[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Show me an argument for the estate tax, and I'll show you a socialist argument.

Show me an argument for a capital gains tax in excess of 10%, and I'll show you a socialist argument.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Boschwitz said government should not subsidize the rich.

Okay, so not confiscating their money is the same as subsidizing the rich.

[facedown]

But the reality is that few farmers and small-business owners pay the tax even now.

Of course not - they're dead when the tax is levied.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The estate tax is a black hole that eventually sucks all property into the possession of the government.

I would rather have property in the hands of individuals than the government, no matter how rich those individuals are. Eventually they will die and their worthless heirs will squander it and it will go into the hands of more enterprising people.

Once the government owns it, no one gets to use it.

[Sam Cree]

I didn't read the whole article, but it seems like the writer assumes that America is just naturally a socialist society. Really infuriating.

On a side note, here in Miami, when Joe Robbie passed away, the next generation of the Robbie family had to sell the Dolphins to pay the estate tax on the team.

I guess the Democrats think this is great, make the family sell the team so they can take (what amounts to) a huge commission on the sale, then they'll pour the money into their endless bureaucracies. That's much better than having it go into the free market economy isn't it? What a bunch of jerks.

[Sinner6]

The Minnesota Department of Revenue estimates that barely three dozen farms are subject to the state's version of the estate tax, even though the state threshold is $700,000 — $300,000 less than the current federal exemption

Does this lying turd-burglar realise that a new tractor can cost $500,000+? The estate tax is the exact reason why so many of the farmers I know are corporate. Even though the corporation is only the family it protects them from many bs taxes designed to "get the rich"

[Nomo Lies]

Call it what it really is.

The Widows and Orphans Tax.

[Mr. Bird]

The argument over the estate tax should not be about who is and who is not affected by it. It should be about why anyone should be subject to it at all. Of all the types of taxation, it may be the most un-American.

[Grammy]

I have a neighbor who will be hit hard with the death tax. He bought about 300 acres of land in the 70's when it was about $40 per acre. Now it is $10,000 per acre and he is considered to be a really rich guy by the government.
All he wants to do is leave it to his kids, but they will have to sell it to pay the taxes.

[Sam Cree]

"They (Democrats) say the tens of millions the tax generates each year is better spent on essential government services..."

I say there is only one "essential government service," protecting the constitution. It doesn't take "tens of millions" to do it. The one exception is the need for military force to protect the constitution from the many thugs parading as government in the rest of the world.

The very idea that private citizens hard earned savings are better spent on "government services" should be repugnant to privileged to call himself an American.

[Shooter 2.5]

Farmers losing the farm is a myth.

Yeah, that's because the farmer is in the ground and his kids sell the property to pay for the taxes. That's why they don't "lose" the farm.

[Cicero]

Is this guy saying that only 325 people in Minnesota will pay an estate tax? That's incredible. It's not just farms. You can end up paying an estate tax just because you own a house.

No doubt that's truer where real estate values are high--on the eastern seaboard and the west coast, and in places like Denver and Boulder. But I should think there must be thousands of Minnesotans whose families will have to sell their hardware stores, hotels, banks, farms, whatever, to pay the tax.

I'd love to know where he got that 325 figure.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

The rich will set up trusts which will protect their estates from the death tax. The farmer and those who have real holdings exceeding the threshold will be taxed. As real-estate goes up, expect more people to be affected by the death tax.

[Desdemona]

One thing this writer should remember is that people who have this kind of money know how to keep it. There are a lot of people out there who transfer assets to their heirs before they come close to dying, trusting that the money will be there if they need it. This way, they stay well under the limit. There's now living trusts. I've heard of people putting their money in life insurance and using the interest. The list is limitless.

The death tax is plain and simply immoral. My grandmother, who has never had much of anything in her life, said once, that money has been taxed four, five times over; there's no reason to do it again. She's never read the communist manifesto, so I don't think she understands what the real goal was, but she has a point.

[KansasGirl]

The writer of this article is either TOTALLY IGNORANT or a socialist. It makes me sick to think that there are a lot of people out there who think like him.

[Stingray51]

I am against the Death Tax for all of the sound reasons cited in this thread. It should also be pointed out that the exemption amounts do not take account of how many slices an estate is divided up into. So if the exemption amount were $1 million and the estate was worth $2 million and yet was being divided up among 20 grandchildren, it would be treated the same way as if it were being passed to a single heir. My point is that there is no way that the 20 grandchildren, each standing to inherit $100,000, could be considered "very rich".

[vaudine]

The fallacy of the estate tax as espoused by Democrats is that sometimes family owned businesses have upwards of 20-30 million in assets, but not ready cash. They just have a very good living off these assets. When the govt. taxes the inheritance, assets have to be turned into cash--i.e. the Dolphins case mentioned; family owned shipping, trucking, newspapers. When these assets are sold off, a great many jobs are lost, as well as a family enterprise where often those who inherit helped to build it up.

It is totally unscrupulous as well as unfair to tax inheritance. The truly rich have such great tax shelters, they really are not affected. OMG, how I loathe socialism.

vaudine

[yoe]

I believe anything over $600,000 is taxable. With today's real estate prices, automobiles, paintings, anything of value is passed onto the heirs who must pay the tax. It doesn't take a farm and equipment, or other land to add up, the ordinary homeowner leaves a lot. Death taxes simply should not be an option it is theft.

The taxes collected have been taxed repeatedly each year in various ways. To tax once more at the death of a person is unconscionable and there is no question the practice should be stopped. It is not just the "wealthy" it is everyone whose life was successful enough to leave something to their heirs be it stock, land, jewelry or anything of value...the federal government and politicians have no right to this, it is stealing/theft plain and simple!

[wjcsux]

Estate tax = a Socialist re-distribution of wealth.

[discostu]

I don't care if it only affects 1 person in the whole country. Estate taxes are wrong, they already taxed the income once, they shouldn't get another slice just because that person died.