Friday, April 15, 2005

Estate Tax Repeal on the Horizon?

The house passed it. The senate is just shy of the votes needed to block the filibuster.

Of course some demosprats are in full St. Vitus' dance over this one. Nancy Pelosi should have been born in the former Soviet Union. (OK, I'm sorry I said it, but not sorry enough to delete it.)

I'm still fascinated that people think this will benefit only the affluent. Has anyone looked at land values in the North-East, not to mention the rest of the country. My family is far from wealthy, but if my parents die, there is no doubt in my mind that to pay the estate tax as it is today, my siblings and I will be forced to sell the whole shebang to stay out of debt. Yeah, that's fair.

Comrade Schumer is leading the senate negotiations. (Oh, hell.)

Then further proof, if you need it, that beer is good for you:
"If the United States Senate came up with $10 million-per-person exemption and a 15 percent rate similar to capital gains, almost everybody in the small-biz community would be thrilled with that," said David K. Rehr, president of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.
This looks to be the senate republicans starting point in negotiations. It sounds more fair to more people, but still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

On the other hand, where are the taxes going to come from to replace these. You certainly can see that spending isn't going to go down. Is this any way to run a business? Oh, wait, it's not a business, it's a country.

1 comment:

Granted said...

It's funny that you bring up the farm, because that's where, apart from the ultra rich, who will, let's face it, benefit greatly, this will have the greatest impact. I've read that one of the principal reasons that family farms are disapearing is the inheritance tax that lands on the farm like a meteor on Tunguska. Very few farms are operating at enough of a profit to have cash available to more or less repurchase the farm after the death of the original operator. That said, I've still got mixed feelings on this one because, farms aside, I kind of despise the trust fund babies I've met in my life. If this is going to create more of those people...