Oh, that makes a TON of sense. Tax the Estates a "second" time because they inherited a family members wealth when they passed away . . . Without a doubt, the stupidest post that I've read on ET in quite some time - - - and that's saying an awful lot!
His (or her) family did not EARN it. If they had earned it, it would be theirs. Why should they get it? Those of us who work for a living know that a strong work ethic is a core American value. Inherited wealth does not encourage work; it encourages sitting on one's ass. Estates are welfare for the rich. They encourage laziness, mediocrity, and a sense of entitlement. Btw, the government does not HAVE to get anything. An estate is free to give it away to the charity or charities of his/her choice. Churches, children's hospitals, the SPCA, to name a few.
Instead of name calling, which a four year-old can do without any education and experience, how about trying to set forth a compelling, prima facie argument in order to refute mine?
So a Family Farm or Family Business that gets passed on to the kids ( who worked in the business ) should be handed over to the Govt.? Congratulations, you're even more DUMB than I first thought.
So.. you say, "family beneficiaries didn't earn it, why should they get it? WTF! Why should the Gummint get it? They didn't earn it. And besides, the Gummint has already received a "pound of flesh" from taxes before the decedent died. The estate is what's being passed on AFTER taxes... Your mentality is LAME. You apparently think the Gummint is entitled to first claim on everything we earn and everything we have... and we citizens are lucky they let us keep any of what we've earned. That mind set is part of what NObama and the Socialists want us to accept.. NEVER! Death to Socialism in America!
Gnome, I hate to burst the Obama "Bashing" Bubble that you enjoy living in, but the fact of the matter is that the current Estate Law taxation schedule sunsets after 2010 and goes back to only $1 million being exempt from the 55% Estate Tax thanks to how incredibly dysfunctional our Congress has been since 2001 when the EGTRR Act was put into law. As a result, everything > $1 million is subject to a 55% tax. Obama seeks to make $3.5 million exempt from the Estate Tax. But you don't wish to highlight that because it doesn't fit with your stereotypical partisanship political views. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_tax_in_the_United_States#Tentative_tax
What does double taxation have to do with being for or against the estate tax? It is a red herring. Many estates do not suffer double taxation, and yet I get "double taxed" just about every day.
Um, "double-taxation" is a hyphenated word. Itself it is not an argument, or even a proposition. Now try again. It really isn't that hard.