donnell, one of JFK's aides, that pointed out that at the time of Kennedy's death only a handful of American servicemen—I believe the figure was 19—had been killed in Vietnam...
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...2. The author points to an NBR program which "was devoted entirely to illuminating the loopholes in existing estate tax...
...Laboring the Point For a supposedly iconoclastic magazine, Eric Konigsberg's article on PBS is certainly a slavish and unimaginative imitation of left-wing arguments against corporate sponsorship of PBS...
...The author makes the assertion that "The Nightly Business Report" (NBR) is one of several public television programs that are "subtly anti-labor and anti-tax, due in no small part to the fact that (they) are heavily financed by corporations...
...Second class postage paid at Mechanicsburg, PA...
...As our article explained, in discussing "the biggest tax hike ever," we were writing about both the taxes in the budget package and the likely tax increases that will be coming to help pay for health reform...
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...A battalion is a tactical unit...
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...J Finally, the fact that Robert Reich and other liberals get air time does not mean that the business shows' overall drum beat is not conservative and directed at higher income viewers...
...advisers to the battalion level...
...And what I found was a rightward and pro-business slant...
...Kennedy sent U.S...
...In fact, recognizing that most families will not be subject to federal estate taxes, the program focused mainly on OTHER aspects of estate planning—how to prepare a will, how the probate system operates and how to choose a trust company...
...two years, $72...
...But although only $600,000 is exempt from federal estates taxes, there's a widely used way to effectively shelter $1.2 million...
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...The author appears to be referring to a special NBR program which ran on May 31, Memorial Day, entitled "How to Plan Your Estate (or Inheritance...
...Not exactly an "anti-tax" viewpoint...
...Konigsberg says he bases his opinions about the content of NBR on a single week of viewing, citing comments by two economists who were critical of President Clinton's tax proposals...
...The tax man is standing by to levy the tax upon the spouse's death...
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...It was President Kennedy who escalated the number of U.S...
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...Two of your points deserve careful consideration...
...As for "labor," less than 20 percent of the American work force is represented by labor unions, so shows on unions may not be as representative of American workers as "Wall Street Week...
...Konigsberg should know better than to split "capital" and "labor" shows on PBS like a Marxist...
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...its staff goes regularly to company command posts...
...Linda O'Bryon Executive Editor The Nightly Business Report Miami, FL Eric Konigsberg replies: Just because corporations do not sit in on editorial meetings does not mean that the producers of these shows are immune to the influences of the corporate interests that fund them...
...Eisenhower's 700 were stationed in comparative safety, at central headquarters and supply depots where they trained the Vietnamese in organization, planning, supply, and maintenance...
...Advisers at that level were sure to incur casualties...
...First, the editorial decision-making at NBR operates independently...
...But since spouses don't live forever, that loophole is only temporary...
...He missed the fact that on Friday, May 28, we broadcast an interview segment with The Washington Monthly's own editor in chief, Charles Peters, on estate taxes...
...And the estate planning show was in fact devoted to finding ways of avoiding estate taxes...
...Hardly a balanced or fair approach to reporting...
...Richard Eisenberg Assistant Managing Editor Money Magazine New York, NY Nightly Business Retort I was very disappointed with your article ["Stocks, Bonds and Barney," Eric Konigsberg, September], which grossly misstated the facts...
...Raise rates on the wealthy and they'll spend more on lawyers and accountants to try to avoid paying the tax"), not why it would be good or bad for the country...
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...personnel had been killed or wounded withdrawal became far more difficult and more embarrassing...
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...Since that time, Mr...
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...Add the two together and you will get the biggest tax hike ever...
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...Some examples: 1. During the author's "single-week's worth of watching 'The Nightly Business Report,'" he must have engaged in selective viewing...
...The corporations providing underwriting support to "The Nightly Business Report" are not involved in the editorial content of the program...
...Garold W. Thumm Lewiston, ME Charles Peters replies: I once felt the last point was so persuasive that Russell Baker and I made it in our March 1971 issue ["The Prince and His Courtiers...
...Even Konigsberg will only venture that the PBS business lineup is "subtly" biased—something that can't be said for the PBS documentary lineup, in which videocassettes of programs like "Maria's Story" were sold by supporters of El Salvador's communist guerillas as the real story of the FMLN...
...Tim Graham Associate Editor Media Research Center Alexandria, VA The Up Escalator In "Tilting at Windmills" [October], you refer to the role of President John F. Kennedy in the Vietnam War...
...Peters was highly critical of the current exclusion of $600,000 in a family's estate from taxation, calling it "the equivalent of food stamps for the wealthy...
...However, the author ignores the fact that the program has consistently presented a balanced picture of the Clinton plan—with comments from leading administration advocates as well as supporters and critics on Capitol Hill, and from business and labor leaders, economists, and analysts...
...On the Charles Peters point, NBR reporter Darren Gersh elicited Peters' view that more estates should be taxed than currently are, then dismissed that view as merely "in style" and went on to say why it wouldn't work politically ("Make more people pay the tax and you risk being seen as hitting the middle class...
...As far as contacting the show's producers, I reported the piece by doing what every other public television viewer does—watched the show...
...1. While I certainly agree that President Johnson's action in 1965 was a "disastrous escalation," it followed inevitably from the earlier escalation by his predecessor...
...Secondly, Mr...
...military personnel in Vietnam from 700 to 11,000...
...Robert Reich, U.S...
...We were never contacted for comments about the criticisms leveled before his story went into print...
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...You suggest he was willing to sacrifice the lives of American soldiers fighting for a cause in which he did not believe in order to protect his personal political career...
...NBR regularly covers AFL-CIO meetings, stories on labor contract negotiations, and has devoted several specials and series on labor/management issues...
...3. If the author had watched NBR beyond his one week of viewing, he would have seen numerous commentators, analysts, and spokespersons giving pros and cons of the Clinton tax plan as well as labor issues...
Vol. 25 • January 1993 • No. 11
