Posted on 04/15/2005 7:53:56 AM PDT by Brian Mosely
I'll trust that anyone reading this blog is well-read enough not to need a primer in why repealing the Estate Tax in the face of massive deficits is not the height of sound policymaking. For your delight and amusement I will, instead, offer some thoughts out of season. Taxing estates doesn't really seem like a great plan. If I die with a $10 million estate and want to give $5 to 2 million different people, there doesn't seem to me to be a good reason why the estate should be taxed. Better to tax inheritance since the actual concern is that I'll give $10 million to my son and he'll be rich, rich, rich without ever having worked. Second, perhaps it's politically effective, but I'm disquieted by the Paris Hilton-bashing. The problem is that not every wealthy heiress is a Paris Hilton. But every wealthy heiress ought to pay tax. Implying that the decadence of Miss Hilton is somehow integral to the case clouds the issue.
Speaking of which, f@#* the small businessman. This is exactly the problem posed by obsessive focus on Paris Hilton. I might be an earnest, hardworking dude who works in the store. And somebody might die and give the store to me. The store may be worth millions and millions of dollars. If so, I ought to pay tax on it. Why? Because I've just inherited millions and millions of dollars, that's why. That I'm earnest and hardworking, and that my riches came in the form of a valuable store rather than a heaping plate of gold matters not a whit. What about those sad folks forced to sell the family business? Don't cry for them. Here you are, you inherit a store worth $X. You owe $Y in taxes, with Y being less than X. So you are "forced" to sell the store, and accept "only" $X-Y as your inheritance. Note that X is a figure in the millions, and Y a small proportion of X. This is a very good problem to have, abstracting away from the fact that someone you love has probably died and this is probably a bigger concern of yours that the tax bill. This is, in other words, a non-problem. The government ought, perhaps, to facilitate some kind of lending arrangement so that people who prefer to keep the store and pay the tax down over time out of operating revenues can do so.
The last point, however, is the first in importance. Liberals should not mistake getting self-righteous about estate tax repeal for having a serious program to combat inequality or reduce poverty in America. Repealing the estate tax is dumb. Putting it back in place would be a good idea. But a serious program to combat inequality or reduce poverty would be better. Ressentiment, my comrades, will only get you so far.
Democrats live in the present. Republicans plan for the future.
Democrats see a rich corporation like GM and say "I want a piece of that". They get their piece and 20 years later GM (Ford, US Steel, Bethelehem, United Airlines, Eastern Airlines, National Hockey League, etc.) are no more.
Democrats want to raise spending on medicare. Republicans want to fix the future problem (ditto for SSI).
Democrats want to cut defense to spend the money now. Republicans want a strong defense to keep the future safe.
Dems want to take from the rich and give to the poor. Repubs see that if you take from the rich, the rich might say to hell with it and stop producing.
The problem with that is, of course, if you do that then you inadvertently f@#* the economy, because they're the folks that buy the goods that drive it. Without the small businesses, you couldn't underwrite the larger corporations for very long, either.
Inheritance taxes also wreak havoc on the agricultural sector. Even if these good folks are able to get out of the Federal Death Tax, they often get nailed at the state level. What ends up happening is that like the heirs of the small businessmen, they are frequently forced to sell off property to pay their taxes. Sure, you can often jump through hoops to get protected status, but that often means giving up your rights as a landowner as well. THere's no such thing as a free lunch.
Without agriculture and small businesses, tomorrow's America will be vastly different than its current status.
That being said, we need to get this on every talk show. We need to identify this guy Yglesias as a more mainstream guy. That f@#* the businessmen quote ought to be put in fliers, ads, and everything. We'll double the size of the Farm & Ranch Crews the next time 'round.
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