I saw, I say they do need to get rid of SOME of the estate taxes. One million is too low in American dollars. It's not uncommon for someone middle class to leave that if their home is paid off and they have a decent life insurance policy.
Certainly. There's also the issue of land-rich farmers or successful midsize businesses. But all that tax revenue going to the richest people on the planet is rather obscene.
I'm not too sure, it looks that way in a sensationalist article, but at the end of the day, the concept of estate taxes really bothers me.
I'm not one to consider money obscene, bad, dirty. People are earning money and the government is getting it when they don't deserve it. Cut the war out to balance estate taxes, I say. The money spent on the war is obscene.
I don't consider money to be obscene, nor is working hard to make money obscene. What is obscene here is the vast amounts involved. None of those families listed would ever miss a dime of that money. I don't want people to have to sell their farms or businesses to pay the estate taxes - that's wrong. But if they're not going to miss it, and the government IS going to miss it (as evidenced by the fact that they're cutting social programs to pay for it) then why cut it?
Cutting taxes to the poor, and to the people in the middle, and even to the upper-middle class, actually supports the economy. Those people take their extra tax cuts and spend them, or invest them in ways that they will eventually be spent (on retirement, for example.) In the long run, because of the nature of things, that tax money does trickle back up to the wealthy through purchases, but in the meantime it makes life better for the people who got the tax cut. These cuts aren't going to do that. The money is unlikely to be invested in ways that help the people who are being hurt by the service cuts. The only winners are the people who didn't need the money in the first place.
So, by all means, raise the amount on the estate tax. Five million, say? And make an exemption whereby, if someone is going to have to sell a chunk of their primary business or land to pay for it, they can get exempted from it. Those people are supporting their local economy and driving them out of business is a bad thing. But I can't believe that cutting taxes to the likes of Paris Hilton is doing anything good for America whatsoever.
Yeah five million is pretty reasonable (although I still don't like the PRINCIPLE of estate taxes), and non liquid stuff/businesses and perhaps primary homes should not be counted. More wiggle room.
The thought of selling off farms, businesses, homes to pay taxes is ridiculous.
Really between that and lawyers and all that, it really dwindles down. Plus there is a whole industry of lawyers trying to fix it BEFORE death, so the burden can be on the person who is dying to sort it all out, and again that reward the richest, and the more on the ball, and perhaps younger. My grandmother was loathe to start messing with trusts even though she had a sizable estate (despite being blue collar their whole lives, it just adds up) because she just didnt TRUST it all. Some people are even more afraid to deal with the lawyers, or to spend money on lawyers for something like this.
There is so much fat in the government (And no not education, medicine etc) that it bugs me they go after ESTATES. How many times are they going to tax people? Tax when they make it, tax when they spend it, tax when their money makes more money, tax when you die, and for complete and utter nonsense. And its not the Dems who are going around doing it, it's not been them all these years!!! Its been the Republicans spending it all!
If my father left behind a million-dollar estate (not likely), I wouldn't be the one who earned it. That would be what he did, not what I did.
Yes, there's some places where the estate tax needs to be cut back, as well as being re-written to protect estates that are non-liquid sorts. But it's not at the top.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 03:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 10:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 12:07 pm (UTC)I'm not one to consider money obscene, bad, dirty. People are earning money and the government is getting it when they don't deserve it. Cut the war out to balance estate taxes, I say. The money spent on the war is obscene.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 01:03 pm (UTC)Cutting taxes to the poor, and to the people in the middle, and even to the upper-middle class, actually supports the economy. Those people take their extra tax cuts and spend them, or invest them in ways that they will eventually be spent (on retirement, for example.) In the long run, because of the nature of things, that tax money does trickle back up to the wealthy through purchases, but in the meantime it makes life better for the people who got the tax cut. These cuts aren't going to do that. The money is unlikely to be invested in ways that help the people who are being hurt by the service cuts. The only winners are the people who didn't need the money in the first place.
So, by all means, raise the amount on the estate tax. Five million, say? And make an exemption whereby, if someone is going to have to sell a chunk of their primary business or land to pay for it, they can get exempted from it. Those people are supporting their local economy and driving them out of business is a bad thing. But I can't believe that cutting taxes to the likes of Paris Hilton is doing anything good for America whatsoever.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 06:32 pm (UTC)The thought of selling off farms, businesses, homes to pay taxes is ridiculous.
Really between that and lawyers and all that, it really dwindles down. Plus there is a whole industry of lawyers trying to fix it BEFORE death, so the burden can be on the person who is dying to sort it all out, and again that reward the richest, and the more on the ball, and perhaps younger. My grandmother was loathe to start messing with trusts even though she had a sizable estate (despite being blue collar their whole lives, it just adds up) because she just didnt TRUST it all. Some people are even more afraid to deal with the lawyers, or to spend money on lawyers for something like this.
There is so much fat in the government (And no not education, medicine etc) that it bugs me they go after ESTATES. How many times are they going to tax people? Tax when they make it, tax when they spend it, tax when their money makes more money, tax when you die, and for complete and utter nonsense. And its not the Dems who are going around doing it, it's not been them all these years!!! Its been the Republicans spending it all!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 04:03 pm (UTC)If my father left behind a million-dollar estate (not likely), I wouldn't be the one who earned it. That would be what he did, not what I did.
Yes, there's some places where the estate tax needs to be cut back, as well as being re-written to protect estates that are non-liquid sorts. But it's not at the top.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 06:20 pm (UTC)I know my father wants me to get the money, not the government. May father is a generous man and if he wants others to get it, he will do that too.
The government sure as hell didn't earn it.
And I would rather they cut taxes too much than not enough, particularly something like THIS.
Cut the crap from the budget, like this damn war, like some of the other nonsense, cut corporate welfare, leave people and their estates alone.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 03:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 01:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-23 03:53 pm (UTC)It's more like watching the thread over Damocles's head go *snap* and saying, "Yup, figured that was going to happen."