Rossputin.com Rational Thinking About Our World

re: House Votes to End Federal Estate Taxes (NY Times via AP, 4/13/05)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Estate-Tax.html?

To the Editors:

Democrats argue that eliminating the death fax favors the “super rich” while ignoring the fact that that group has already paid the vast majority of total personal taxes, including paying tax once on most of the money subjected to the death tax. Just because someone is rich does not justify taxing him twice.

Earl Pomeroy shows to what depths the Democrats must stoop for an argument: he says we should keep the death tax to save beneficiaries from having to pay more capital gains tax. He forgot to mention that the death tax rate is about 45% while capital gains are taxed at 15%.

The debate in Congress is too much about class warfare and not enough about ethical taxation, but I can’t complain: Americans don’t go for “soak the rich” so Democratic tactics seem likely to fail. The death tax should soon be killed or severely wounded.