Washington Papers fund plan to kill estate tax

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

An initiative aiming to repeal Washington's estate tax is tugging at the heartstrings -- not to mention the purse strings -- of some of the state's most prominent business owners, including several family-owned newspaper companies.


Coalitions on both sides of Initiative 920 have collectively raised well over $2 million, but the most controversial donations have come from The Wenatchee World, Pioneer Newspapers, The (Vancouver) Columbian and The Seattle Times.

The papers' involvement in the campaign has raised eyebrows, with critics saying the publications can't be objective in their coverage if owners and publishers get involved in political campaigns.

Others complain that the papers aren't doing enough to let readers know of their contributions.

"This list is getting pretty long," said Sandeep Kaushik, spokesman for the No on 920 coalition, after The Wenatchee World earlier this week became the fourth paper to disclose financial donations. "These papers have made a completely inadequate effort to inform their readers."

It's difficult for some people to understand but:many people really don't want to pay taxes.