>The LA Times (Sunday) Business section ran a column by James Flanigan
>stating that the Congress intends to eliminate the estate tax. Jon Kyl
>(R-Ariz) and Bob Kerrey(D-Neb) have proposed a bill to repeal the tax
>(now at 37% of inheritances over $650,000).
>
>Someone interviewed for the article points out that abolishing the tax
>would further encourage maldistribution of income and wealth, but
>Flanigan argues that the current U.S. tax is too little to do the job of
>equalizing opportunity(that's a new one) and for that and other reasons
>(small business needs repeal) supports the repeal. He is a trickle down
>kind of guy, don't we all know that would spur more economic growth??
>There are so many inanities in the piece, I can't go thro them all. . .
>
>Does anyone remember if this was proposed by the 104th Congress in the
>Contract on America, or is this is a new one?
This is a long-standing Republican obsession. They never call it an estate tax, either - they call it a "death tax." It's also often called a voluntary tax, since most sophisticated rich people can evade it. That porousness is one reason it's very difficult to get good data on the role of inheritance in perpetuating wealth inequality.
Doug