A blog forwards a USA Today article on recent years' big money contributions of the Walton family. I'm sure they have a direct line to Republican fundraisers whenever the federal estate tax is debated.

The Walton family, large stock owners of Wal-Mart, spent $3.2 million on lobbying, conservative causes and candidates for last year's [sic] federal elections. That's more than double what it spent in the previous two elections combined, public documents show. Their largesse isn't limited to the national stage. In 2002-2004, the family gave $879,000 to state campaigns from California to Florida, says the Institute on Money in State Politics. The biggest gift, $250,000, went to the Republican Party of Florida, whose titular head is Bush's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush.
It is in the bitter fight over federal estate taxes that the family and Wal-Mart have the most at stake. The tax, now collected on estates worth more than $1.5 million, could force the Waltons to sell a chunk of Wal-Mart to pay billions in taxes when family members die. The top tax rate this year is 47%. The family made its single biggest political bet last August and October when Alice Walton poured a combined $2.6 million into Progress for America. Progress for America has become a big booster of Bush's drive for tax reform.

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