Ever since PolitiFact gave us a “False” grade on our report we have been diligently crafting a thorough response – not only will there be an OpEd length response submitted to the ProJo but a more lengthy and in-depth analysis of their claims will also be forthcoming (8000 words so far and still working).
But, in the mean time, we see that financial planners have stepped up to tell PolitiFact they got it wrong. As you may recall, PolitiFact contends that people, especially the wealthy, don’t move because of our estate tax. Here is an example of some of the letters submitted to PolitiFact:
Richard Petrucci, a Cranston estate planning attorney, wrote: “I can assure you that in my experience working with clients, avoiding the Rhode Island estate tax is a significant reason, if not the most significant reason, why they plan to leave to Rhode Island and move to a state with no state estate tax (like Florida or New Hampshire) before they die.”
Of course, they have to throw in someone supporting them but i find the argument very weak (actually, there is no substantive argument at all). And we can only assume this is the best criticism they could find:
Ron Salavon, of Wakefield, had a different view: “Thank you for the article debunking the OSPRI “study,” he wrote.
Ouch!
On a related note – we submitted testimony to one of the bills addressing the estate tax issue that also disputes some of the PolitiFact claims – that testimony can be found HERE.
OSPRI BLOG 