By Brent Martin; MissouriNet

A member of Missouri’s Congressional delegation would like to see Congress extend the tax cuts enacted by President Bush, but doesn’t see that happening.

Northeast Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer says he has been traveling throughout his Congressional district, which actually extends all the way south to Osage Beach with a portion even below I-44. He says many are worried the break on estate taxes will expire.

“I’ve been on the road the last two weeks since we’ve been out of session and every stop I make, that’s one of the first two or three questions I get, with regard to the estate tax,” Luetkemeyer tells the Missourinet. “It’s huge with small business folks. It’s huge with farmers. Are they going to be able to pass on their life savings that is wrapped up in the businesses or the farms that they worked their lives for? Are they going to have to give it all away after they’ve paid taxes on it already and not be able to pass it on to their kids and their grandkids?”

Without action, a host of taxes would increase next year. The marriage penalty would return, the dependent credit would drop from $1,000 to $500 and capital gains taxes would rise.

Luetkemeyer says the only wiggle room the Obama Administration has given itself is to keep some breaks intact for individuals making less than $200,000 and couples making under $250,000.

“I think they’ll let the tax cuts expire and, perhaps, do the ones under 200 and 250,000,” Luetkemeyer says.

Extending the tax cuts for those in that earning bracket would cost $1.4 trillion in federal tax revenue over the next decade. That total would grow to $2 trillion if extended for all. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has stated that extending some of the tax cuts could help boost the economy, though, it cautions that such a stimulus would come with a price: higher budget deficits and deeper debt.