Hispanics, optimistic about their future.

Part of America’s constant rebirth is that, with each successive wave of immigrants, politicians are forced to learn the views, attitudes and aspirations of each new group. If they’re to be successful, they must learn quickly to respond in kind.

When it comes to Hispanics, however, political leaders of all stripes risk misreading the signals.

The U.S. Senate votes this week on The Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act of 2006, a permanent reduction of the estate — or so called “death” — tax. The legislation, which passed the House, would have a positive impact on the growth and prosperity of our nation’s nearly two million Hispanic-owned businesses. Yet one group that claims to represent America’s Hispanic community agues for its preservation as a way of addressing a perceived and permanent “wealth gap” between Latinos and other Americans.

In a misguided defense, this group contends that by draining resources from the wealthy and reallocating funds to government programs, the death tax, like Robin Hood, helps Hispanics, blacks and low-income whites. Repealing the death tax, this group argues, would wreak havoc on everything from charitable giving to the nation’s financial security.

Let’s get something straight: Hispanics are optimistic about our future, not afraid of it. We believe any “wealth imbalance” is only transitory, and we’re working harder, faster and more effectively than any previous group to surmount it.

As of 2002 there were 1.6 million Hispanic-owned businesses, with total receipts of $226.5 billion. Upwards of 200,000 of these businesses had receipts of nearly $1 million apiece, and, according to the IRS, by the year 2007, one out of every 10 small businesses in the U.S. will be Hispanic-owned.

These millions of Hispanic businesses are succeeding at enormous financial risk. It’s the achievement of the American dream, and Hispanics don’t want to give it up – especially not to taxes.

Small wonder, then, that recent studies have confirmed that opposition to the Death Tax is growing, not waning, with more than 3 out of 4 Americans – Hispanics included – now wanting to eliminate the Death Tax altogether or reduce the rates significantly.

The two studies, one by Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research and another by Penn, Schoen & Berland, both confirm that all Americans, Hispanics included, recoil at the thought of a 50 percent tax rate that often forces the sale of a family business. Roughly 86 percent of respondents say they favor elimination or serious reduction of the tax under these circumstances.

With Hispanics, no concept is more important when it comes to taxes than “fairness,” and, like other Americans of all political stripes, Hispanics view the death tax as inherently unfair.

by the Honorable Manuel Lujan, Jr.Chairman, Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute

Author: Former Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Jr. is chairman of the Hispanic Alliance for Progress Institute. From 1969-1989 he served as a member of the House of Representatives from New Mexico.