Paris Hilton yes, Barack Obama no

Ahh Paris Hilton, the poster child of what is inherently wrong w/ an entrenched wealthy class. The perfect argument against the Estate Tax. That is if you truly believe the classic conservative argument that only hard work and achievement should be rewarded.

Ah Paris Hilton...who gives a....

From you article:

And Xanax, the prescription mood stabilizer, ran well behind Ajax, the age-old house cleaner. Never confuse the two.

That made us all laugh in the office but I don't think the vast majority of 'Ajax' searches has anything to do with cleaning supplies and everything to do it being the name of a hugely popular programming technology for browser interaction.

jethro -
At issue with the Estate Tax is simply whether the government should get my money when I die or if I should be allowed to do with it as I wish.

The only people who pay the Estate Tax are the super rich who are careless and don't do Estate Planning. Unless you are uber rich you are not even affected by the Estate Tax and no Estate Planning is needed. One of the greatest threats to democracy is an entrenched weathy class, essentially an aristocracy. Wealth should be earned by hard work and achievement, not by pure luck of being born into it.

At issue with the Estate Tax is simply whether the government should get my money when I die or if I should be allowed to do with it as I wish.

Posted by: dan | Dec 22, 2006 11:31:57 AM

You can do anything you want with your money. The government does not step in and take all your money. There is a tax. This is not a "double tax" as many on the right like to think.....Any eguity in your real estate or stocks and bonds have not been taxed untill the time you die. Yes money would be taxed, but how many people leave great sums of money? I would have no problem with new legislation on inheritant taxation, but not to stick it on the bill for an increase in the minimum wage. Why do we have to do legislation tit for tat?

Indeed Ajax: the age-old house cleaner... or Ajax as in "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML" the age-old term describing a web development technique for creating interactive web applications... ?

Maybe the cleaning lady isn't on the net yet ?

Jn

http://barack08.blogspot.com/2006/12/google-trends-and-debunking-criticism.html

Jethro, you are a wise man. And completely correct.

Jethro,

What Mr. Hilton decides to do with his hard earned money is his business not mine. If he wants to give it to his ditzy daughter so she party 24/7 so be it. Think of the jobs he just created by doing this: photographers, National Enquire writers, Cable News jobs, etc...

If the gov't came and confiscated this money after his death, they would waste on various earmarks

You need to see the whole picture.

Why anyone would need to google Paris Hilton to look up info on her is beyond me as everything you want to know is already out there. Someone who is so overhyped and for doing nothing but going to parties is not all that interesting either.
Now, Borat....well, that is one interesting guy!

Go Paris! I love her. I'm glad she got number 1, and I helped her get there! She's the best, no matter what anyone says!

dan,

If you have been fortunate enough to live in a wonderful country that has allowed you to accumulate and protect over $2 million upon your passing, I personally believe you should willingly pay your share of the tax burden. Lest you suggest that I only wish that fate upon others, my grandfather's estate will be subject to the estate tax, as will my fathers and most likely mine as well.

As the immortal Teddy Roosevelt said: “The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government.” In other words, government protects the interests of the moneyed more so than the poor, contrary to modern conservative orthodoxy. http://www.pgtoday.com/pgt/articles/mt_rushmore_and_a_history.htm

No one will cry for you or I or anyone else able to accumulate a fortune worth minimum $2 million now and $3.5 million by 2010. That a portion of that inheritance be taxed to help maintain the government is perfectly reasonable and logical.

Bryan,

It sound like you come from "old money", unlike most working people.

Why wait until death. Write a big check to the gov't now.

Bryan....Also, any equity in property, stocks, bonds, etc. Has not been taxed until death. The republicans like to say inheritant tax is double
taxation, but this is only true with cold cash. Yet when we tried to help lower income people with a raise in the minimum wage, they needed to throw on the inheritant tax issue just so thry could get a little more.

Terry,

Thanks for proving my point. Most working people (MOST PEOPLE IN GENERAL) are not subject to the Estate Tax, and those that are are extremely lucky, not in luck being responsible for their fortunes but the luck of having grown up in America where the top order of the government is to protect the interests of the moneyed classes. For that, my family honors its tax obligation and doesn't think it reasonable in any way to work to reform the tax system in a way that makes it less progressive.

So if you are just a working stiff, why would you bloviate on behalf of a progressive tax that effects only the truly wealthy? Yours is the one heart that goes out to those who die worth over $2 million??

"Why wait until death. Write a big check to the gov't now." If I were to do so, the check would be returned as a refunded overpayment. Nice red herring. I and my family willfully pay their tax burden, no more no less. We do not devote our time to making the world a less progressive and fair place.

bill r, the Estate Tax/ minimum wage linkage was such an appallingly cynical maneuver, I am extremely thankful that the Dems (and in fact the voting electorate) did not fall for this stupid trick. Despite all the misinformation and lies surrounding it, Americans can understand what it means when a party says that the only way the poor get a crumb is if concurrently the rich are given a big cake to make it all politically palatable.

P.S.

My grandfather came to this country with only the shoes on his back and began his career selling chickens. He lived the American dream, but has never complained about paying his share of the tax burden back to the society that has allowed him to accumulate a lifetime's worth of wealth from his work.

Bryan,

Unfortuately, you had no point except that your grandfather worked his butt off. Ask you grandfather if he pays MORE than his share of the tax burden. Since it sounds like he became a successful business man, I'll bet he had some lawyers set up LLC's and S Corps - to minimize liability and taxes. Also, I'll bet he had a CPA to advise him on how to minimize his tax burden so he could grow his business. The reason he did this is that he wanted to grow his business, which would generate new jobs, which increases the tax base a lot more than turning the money over to the gov't. That is being a better American than just handing over money to the gov't.

AS far as being lucky,it sounds like you won in the sperm donor lottery.

Bryan, since you seem to believe that the gov't can do better with your grandfathers money than you or your dad, make sure you pay more than what the bottom line of your 1040 calculates. Put your money where your mouth is.

Terry,

Since you don't know enough about taxes to know that (as I already stated, but you chose to ignore again) an overpayment of the 1040 will result in an automatic refund, you expose you ignorance on this subject.

What is your point exactly? You think that those worth more than $2 million upon their death should not have any part of their estate taxed? Why?

All you could come up with was some garbage about CPA's, LLC's and Sub S's. I already implied, so I will state it here more clearly: we are all UNDER THE OBLIGATION to minimize our personal tax burdens through legal means.

There are many areas of the tax code that are worthy of examination and reform, but the Estate Tax isn't one of them. We suppport progressive taxation, the Estate Tax is the single most progressive tax, therefore it is just. If you wanna keep diddling on about "putting your money where your mouth is" (which of course, he has by signing the original 2001 petition against the original "supply-side" tax cuts and paying his fair share) you can continue to ignore the facts. You have no standing or insight to state that he has paid more than his burden, and you are completely ignoring the issue when you talk about the ways that he has grown his business (which, of course, you know absolutely nothing about and are simply mentally "pleasuring yourself?).

The issue is whether those who have been able to accumulate a lifetime of wealth through their work due in part to the many comforts that the government provides owe a special burden to the government that has allowed their wealth to flourish. I believe they do, apparently you don't.

Since you seem a supply-sider, maybe you should look into some of the research done on heirs of great fortunes, and the extent to which their inheritances have decreased their overall productivity. What benefit to the society as a whole would be provided by freeing those of extreme wealth from paying any taxes on the $2 million+ inheritances they pass along?

"One of the greatest threats to democracy is an entrenched weathy class, essentially an aristocracy. Wealth should be earned by hard work and achievement, not by pure luck of being born into it.

Posted by: jethro | Dec 22, 2006 11:53:55 AM"

This is why the English decided to tax 'the ruling class' out of existence.

'Forward into the past', America.

Terry,

Not sure how your name got at the bottom of my post. Sorry for the mistake. Merry Xmas