NationStates Jolt Archive

In the Friday Edition of the Anchorage Daily News: Alaska Section page B-7 There is an interesting opinion in favor of the Estate Tax. Namely that the luck of being born to someone rich should not allow you to keep all their wealth when they die. And in fact the estate tax isn't a tax on death merely the heirs. Just thought if I would see if anyone has a thought. Considering the Paris Hilton's of the world are the ones that benefit from a repeal of the estate tax.

Paris Hilton pisses me off now. I used to think she was hot, I don't anymore. I say tax the bitch.

It's counter intuitive but the death tax is required for proper functioning of the economy. It seems a bit much that you pay tax your whole life and then when you die they tax you again but without death tax within a few generations everything is owned by a handful of people.

It's counter intuitive but the death tax is required for proper functioning of the economy. It seems a bit much that you pay tax your whole life and then when you die they tax you again but without death tax within a few generations everything is owned by a handful of people.

You could take all the money from everybody today, redistribute it evenly, and within a few generations a handful of people would have everything. Some work at getting money harder than others do.

You could take all the money from everybody today, redistribute it evenly, and within a few generations a handful of people would have everything. Some work at getting money harder than others do.
And some of us have been fighting our entire lifes to hold on to a piece of land owned by my family for 4 generations. Something made impossibly hard with the death on the estate that did not have the financial backing to pay for it (in land rather then money) frigging killed us because it is lakeshore property and worth a chunk of change theoretically.

My parents are very comfortable upper middle class but it still beat the piss out of their plans taking on that sort of load … and we still have not been able to scare up the 2.3 million to buy my uncles and aunts share from them

Not only is a spoiled bratty slut get to inherit a fortune, she's constantly making money by being a spoiled bratty slut. What else do you expect in a society where people pay millions to someone who's playing a fucking game and only maybe tens of thousands to educators?

Wow more people hate Paris then hate the estate tax

Wow more people hate Paris then hate the estate tax
Well I am towing my line

Just wait till you get me on estate tax as how it applies to county zoning laws

And some of us have been fighting our entire lifes to hold on to a piece of land owned by my family for 4 generations. Something made impossibly hard with the death on the estate that did not have the financial backing to pay for it (in land rather then money) frigging killed us because it is lakeshore property and worth a chunk of change theoretically.

My parents are very comfortable upper middle class but it still beat the piss out of their plans taking on that sort of load … and we still have not been able to scare up the 2.3 million to buy my uncles and aunts share from them

Im on your side. Abolish death tax and let the wishes of the decedant decide where the proceeds of the estate go.

Wow more people hate Paris then hate the estate tax

Im put off by both. PH looks better in a bikini though

Parents have no right to provide their kids with anything they earned.

Abolish inheritance!

Im on your side. Abolish death tax and let the wishes of the decedant decide where the proceeds of the estate go.
They earned it and it was taxed on income … Kind of like an IRA. The government got their percentage of that money, now they are just getting greedy

If I died and left several millions I'd want to distribute it among my family so it secures their financial future, and I should be able to do so. It shouldn't be taxed, IMO.

Parents have no right to provide their kids with anything they earned.

Abolish inheritance!

troll

troll

based on your one word replies to everything, you are a troll

I'm Marxian, so I favor abolition of inheritance, as do many progressives.

Im put off by both. PH looks better in a bikini though
Well, the hue helps make a difference. Spaghetti straps on an estate tax can be quite appealing though ... especially in stilettos.

Parents have no right to provide their kids with anything they earned.

Abolish inheritance!
do they also not have the right to provide their children with food, clothing, and shelter? Considering that is all payed for with money they earned...

I like how the OP somehow equates hatred for Hilton = you like estate taxes. Personally I find the estate and death taxes just silly, I mean it's kicking the family in the nuts while they're already on the ground. Abolish the estate and death taxes!

Its no different to winning the lottery and you don't tax that to hign heavens......

I like how the OP somehow equates hatred for Hilton = you hate estate taxes. Personally I find the estate and death taxes just silly, I mean it's kicking the family in the nuts while they're already on the ground. Abolish the estate and death taxes!
He's full of surprises ... just ask him about the perils of discussing rape and society.

He's full of surprises ... just ask him about the perils of discussing rape and society.

I'm guessing, but there's already a thread on it isn't there?

Aren't the Hilton ads just put out by the extremist group MoveOn.org? Playing on envy to get the population to enact more tax unfairness.

The purpose of taxes isn't for the government to transfer wealth, but it's supposed to be for the protection of our liberties, and no more.

Wasn't that the whole point of freedom?

I'm guessing, but there's already a thread on it isn't there?
o_O

Uhm do you have any guesses about next years' Preakness Stakes?
Any preferences in stock that you might have an intuition or two about?

Aren't the Hilton ads just put out by the extremist group MoveOn.org? Playing on envy to get the population to enact more tax unfairness.

The purpose of taxes isn't for the government to transfer wealth, but it's supposed to be for the protection of our liberties, and no more.

Wasn't that the whole point of freedom?For a "Marxian", you have a fairly odd view of what is "extremist", as well as the purpose of taxes...

Aren't the Hilton ads just put out by the extremist group MoveOn.org? Playing on envy to get the population to enact more tax unfairness.

The purpose of taxes isn't for the government to transfer wealth, but it's supposed to be for the protection of our liberties, and no more.

Wasn't that the whole point of freedom?

Yay, someone else gets that the OP was trying to equate hatred for Paris Hilton to agreeing to a death/estate tax. You get a slice of cheese cake!

o_O

Uhm do you have any guesses about next years' Preakness Stakes?
Any preferences in stock that you might have an intuition or two about?

Invest in Cheese Cake.

Invest in Cheese Cake.
That one's safe. So far on this thread, it's 1.2:1.

Now, I'm generally not in favour of taxes, but rich kids do piss me off. It would be better if rich people just donated all their money to charities in their testaments, leaving their kids no more than, say, a hundred grand.

That way the government couldn't go around claiming money, and capitalism (as in the system that rewards achievement and punishes incompetence) could go on functioning like it is supposed to.

I am working class and I am against the estate tax. 1) The money has already been taxed, when it was earned, by the parent. 2) Inheriting liquid assets should be treated no differently than inheriting non-liquid assets, such as farms, childhood homes or granny's quilts.

The rich will always find a way around taxes because they can afford to invest in untaxable ways. The poor are the ones that suffer because they are the least likely to have legal advise, least likely to fight a probate, and least likely to have a will or any kind of financial planning portfolio. When they inherit that $350,000 (or whatever the taxable level is now, does anyone know?) from the stingey old uncle who never gave them a dime in life, 1) they are sorely going to need it and 2) be the most affected by a tax.

And above all else....WHY SHOULD THE GOVT BE ENTITLED TO MONEY JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS DIED AND CAN'T HOARD IT ANYMORE?

You could take all the money from everybody today, redistribute it evenly, and within a few generations a handful of people would have everything. Some work at getting money harder than others do.


Oh you mean have a communist revolution? That worked so well for Russia. And as we all know, it was blood, sweat & tears that ultimately seperated the classes 40 years later. (sarcasm = .98)

Parents have no right to provide their kids with anything they earned.

Abolish inheritance!

Yeah! No food or roofs for their heads either! The govt needs that too!

LOL

Its no different to winning the lottery and you don't tax that to hign heavens......

Wanna bet? The lottery was specifically designed to be a TAX VEHICLE.

Now, I'm generally not in favour of taxes, but rich kids do piss me off. It would be better if rich people just donated all their money to charities in their testaments, leaving their kids no more than, say, a hundred grand.

That way the government couldn't go around claiming money, and capitalism (as in the system that rewards achievement and punishes incompetence) could go on functioning like it is supposed to.

Actually, this would be best.

It would take a HUGE public awareness initiative to make it "fashionable" though, and that, unfortunately, would take money. It is well known that most estates are completely gone by the 3rd generation, many by the 2nd who grew up believing that it just came to ya. Being spoiled and being disciplined into a great work ethic seem to be polar ends of the family money continuum with more poor kids than rich at the working end.

Need is still the best motivation. Believe me, I know. I have lived a working class life since leaving mom & dads luxury life. It kinda pisses me off, but I see the beauty in that my kids are under no such illusion and work very hard...there is the pay off.

Realizing this, I have asked my dad to skip my generation completely in his will and put whatever there is in trust for the more deserving 3rd generation and make sure they don't get it until they are old enough to have developed a work eithic. Or better yet, liquidate now and spend it all on trips abroad and doing all the things he always wanted to do before he died. IOW, die broke.

There should be inherintances taxes. The provision to tax an inheritance should 'kick in' at a certain value (of the estate) and it should include provisions for special treatment of non-liquid assest (especially private-non commerically owned/employed property assests such as land, automobiles).

There should be provision for charitable/not-for-profit organisations to apply for inclusion in an 'exemption-charter'. The tax should be based on the benefactors and the inheritance they receive rather than on the estate itself. Provisions to apply for indefinate postponment of the tax should be included - they should be configured to make it very easy to gain a postponment of the tax on non-cash assests that do not generate any capital (other than capital gains), and which are not intended for immediate sale, whilst also preventing abuse.

Inheritance taxes ought to alleviate some of the tendancies toward 'accumulation-glut', so in effect they ought to encourage the retention of property in groups/individuals that have porportionately low property ownership/retention rates. In other words they ought to actually maximise the number and value of inheritances passed onto people who are economically 'middle class' or lower. They should in redistributing wealth to avoid potential accumulation gluts, not penalise any particular class, but rather realistically and fairly 'take back' some of the benefit that the society 'taking back' facilitated and actually rendered possible in the first place.

A lot of people forget that the vast fortunes that are currently possible rely not on 'money' but on a specific type of money and that particular money is generated/produced by societies, not individuals, it's convinience and the vast fortunes it makes possible are both benefits that society provides. Society has every right to dictate the terms on which it provides those benefits, so that society is best benefited.

Poor, misguided Paris. :( When is she going to learn the right words to say are "Qu'ils mangent brioche".

Paris Hilton pisses me off now. I used to think she was hot, I don't anymore. I say tax the bitch.
What do people have against Paris Hilton? Sure she's a ditzy blond heiress, but at least she tries to support herself through her career as a slutty celebrity.

Parents have no right to provide their kids with anything they earned.

Abolish inheritance!
That's just dumb. Parents work hard in order to leave their kids better off than they were. I support an estate tax, but the majority of the wealth should stay in the family. It's human nature to provide for one's offspring. Laws that oppose human nature are oppressive and lead to numerous problems.

What do people have against Paris Hilton? Sure she's a ditzy blond heiress, but at least she tries to support herself through her career as a slutty celebrity.
Her sister is actually clever though, isn't she? I think she is more ditzy than stupid.

Her sister is actually clever though, isn't she? I think she is more ditzy than stupid.
I haven't heard much about her sister.

I haven't heard much about her sister.
She stays out of the cameras (and intentionally so), but apparently she is working on her grand-daddy's business, probably with a view of inheriting the lion's share of it. The most I've seen of her is when she took a pic with Paris for some magazine.

Yeah! No food or roofs for their heads either! The govt needs that too!

LOL

I believe that the government should provide for food and housing also. Parents have no reason to keep money. Make love, not war.