Aristocracy Now!
Republican lawmakers' push to build an American aristocracy has made a significant step toward solidifying a titled gentry. The House of Representatives voted to repeal the estate tax yesterday.
President Bush called the elimination "a matter of basic fairness." Fairness!? Is it fair that a lucky few inherit Daddy's millions? He went on to say,
The President can save his talk about farms and small business. This tax is about wealthy bankers, CEOs, and the old money establishment. Once again, while we have increasing budget pressure and Republicans cry that the country's social programs are going bankrupt, they repealed a tax that applies exclusively to the rich and brought $23 billion into the Treasury last year. Over the next decade, it would have collected $290 billion. And I repeat, the estate tax applied only to the rich. Unless you have more than $7 million in personal assets and plan on dying in the next 5 years, you wouldn't have paid any estate tax to begin with. And if you were the heir to such an estate, don't cry to me about how unfair it is that you inherit $10 million instead of $13 million.
Poor, poor millionaires and their unfair tax. I for one will be sleeping easier at night because our country's elite can stick a fatter silver spoon in their childrens' mouths. I hear tuition at Andover will soon be tax-deductible.
I wouldn't mind sticking that silver spoon somewhere else.
President Bush called the elimination "a matter of basic fairness." Fairness!? Is it fair that a lucky few inherit Daddy's millions? He went on to say,
The death tax results in the double taxation of many family assets while hurting the source of most new jobs in this country -- America's small business and farms.In reality, no farms have been closed or repossessed due to the state tax in years. And even small businesses are normally formed as LLCs, so their assets are not held in a person's name. The fact is, only 2.1% of estates qualified for the tax in 2001--because the minimum estate size qualifying for tax is $1.5 million for an individual and $3 million for a couple. Not content with a phaseout plan of gradual increases in this minimum (it was set to increase to $7 million for a couple by 2010), the House did away with it entirely.
The President can save his talk about farms and small business. This tax is about wealthy bankers, CEOs, and the old money establishment. Once again, while we have increasing budget pressure and Republicans cry that the country's social programs are going bankrupt, they repealed a tax that applies exclusively to the rich and brought $23 billion into the Treasury last year. Over the next decade, it would have collected $290 billion. And I repeat, the estate tax applied only to the rich. Unless you have more than $7 million in personal assets and plan on dying in the next 5 years, you wouldn't have paid any estate tax to begin with. And if you were the heir to such an estate, don't cry to me about how unfair it is that you inherit $10 million instead of $13 million.
Poor, poor millionaires and their unfair tax. I for one will be sleeping easier at night because our country's elite can stick a fatter silver spoon in their childrens' mouths. I hear tuition at Andover will soon be tax-deductible.
I wouldn't mind sticking that silver spoon somewhere else.
4 Comments:
This will never pass the Senate.
And I guess I'm hesitant to be critical of any plan that reduces tax revenue.
But let's start by freeing ourselves entirely of Social Security: the true death tax, and a regressive one at that.
By Ben Polidore, At 11:51 AM EDT
The Sherriff of Nottingham would be proud of the House, but let's hope the Senate plays Robin Hood to his robber baron.
For Bush to make this a matter of fairness is absurd. It's insulting to use "fair play" as an argument when we're talking about the children of multimillionaires.
By Tim McGuire, At 3:00 PM EDT
Robin Hood isn't really relevant in a free society.
And what is this money being spent on? It's just going into the general fund where it can be mismanaged and generally wasted like most other government money.
It is a double tax. What happened to property?
I don't really like the idea of someone getting something for nothing, but I'm wary of the government deciding what to do with other people's post-tax property.
By Ben Polidore, At 3:17 PM EDT
I don't understand why anyone would support an estate tax except the people actually paying it (which is a very select few). Same with lifting a cap on Social Security contributions. I have a hard time feeling sorry for millionaires when they complain the system is unfair.
By Tim McGuire, At 3:16 PM EDT
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