The current "battle" over the inheritance tax is an almost perfect example of modern American politics. A tiny, tiny group of ultra-rich conservatives decide that they are not rich enough. They line up their bought-and-paid-for politicians. They task their right-wing dogma mills (e.g. Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute) with devising slogans and plausible reasoning why their agenda should be adopted. They use their impressive right-wing thought propagation machine to pump out their goals through their obedient media mouthpieces to their millions of stupid-but-loud devotees, who absorb them as matters of faith.

And voila, millions of people who will never, ever have to pay a penny of inheritance tax - and who will have to pay for the debt incurred by eliminating the tax - are suddenly strident supporters of doing away with it. Are, in other words, in favor of saddling themselves and their children with another $600 of debt each so that people inheriting billions won't have to pay any taxes on it.

It's so stupid it makes my teeth ache.

First off, it's not a goddamn "death tax". The person with the money is dead. The government could take all of it or none of it and it won't matter a whit to them. They're dead, get it? They may be in heaven, although that's very, very unlikely ("I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." - Matthew 19:24), or they may be burning in hell, but the money they accumulated here on earth is no longer their concern. They are not being taxed.

The folks who are receive all this money are the ones being taxed. And for the first $2 million of it, they're not getting taxed at all. That number, by the way, rises to $3.5 million by 2010. And beyond that it's a damn tax, it's not confiscation. The inhertor is coming out substantially wealthier in all cases.

Most of this is value that has never been taxed before - those stocks the dead guy bought, that land, all those capital gains - this is the first time those value increases are seeing any taxes. Why should an individual pay capital gains on stock which they purchased, but not on stock which they inherited?

Ah, but small businesses. What about inheriting a business? A family farm? What happens when the business/farm has to be sold to pay the taxes? Well, guess what. Never happens. It does not happen. The American Farm Bureau, an organization which is in favor of repealing the inheritance tax, is unable to cite a single example of a family being forced to sell their farm due to inheritance tax liability.

Not a single goddamn example. Yet you'd think that it would be a serious, nay, an epidemic problem, if it is so important that action be taken! You might think that small businesses were shutting down left and right, when instead Republican lawmakers scour the country to find an example - and fail.

Folks, here's what's going on. There are 18 families, ultra-rich families, who would have to pay billions because of this tax. That's right. 18 families. And these families have decided rather than pay billions in taxes they will pay millions to buy legislation and to buy the public support for it. That's it. That's what's going on. There is no problem with the inheritance tax. None. The exemption level may have required raising, and it was raised.

If you are in favor of doing away with the inheritance tax, let me make something clear: you are a dupe. I say this because I know damn well that rich people don't read this column. You will never inherit the sort of money that makes it relevant. People who do inherit that sort of money will - get this - still be inheriting a lot of money. Moreover, with any sort of real estate planning, the taxes they will pay will be minimal.

And these aren't your hard working entrepreneurs. The hard working entrepreneur who gathered the fortune is dead, and has probably been dead for multiple generations. These are people inheriting wealth that will enable them to continue living in idleness. The more money people inherit, the less they earn. The less they inherit, the more they earn.

I know Republicans are big fans of sitting around not doing anything, but I hadn't thought they would so blatantly admit it.

Inherited money is income of the laziest sort. The inheritor did absolutely nothing to earn it. What's the objection to taxing it? We want to keep small businesses and farms together? Done, there's a nice big exemption on the first few million. Now what? Double taxation? A lie, and "double taxation" is a stupid concept anyway. Money gets taxed when it changes hands. It's unfair? Howso? No matter who inherits the money, they pay the taxes. Onerus? Not hardly.

Not even if you are a member of those privileged 18.

- Sun Ra

Further Reading:
Is Unlimited Inheritance Un-American?
Spending Millions to Save Billions

Columns by Sun Ra