<<And does anyone know to what extent the claims about the estate tax forcing families off the farm and factory owners laying off their loyal employees are true?
I know something just by personal anecdote, which is that when my uncle died, my cousins fell into this category because they owned land that had been in the family since the early 20's - the family farm, which hadn't been farmed seriously since the 60's. My uncle was not rich, worked in a shake mill most of his career besides small scale farming/dairy/logging and had a millworker's pension, and the parcel not that big but had become more valuable as the town encroached on the countryside, close to Portland and I-5 corridor, all the old farms being divided and sold off, yuppies moving in, etc. So the estate came in at around a million and they had to log to pay off the taxes, which they were all pissed about. And it did seem a bit unfair, because nobody wanted to sell it and make a killing, just to keep it in the family. On the other hand, logging it paid the taxes and they kept the land. The funny thing is, my grandfather was IWW, my uncle was a Roosevelt democrat and a union man, and his kids are anti-union Reagan Republicans. The estate tax thing was just one more log in that fire.
So, although nobody was forced off the farm in this case, I can see where it can happen. Particularly if you don't happen to have a handy asset like salable timber.
Les