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Republicans fail to get vote on estate tax

WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Republicans Thursday failed to bring repeal of the estate tax -- or as its opponents call it the "death tax" -- to the floor for a vote.

The move to end debate received only 57 votes, three short of the 60 required, the New York Times reported. The vote closely followed party lines.

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The vote was a defeat for Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., who refused to work out a compromise with Democrats that would have cut the tax.

"This death tax is unfair," Frist said during debate.

The tax affects only the largest estates and includes exemptions for family-owned farms and businesses as long as the heirs continue to run them. Congress has until 2011 to determine the tax's future because previous legislation that sunsets that year increases the size of exempt estates through 2009 and abolishes the tax entirely for one year, when it would return to earlier levels.

Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused the Republicans of wasting time on the estate tax and other issues as a diversion from the war in Iraq.

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