This page was last updated on July 29, 2010.
Inheritance tax is a bogus issue; William A. Alexander; Beaver County Times; July 29, 2010.
Mr. Alexander has written at least 30 letters (See the archives for more examples.) since December 2004, and all but three (one fawning over Rep. Jason Altmire [D-PA], one critical of local funding for JROTC, and another upset about the Air Force awarding a contract to Airbus instead of Boeing) bashed Republicans for something. The title of his last letter was “Blame Republicans for today’s messes.” Despite this record, Mr. Alexander is a Democrat/leftist who wants us to believe he’s really a disenchanted Republican. In “Can’t wait for Hart to lose,” Mr. Alexander told us he was a “registered Republican.”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“I am weary of reading and hearing about the double taxation on estates, and why there should be no estate taxes.
“Prior to this year there was no estate tax on the first $3.5 million due to the estate tax law exemption. Last year, only a few thousand estates paid any estate taxes.
“Think about it. Do you really think many are able to save $3.5 million from their salary that they paid taxes on? The majority of the large estates involve capital gains on property, stocks, bonds, etc., that have never been taxed since they only get taxed when they are sold.”
[RWC] Part of Mr. Alexander’s “logic” for supporting the death tax is that it allegedly affects only a relatively few people? The comment about “capital gains” merits a “so what?” Whether taxed before or after the death tax, capital gains are taxed when they are realized and you still have double taxation.
“The administration suggested taxing estates over the $3.5 million threshold at the capital gains rate of 15 percent, which I thought seemed more than fair, but the GOP would not hear of it. They want no taxes on these huge estates.”
[RWC] I don’t know where Mr. Alexander got his info, but CNN reports, “Last year [2009], the first $3.5 million of a person’s estate was exempt from the tax, and the rest was taxed at a top rate of 45%. President Obama has proposed making the estate tax permanent at those levels.” This is an assumption in Mr. Obama’s 2011 budget.
Mr. Alexander failed to note Pennsylvania also imposes a death tax varying from 4.5% to 15% “depending on the relationship of the heir to the decedent.”
“Why should the very rich get a free ride because of their parents happened to be wealthy? As I have told my conservative friends, I welcome the opportunity to pay 40 percent taxes on a few million dollars. Bring it on.”
[RWC] I love it when people express a desire for others to pay more taxes. As for “I welcome the opportunity to pay 40 percent taxes on a few million dollars. Bring it on.”, sure. It’s far more likely Mr. Alexander would scream like a stuck pig. Let’s look at fellow leftist Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). To avoid paying Massachusetts taxes, he and his wife (Teresa Heinz) purchased their new $7 million, 72’ yacht in Rhode Island and berth it there. According to The Boston Globe, this allows “him [Mr. Kerry] to avoid for now the prospect of nearly $500,000 in Massachusetts sales taxes and $70,000 in annual excise taxes.”
Here’s the bottom line. Regardless of the reasons they provide, supporters of the death tax do so either because they believe in paycheck/property redistribution and/or out of envy.
© 2004-2010 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.