Death and Taxes

Let’s talk about estate taxes because I am really steaming. Bush tried to eliminate estate taxes. The Bush logic was why on earth should people be taxed merely because they died on money that has already been taxed at least once. The deceased and her heirs are being punished for the poor person dying. Makes sense to me, but I’m not Warren Buffet, George Soros, Bill Gates, or Ted Turner, all of them billionaires and all of them outspoken critics of the estate tax elimination. In brief, their argument is that just because somebody is wealthy should not give that person the right to pass on all of her money to whomever she pleases. Buffet and Gates and the rest of these kooks think that the government should get the money. Why, did the government earn it? No. Then why does the government deserve any of it?

Their argument has a special appeal to people who believe that just because your parents or grandparents are wealthy does not mean that you should be entitled to this wealth. It smacks of royalty and dynasties, perpetuating legendary family names like Rockefeller and Kennedy. We Americans are not Europeans, we don’t believe in royalty and that stuff. Now look, I’m just as repulsed , and “O.K.” jealous, of the trust fund baby who never has had to work a day in his life, never did, and waltzs between his haunts in Monte Carlo and Aspen, looking down on us working blokes from his Gulfstream IV. But, you know, life is unfair and some people are simply luckier than others. What about the guy who worked 60 hours a week for 50 years, but just kept making the wrong decisions and/or was unlucky, verses the 25 year old .com idiot who got thousands of people like the first guy to invest in his idea, sold out in two years for 50 million and left the rest of us with shattered dreams and empty bank accounts. Should this 2nd guy be forced to give the first poor schmuck some of his .com millions if he did nothing illegal? I don’t think reasonable people would say so. It’s just another example of life that is unfair.

In addition, Soros, Buffet, Gates and others come across as pretty disingenuous about this whole matter. Remember, these guys are billionaires. What do they care if the government gets a billion or two, as long as they can pass the rest on to their chosen heirs? Now, if anyone of these guys were to leave all of his money to charities and not one penny to spouse,children, grandchildren, or friends, and never gifted one penny to them when he was alive, I would say that they are not disingenuous—however they are still dead wrong.