But that's not much different than most other taxes. Any income I earn gets taxed. And then when I go spend it, it gets taxed again. If I invest it and make money, that gain gets taxed. If I earn money, invest it and realize a gain, then take my gain and spend it on something, it's already been taxed 3 times. Not saying I like it, but I don't get what's so special about an estate tax that it desperately needs cutting. Why is it so much worse than any other tax?
Excellent points (and great thread - thanks for responding). What you've done is WORKED for your investment capital, and assumed risk putting it into a market. In other words, what you have worked hard to invest can also lose value, subject to various market conditions. You've also (don't forget) paid a tax on your productivity; whatever is left over after feeding and providing you and yours is yours (I'll leave out Sales Taxes, which tend to front states, while the Estate Tax is Federal), and you can deduct various and sundry from that every April.
Now take the next step - when Huck goes to Heaven, what would Huck think about Uncle Sam grabbing half of what Huck "netted", in light of the market risks taken by Huck (thoughtfully), the taxes on Huck's earnings already collected, on top of the skimming Uncle Sam took on his (hopefully) successful investments?