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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (701777)	9/14/2005 5:41:21 AM
From: JDN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Buddy, we have been down this path before, the MEGA WEALTHY dont pay estate taxes, THATS WHY THEY ARE MEGA WEALTHY.. Now if you want an estate tax that STARTS on estates over 10 million $$ and is indexed for inflation, thats fine with me, but dont expect to collect much money. jdn

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (701777)	9/14/2005 8:11:56 AM
From: TideGlider	Respond to of 769670

The poor aren't taxed. In fact if a family they get EIC which amounts to just the opposite. The others are taxed. My problem with the death tax is that it is money that has been taxed previously. Possibly some rare instances for portions of the estate that weren't. In my opinion it should not be taxed if left to the immediate family. Anything outside of that should be taxed as income at whatever rate applies to the recipient.

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (701777)	9/14/2005 8:15:40 AM
From: TideGlider	Respond to of 769670

From LP.org News & Features LP joins fight to end death tax Libertarian Party Executive Director Joe Seehusen was recently invited to join the American Family Business Institute's Death Tax Repeal Working Group, whose goal is to help all those advocating the end of the death tax become more informed and productive in their efforts. "Death taxes -- including estate taxes and gift taxes -- are an immoral assault on our American way of life," Seehusen said. "Hardworking Americans work their whole lives to be able to leave behind a legacy to their children and their loved ones. And then, at their most vulnerable point, the Washington fat cats snatch it away from them and flush it down the drain. "I'm looking forward to working with this group, to explore ways the Libertarian Party can contribute to the effort to end the death tax. Many Americans spend their lifetimes paying taxes and still manage to save money to provide for their children and grandchildren after their deaths. But when they die, 40-50 percent of their savings are confiscated by the federal government." Dick Patten, executive director of the American Family Business Institute, explained that the organization "exists for one reason: to kill the death tax. We believe there should be no taxation without respiration." Patten said he and others with the institute are interested in having the Libertarian Party involved in this fight because of the party's emphasis on taxes. "The death tax is the great barrier for a family farm or other family business to transcend to the next generation," he said. "And I know that lowering taxes is certainly a part of what the Libertarian Party is interested in. It seems like a good match." The American Family Business Institute is pushing a bill it hopes to have approved by the current Congress -- H.R. 64, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Cal). If approved, the bill would repeal the death tax -- including estate and gift taxes -- retroactive to Dec. 31, 2004. "These transfer, estate and gift taxes punish lifelong habits of thrift; they discourage entrepreneurship; they penalize families; and they have a negative effect on other tax revenue sources," the bill says in part. Repealing the death tax would eliminate "less than 1 percent of the federal budget," Patten said. "It's not that much of the federal government's budget, in the big picture. "But more than that, it's just plain wrong for the government to have the gall to say, 'OK, you've died, so give us half your life savings.'" This issue is a battleground between "two completely different worldviews," he added. "There's [one side] whose political belief is that wealth should be redistributed by the government. For them, this is a perfect model for how the rest of the world should operate: Take money from those who save and redistribute it. "And then there are those of us on the other side, including the Libertarian Party, who believe that we have constitutional rights to protect property rights and that property rights are an extension of our right to life. When I die, it should be my right to bequeath my money to whoever I want -- and the government shouldn't be able to take 50 percent of it to spend as they please." © Copyright 2005 National Libertarian Party

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (701777)	9/14/2005 4:43:09 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Ok Buddy, lets talk about your idea. What would a 100% tax on death do for the economy? Would it increase or decrease wealth accumulation? Would it increase or decrease individual productivity? Would it increase or decrease capital formation? Would it increase or decrease family company longevity? Would it increase or decrease family farm heritage? Would it increase or decrease employment? Would it increase or decrease tax receipts? Would it increase or decrease desire for US citizenship? Etc. IMO answer to all above is decrease.