I disagree entirely -- and without any snark or anything: the decline of any sort of "civic" discussion in the U.S. means that there is little input from the general public when revenues are discussed. So, by our own fault, we have "Don't tax you -- don't tax me: Tax that man behind the tree!" as our guiding principle. Them as are in the room, set the rules. The rest of us are voiceless victims -- including (per this discussion) the dead. That's why the classes I taught were *fully* titled "Principles of Public Finance" rather than "Re'al Politik of Public Finance" -- the fun stuff gets saved for the graduate students..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_voter_theorem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit,_Voice,_and_Loyalty (Why yes! I do love Wikipedia!)
My principles were passed down from the founding fathers ... more freedom not less. Which in turn means keeping more of the fruits of my labor not less.
According to this guy, no one in the USA with an average accountant pays this tax. It appears to be for show to the masses. Although I am no expert on European taxes, in France for example they have tried to do away with dynasties [which from the French Revolution on is repulsive to the French] and have a progressive tax rate. https://www.french-property.com/guides/france/finance-taxation/taxation/capital-gains-tax/ The French are careful to close loopholes that exist in the US by classifying just about anything as "property", and then taxing it accordingly. So for example, if you have a €50,000,000 Renoir hanging on your wall, you have to pay yearly taxes on that painting. slams the door on "Estate planning" of the wealthy. 'Only morons pay the estate tax,' says White House's Gary Cohn 12:55 PM ET Tue, 29 Aug 2017 The estate tax is a 40 percent levy applied to the portion of an estate valued at over $5.49 million for individuals or $10.98 million for couples. https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/08/...e-estate-tax-says-white-houses-gary-cohn.html