Recently, there's been some talk about repealing Virginia's estate tax, or what the anti-tax/flat-earth Republicans bizarrely (but effectively) call the "death tax." In reality, of course, the estate tax is a quintessentially American, progressive tax, as proposed by President Teddy Roosevelt back in the early 20th century:
...Roosevelt endorsed an inheritance tax whose "primary objective should be to put a constantly increasing burden on the inheritance of those swollen fortunes, which it is certainly of no benefit to this country to perpetuate." Roosevelt would later say that the tax should be directed at "malefactors of great wealth, the wealthy criminal class."
Although the ineritance tax, aka the "estate tax," did not pass while Teddy Roosevelt was President, it finally was enacted into law in 1916, under President Woodrow Wilson. The tax wa seen as a key to redistributing wealth from rich to poor, and to remedy what Rep. Hull of Tennessee called "an irrepressible conflict" between the rich and the poor.
Today, despite the fact that the estate tax affects only a tiny percentage of Americans, the virulently anti-tax faction of the Republican Party is hell-bent on repealing it, even for the wealthiest, on the federal level. They have not succeeded there yet, but here in Virginia, a bill has been proposed to do just that.
It's at times like this that we need to get some perspective. So, here are some quick factoids about the estate tax in Virginia.
1) It affects far less than 1% of Virginians
2) Annually, that amounts to fewer than 1,000 families (out of more than 7 million people!)
3) The tax is only paid by heirs, not by surviving spouses.
4) The state tax only goes up to 16%.
5) Certain assets are exempt from estate tax, including trusts. Also "working farms" enjoy an existing credit.
6) For years, the Republicans have defeated efforts to raise the threshold on the estate tax (and thus impact fewer families) or exempt only family farms. In other words, their entire motivation for repealing the so-called "death tax" is a sham. It is bought and paid for by the wealthy few.
7) Getting rid of the estate tax simply means we'll have to either a) cut spending on education, health care, etc.; and/or b) raise taxes on the middle and working classes. Either way, it's essentially imposing a "birth tax" on our children instead of a "death tax."
And on a humorous note, as a knowledgeable observer of this ridiculous debate (sarcastically) notes:
8) "If we eliminate the estate tax, there will be no double taxation, because indolent youths (exhausted, no doubt, by too many tennis lessons) will receive the money tax free and then, after subtracting for country club dues, pass the money to their useless progeny. Again, tax free."
Now there's a cause worth fighting for: tennis lessons and country club dues for indolent youth. Repeal the death tax now, and save our useless progeny!! Ha ha.
P.S. Yeah, #7 was meant to be humorous, but it just goes to show you what a pitiful joke this whole "repeal the death tax" idea is. Republicans: fighting for 1,000 families (5,000 people?) out of 7 million residents of Virginia. Democrats: fighting for the remaining 6,995,000! Now which party do YOU prefer?