Dude, I paid income tax, then, when I bought a stereo, they taxed me AGAIN!
I sat down right there in the store and cried real tears for the death of our once great nation, where, upon a time, each dollar only ever existed once and only ever belonged, once.
Each singl, beautiful dollar, each unique with a story to tell of a life and… never a death I suppose, never to be spent or transferred upon being printed, I used to name them all and knew them by sight, but now, now, what’s the point, they all get GROUND UP INTO THE TASTELESS MEAT OF COMMUNIST CONFORMANCE CALLED… wait, capitalism?
Ha. j/k j/k, I happen to know that you know what you said was crazy & that you didn’t need a funny expansion of it to know that.
Estate taxes are inherently evil. Their intent is to prevent a family or group of people from becoming independent of the government and accruing enough permanent wealth to run their life their way.
“We taxed you when you earned it, we taxed you when you spent it, we taxed you when you saved it and by god we’re going to take an even bigger chunk when you die lest your children and their children decide they don’t need government services or think they have a right to dispose of this money their way, we are the government, we know best how to spend your money…”
Compare what the Carnegie Foundation has done with his millions and then try and think of any similar good the government would have done if they had obtained a godly portion of it.
Considering how anti-government BoingBoing readers tend to be, I always find this sort of thing amusing that suddenly, the government has grown antlers of wisdom when it comes to using other people’s money.
The tax is exempt for the first 5 million dollars. That means that only inheritance OVER 5 million is taxed. If someone dies and they still have more than 5 million left to burn, they might not Bill Gates, but I think it is safe to say that they lived in above average comfort.
Wealth breeds wealth. What is the easiest way to make a million dollars? Have 10 million dollars already. Yes, the point of the estate tax is to slash at massive wealth transfers and inhibit the creation of permanent royalty. If our political system was immune money, I actually wouldn’t care if rich people could hand over all of their wealth to their kids, and the kids took that wealth to create more wealth for themselves by handing it over for investment. Unfortunately, our political system is not immune to wealth. The wealthy tend to get laws made for them and only the most egregious violations are stopped by the democratic means. Handing over wealth is thus also handing over a massive amount of political power that can be used on us peons. That, I am not okay with.
Inheritance passed to charitable organizations do not pay the estate tax. If you donate all of your money to the EFF, the government will not touch a single drop of it. Hell, you can give 5 million to your kids and the rest to the EFF,the government will not take a dime.
Carnegie said “…the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.” and “…The amassing of wealth is one of the worse species of idolatry. No idol more debasing than the worship of money.” So he probably wouldn’t have been an Ayn Rand fan.
His dictum:
To spend the first third of one’s life getting all the education one can.
To spend the next third making all the money one can.
To spend the last third giving it all away for worthwhile causes.
He didn’t believe in permanent wealth. I don’t think he would be on your side in this argument.
We have excellent tax benefits to those who give to charities. Anyone who gives all their money away before death won’t come close to the 5 million required to trigger the federal inheritance tax.
No worries bro, the effort failed. Nowadays people of extreme wealth openly flaunt the rule of law or just change it to suit their narrow uses.
Probably not you though. Guess you didn’t make the grade, or you didn’t inherit, thus making the grade by divine right. Like a king or something,
Like a king before the Magna Carta. Serfs and peasants had it so good, man.
At least they thought they did, right? If it weren’t for the Carnagie Millions that Free Kings of the New Murica used to establish a system of public education to show them how good they had it under rule by divine right in 1776. Literacy never tasted so good bro! Governments you got to be for or against 100% I always say, no picking and choosing. No “I like that new hydro dam, but believe the police powers need some curtailing” like some kinda wuss, it’s you a Commie or a Free Man on the Land!
Hmmm. The Smithsonian comes to mind. But if you’re talking about things the government might do if they just used the funds as a source of general revenue, then how about the New Deal, universal public education, the Interstates, and a whole bunch of other useful stuff.
Looking through your comment history, I have to ask… is there a twitter feed or something that alerts you to blog posts that need right-wing copy-pasta? Can you post the tag or twitter-ID so we can all follow them?
Sometimes I think World War One was the last gasp of monarchistic loyalties and that World War Two was the last great war between nation-states. My premonition is that World War Three will be the last great war between the immensely wealthy and the immensely poor.
Whose money? Is it your money if you owe it to someone else? That in practice and in fact is how taxation works. Don’t like it? Exit this society, and see how far you make it, and how much you make on your own. No one is stopping you from moving to another place where your obligations are minimal. I mean, it might not be safe. But that’s the price we’re paying for you to be here. There might not be as much opportunity, but there’s a price we pay to provide you with opportunity. There might not be as many people available who are qualified to work for you, but that’s what we’ve been building schools and universities for. You and your ilk are so fond of pointing out that there’s no free lunch. Fine. I agree. Stop sticking us with the tab.
Actually I assumed they were so wealthy they were subject to the Estate Tax, because you said they were so wealthy they were subject to the Estate Tax. As @Rindan noted, the first $5M are exempt, so to break 15% net, you have to be well over $5M. I’m pretty sure that puts you above the poverty line.
When my mother went, she was subject to Estate Tax as well, but I didn’t hold myself a pity party about it. Personally, I believe taxes are the price we pay for civilization.
I agree! Hearing people whine because they had to pay taxes on a bunch of money they got for free, without having to lift a finger, just because they had rich parents, is incredibly obnoxious. I don’t see why inheritance should be taxed any differently than other types of income.
And good for SD! That’s the whole point of a State being a State - they can do stuff their own way there. Ever been to SD? Believe me, they had to think of something to make the place work! Nobody would go there twice without a pretty good reason. Short on growing season, long on cold, longer on ugly. Too bad other States aren’t always as creative.
