Posted on 06/09/2006 6:30:26 PM PDT by wjersey
So the estate tax cut went down in the Senate, to the cheers of class warriors everywhere. Congratulations to Democratic senators Evan Bayh, Mary Landrieu, Ron Wyden, and Mark Pryor -- all of whom voted against death-tax repeal after voting in favor of it a few years ago. At last, they’ve come to their senses!
Our rich people don’t need another tax break. No, they need higher taxes. And they should be vilified, too. That’s right: America should attack rich people. In fact, we must abolish wealth, which is a tremendous drag on our economy. It’s high time that we made the rich poor.
As for all the xenophobes who want to deport the illegal immigrants who toil in this economy, may I respectfully suggest that their generals (i.e., Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, and Tom Tancredo) consider expanding their dragnet? Let’s deport rich people, too!
These rich people are bad for America. We don’t need their ingenuity, their entrepreneurship, or their capital investment. In the name of egalitarian socialism, the only thing we need from them is more tax dollars. We now tax their incomes as salary, corporate profits, dividends, capital gains, and at death. But we must do better.
Perhaps we can tax them when they contribute to charities, or the building of a new church or synagogue, or a symphony orchestra, or a small-town cultural center; or when they create another college; or when they finance private scholarships for inner-city educations.
But we can’t stop there. Let’s criminalize the entire class of successful American entrepreneurs. Let’s haul out the distributional tables from the Joint Tax Committee and the Congressional Budget Office and target all upper-end earners for special wealth taxes.
Maybe we can even impose jail sentences on rich people. No more interest income at all, just like the radical fundamentalist Muslims do it!
Here’s a thought: Let’s publish the names of all rich people in the newspapers and on the blog sites. Even better, when fat cats venture out in public, let’s swarm them like those animal-rights advocates who throw paint on women wearing mink coats.
Simply, we must strive to make America more like France and Germany -- those great income-leveling, income-redistribution states. But it’s gonna take some work. When I last checked the international tax tables, I found that the U.S. has the third highest estate-tax rate out of 50 countries. We should be ashamed. Only third? We tax estates at a 46 percent marginal rate, but Japan is the best at 70 percent, followed by South Korea at 50 percent. We are pikers. How can we dare let Japan be ahead of us on taxing rich people?
The fact that 24 countries have a zero estate-tax rate, including China, should not concern us. They don’t know what they’re doing. And we do. We don’t want to be competitive in the world economy. We’d prefer to hang out a sign reading: “Capitalists are unwelcome in the U.S.”
This whole idea of keeping more of what you earn and own is just plain stupid. In fact, this whole capitalistic notion is just one of those bizarre global trends that undoubtedly will be reversed as people come to their senses.
The Czech Republic, Estonia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico -- they’re obviously all nuts with their zero tax rates on estates. Did I say Mexico? That’s perfect. Instead of creating thousands of new businesses and millions of new jobs in America, our rich can do this for Mexico. If we deport them, that is. What a great idea!
Forget Sen. Jon Kyl’s fallback position of a 15 percent death-tax rate, after exempting the first $5 million of an estate. That would move us too close to Canada, Australia, and Argentina, which also have zero rates. It would also promote the foolish idea that there is a link between reward and work, and reward and risk.
The whacko ultra-right-wing idea that it must pay after-tax to work and invest is simply insane. Forget what the brilliant Arthur Laffer says. The best way to generate more saving and investment is to tax both more.
This may all sound wrong, but our soak-the-rich liberals are deep thinkers. They have their fingers on the pulse of the hundred-million-strong investor class. They know that the worldwide spread of free-market economics, which was launched by Reagan and Thatcher twenty-five years ago, which has raised global prosperity to record heights, and which has caused the phenomenal growth of the middle class in places like India, China, and Russia, is absolutely nuts.
After all, capital is the enemy of labor! Forget the obvious facts that you can’t create a new job without a business and that you can’t fund a new business without capital. That’s obviously wrong.
Once again, capital is the enemy. Rich people are evil. We have to put an end to all this capitalist, supply-side nonsense.
By the way, when is Karl Marx’s birthday? I have to stop writing now, so I can go look it up. Next May? Well, at least that will give me time to prepare a triumphant celebration for the greatest soak-the-rich advocate of all time.
You haven't read anything I posted here have you? You ARE delusional. Do you have any kids? Never mind...don't answer that. Have a nice evening.
That is 4.5 million by 2009.
2010 may see it all go away and back to something old like 600k.
Really? How does inheritance of aliens in the US work? I didn't know this. I wonder why Bush hasn't thrown all his heart into changing this. If Vicente wants to live in the US, surely he can leave his feudalistic fortune to his kids?
I don't understand what you're talking about here....
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
I guess you need to read the thread, then. Kudlow wants to cry about his kids not getting to inherit all his money while he wants to see the kids of Joe Sixpack cheated out of their American heritage.
Well I attended some family wealth preservation classes.
Some of the people in the class are children of non US citizens who are only legal residents.
If you do not become a citizen in the United States, your assets cannot benefit with the deductions like it does with Americans.
This year there is a 2 million dollar deduction.
Last year it was 1.5 million.
There are spouses of Americans who never got their citizenship and when they die they think they will get the estate deduction, but instead they will pay high taxes right from the first few thousands.
Well I attended some family wealth preservation classes.
Some of the people in the class are children of non US citizens who are only legal residents.
If you do not become a citizen in the United States, your assets cannot benefit with the deductions like it does with Americans.
This year there is a 2 million dollar deduction.
Last year it was 1.5 million.
There are spouses of Americans who never got their citizenship and when they die they think they will get the estate deduction, but instead they will pay high taxes right from the first few thousands.
I read it .....and I still don't know what you're talking about. How is Kudlow talking about cheating Joe Sixpack's kids of their American heritage when talking about the Estate Tax?
It may come as a shock to you, but this article is about the ESTATE TAXES and the Congress' failure to eliminate it. This thread is NOT about immigration.
I've read what you posted to me, the only thing I haven't answered is regarding what someone does with a second or more houses.
The simple answer is create passive income.
It wasn't cuts in spending that balanced the budget. I would hazard a guess that the budget in the 1920's was greater than before World War I. In 1920 the nation had the largest debt at that time and was in recession. Using your logic we would of maintained taxes or increased them. The Republicans cut them sharply and caused the economy to grow. The key to reducing the debt is to help the economy.
The Estate Tax only brings in 1.4% of government revenues. It is something like 60 Billion dollars a year which is pocket change in Washington. On the other hand by moving money from estate lawyers and trusts and the Federal Government to more productive economic uses such as reinvestment into the farms and businesses would cause increase business activity which would mean more government taxes. There is a good chance that eliminating the estate tax would bring in at least double the estate tax revenue in other taxes.
"I keep most of the specifics private."
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A smart philosophy, that I subsribe to as well.
Anything people don't know about you, can't use against you.
In a forum like FR, the discussion should focus on opinions, discussions, facts supporting points of view, political or business philosophies, NOT personal information, which is irrelevant.
People shouldn't be asking for it, and especially shouldn't be insistent, after you politely declined to provide it. It's none of anyone's business.
Not to mention that people can claim to be anything anyway.
I think we have a very large range of people in education, income, various professions, age, etc. that's what makes discussions interesting and valuable, not someone revealing some particular personal info, even their profession.
FINALLY.....You need to direct your post to A CA GUY....he needs help...as does Mamzelle
"We all die, and when I die, what I can't pass in the estate I do hope goes when taxed toward the national debt so we leave a clean slate for the next generation."
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You have way too much faith in the government.
The government already taxed that money, it's not fair to tax it again, and certainly not at such heavy percentages.
Eliminating the estate tax would actually result in more tax revenue, just as every time income tax rates are cut, the government ends up with more revenue, as a result of economic growth.
"non-citizens don't get the deductions Americans get."
I didn't know that. I guess you mean non-resident citizens or even permanent residents? I thought permanent resident get the same benefits as citizens, except they can't vote.
The government taxed the money once, but they never collected for the national debt and I think we should be good conservatives and not pass on our debt to the next generation.
The tough part as you say would be in seeing to it politicians don't go spending the incredible rise in income that will come to the treasury as lots of people become old now and die.
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