When did this country and the politicians who make our laws start thinking that inheritances are more important than earning a living? I am amazed that our leaders continue to discuss and argue for a repeal of the Estate Tax. This Tax Cut should be repulsive to every hard working American that is on a company payroll.
First, the Estate Tax effects about 1% of all Americans. The richest, according to Forbes Magazine. These ultra wealthy individuals and families and the legislators they support have continued to push for the "death" of the Estate Tax. Jeez, why would any lower class, middle class, or upper class voter be in favor of such a repeal? Did you know that someone who earns $40,000 to $50,000 a year pays 12.2% of his income in payroll taxes? But someone making $500,000 a year pays just 3.5% of his income in payroll taxes? Why aren't middle class wage earners screaming bloody murder about this grossly inequitable tax burden they disproportionately shoulder? How in the heck have politicians convinced them there should be an Estate Tax REPEAL, not cut, instead of a payroll tax cut? Could it be because our current office holders know that payroll taxes are the meat and potato taxes that only suckers pay? The wealthy, if they pay any at all, pay a much smaller percentage of their income in the form of payroll taxes, as I've described above.
When did regular Americans begin believing that we should reward wealth over work? You got me. So what is it about taxes that inflame regular hard working Joe's and Jane's and just how did they get bamboozled into thinking the Estate Tax repeal works for them? Is it the aspirational notion that some day every American might get rich and want to leave behind an estate so that their kids and their kids' kids never have to earn a living? Do the baristas at Starbucks really think they will one day leave behind an inheritance that might be adversely affected by the Estate Tax?
I am against a repeal of the Estate Tax because I still believe that this country should reward work and not wealth. I am also glad to know that Warren Buffett, one of America's greatest investors and wealth builders agrees:
"The rich are winning. Just take the estate tax, less than 2 percent of all estates pay any tax. A couple million people die every year, 40,000 or so estates get taxed.We raise, what, $30 billion from the estate tax. And, you know, I would like to hear the congressman say where they are going to get the $30 billion from if they don't get it from the estate tax. It's nice to say, you know, wipe out this tax, but we're running a huge deficit, so who does the $30 billion come from?" - Warren Buffett, from an interview with Lou Dobbs on CNN.
©2007 Angel Reyes
Read more articles by Angel Reyes and Brian Cuban at BrianCuban-AngelReyesBlog.com.
|
