The U.S. Congress is not likely to do away with the so-called "death tax" anytime soon, Rep. Mac Collins told a group of Fayette business people recently.

"The biggest part of the wealth in this nation has been grown since World War II," he said, "and the people who grew it are at an age where they're going to pass it on. There's $10 trillion of those assets out there, and last year the treasury collected $24.7 billion in estate taxes," he said.

The Republican-controlled Congress may be able to reduce inheritance taxes by increasing the $600,000 exemption to $1 million, and increasing the exemption for a family-run business to $1.3 million this year, said Collins, who represents Fayette and ten other counties in the U.S. House.

He signed a bill to completely repeal inheritance taxes, Collins said, but with so much inheritance money on the line, "There are people who hear the cash register ringing, no matter how wrong it is," he said.

Before taking questions from local business leaders in the town hall meeting, Collins gave a short talk on Congress' legislative priorities for 1999, which include the budget, Social Security reform, increasing money for defense, improving education, a tax cut and health care reform.

On the budget, the Hampton Republican said the popular notion that the federal budget is now balanced is ludicrous. "At the end of the year when you pay all your bills if you have to borrow some money, you don't have a surplus," Collins said.

The standard practice for presidential budget writers, he said, is to issue treasury bills backed by the Social Security Trust Fund, creating the illusion of a positive cash flow. "That's not being honest with the budget," he said. "In real terms, we'll have maybe a $7 billion surplus by 2001," Collins said.

The president's budget, he said, includes $1.7 trillion in total expenditures, $200 billion in new domestic spending, 40 new mandatory spending programs, 80 new discretionary programs and $108 billion in new taxes and user fees.

Congress probably will cut back on some of the president's proposals, Collins said, adding that legislators and the president agree on plans to spend more money on the military and education.

Republican proposals to reform Social Security include setting up a new program for younger workers with more individual control over retirement funds, and allowing those who will retire in 10 to 15 years to choose the new or the old system. There would be no changes for current retirees, he said, and the medical portions of Social Security would be set up as a socialized insurance program.

The Congressional majority also will work to increase military pay and benefits, and improve military hardware; to reduce Washington-based programs and increase locally based programs for education; to enact across-the-board tax cuts, and to reform the tax system to replace the graduated income tax with either a flat income tax or sales taxes.

On health care reform, Collins said Republicans will push for guarantees of a patient's right to know about all possible treatment options; of patients' right to emergency care; of women's right to see an OB/GYN and families' right to see a pediatrician without going through a "gate keeper; and will seek privacy protections and establish an appeals process when claims are denied.

In response to questions, Collins said the biggest problem facing the 106th Congress is distrust among politicians. "We don't trust each other, we don't trust the administration, and the administration doesn't trust us," he said.

Will the president and Democrats target those involved in recent impeachment proceedings in their 2000 election strategy? "They're going to target everyone," said Collins. "And after losing five seats last year, we're going to target every one of them."

That's the American system, he said. "If it wasn't for partisan politics, we wouldn't have politics. We'd have one-party rule," he said.