Jerry Miskulin – 10/3/12

This page was last updated on October 3, 2012.

Do away with inheritances; Jerry Miskulin; Beaver County Times; October 3, 2012.

I encourage you to review Mr. Miskulin’s body of work in the archives. Mr. Miskulin has written at least 83 letters since 2004 (I didn’t critique all of them.). Most (all?) are illogical and full of falsehoods (not just wrong).

Mr. Miskulin expressed displeasure with the tea parties (here and here), proclaimed “Rush Limbaugh is a propaganda minister,” and told us “Tariff is the best way to reduce deficit.” Mr. Miskulin’s most recent letter was “What kind of society do you want?”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Much has been made of the 47 percent of Americans who are dependent upon the government in one form or another. I say if you are going to do away with that dependency, do away with children receiving any form of inheritance. That would even the score.”

[RWC] Don’t you just love it when someone tells you what you can and can’t do with what your family spent a lifetime working for?

What about farms and other family-owned businesses where the wealth is primarily in the value of buildings, equipment, land, et cetera?

“Now, too many kids make money the old-fashioned way -- they inherit it. Doing away with inheritance would open so many doors and affect a person’s whole life, like government subsidies.”

[RWC] How many is “too many?” The estimated number of U.S. millionaires ranges from about 3.1 million in 2010 (Wall Street Journal) to 5.1 million in 2011 (Time). How many millionaires die each year?

“If women know you are going to come into money, they are more apt to marry you and you are more likely to get their dowry.”

[RWC] So not inheriting millions of dollars was my problem. I knew I wasn’t to blame! Are dowries still part of the marriage process?

“It is a life of leisure for one who inherits millions. More likely they will always think of themselves for what’s easy come is easy go.”

[RWC] Even if it were true, who cares?

“Yes, inheritance and government subsidies, they’re one and the same. So, why should anyone cast any blame?”

[RWC] When parents voluntarily bequeath the fruits of a lifetime of labor to their children, this is the same as the government confiscating chunks of your family’s paycheck to give to someone else? Wow!