Why Congress Needs to Address the Estate Tax
On which side of the grass would you rather pay taxes?
The inability of the senate to work out a compromise on a bill to reduce estate taxes while raising the minimum wage earlier this month shows how unwilling each side is to compromise in order to pass essential legislation. It is inconceivable that the Senate would adjourn without taking action to provide more incentives to hire illegal immigrants for unskilled employment or offer tax relief for wealthy people too ignorant to find a competent estate planner. In the interest of providing a legislative victory before the upcoming elections, I would like to offer an idea sure to mollify the masses so our legislators can get back to protecting these underrepresented groups. Simply put, eliminate the income tax and eliminate the estate tax loopholes.
This may at first appear a bold and reckless move, but these are disenchanted times. Our political leaders need to act boldly and decisively lest the voters come to their senses and elect a new round of depraved, narcissistic, idiots. A large number of former legislators descending on K Street could cause irreparable lobbyist induced harm to an unsuspecting nation. This is not some idle threat. The President is only slightly more popular than stomach flu. Sitting Republicans could lose to unnamed Democrats that could beat named Democrats.
For a President and Congress that have seemingly abandoned their party’s base, tax cuts would be an olive branch to conservatives put off by the recent immigration debacle. Nothing gets Republicans to the polls like tax cuts. Actually, it’s their Mercedes but the tax cuts make it worth spending the ten spot on fuel to get there. Besides, Republicans know that having to pay a large inheritance tax would be more than offset by the fantastic wealth that could be accumulated in a tax free life time.
The Democrats need a similar image boost. Congressional Democrats had their spines disintegrate when they voted to approve the invasion of Iraq and have not found an issue to prop them up. Into this vacuum stepped the radical left that is apparently so incensed by the war that they are engaging in politics as if committing a hate crime. This intimidates Regan Democrats that are no happier but uneasy about finding common cause with a bunch of acerbic aged hippies with questionable hygiene. Giving workers a tax cut while soaking those that stand to inherit a fortune is the kind of class envy inspired justice that Democratic stump speeches are made of.
The true appeal of this idea is it removes the pain of taxation from when you are alive to when you are dead. Who hasn’t looked at a stack of tax forms and longed for death? Additionally, by waiting until your dirt nap to pay the tax man, you will have accumulated far more assets to tax. This is more egalitarian as it taxes wealth instead of taxing income. For those concerned primarily with fairness, this will address the problem of inheritances. Let’s face it, with life expectancies what they are, you aren’t going to see you inheritance until you are in your forties. If you still need an inheritance by then, move out of your parent’s basement and get a job.
I know what you are thinking, what are we going to do with all of the tax accountants and estate lawyers that this will put out of work? Don’t worry, Congress will always return to session.