I know we’ve talked about it here before, but it bears repeating on occasion that the inheritance tax is the most just and inherently democratic of all taxes. And, thankfully, it’s not just rebel rousing populists like me saying that. Some very prominent folks, like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, Sr., are doing their best to see the tax reinstated in America. Here’s a clip from AlterNet concerning Buffet’s recent testimony in front of the Senate Finance Committee:
Billionaire Warren Buffett testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday in defense of the federal estate tax, the nation’s only tax on inherited wealth.
Buffett invoked the historical roots of the estate tax, established in 1916 during the Gilded Age to put a brake on anti-democratic concentrations of wealth and power. “Dynastic wealth, the enemy of meritocracy, is on the rise,” Buffett told the panel. “Equality of opportunity has been on the decline. A progressive and meaningful estate tax is needed to curb the movement of a democracy toward plutocracy.”
As a result of the 2001 Bush tax cut, the federal estate tax is being phased out and in 2010 will be completely repealed for one year. But the entire tax bill sunsets in 2011, and unless Congress takes action, the estate tax will return. The votes no longer exist for “permanent repeal,” so a compromise lies ahead…
I was going to post a lot of other good stuff tonight, but it just occurred to me that… THERE’S A PARTY IN MY TUMMY!
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It’s weird. I’m watching Yo Gabba Gabba videos on a split screen with Theo Jansen talking about his Strandbeests, and I’ve got it synced up in such a way that it’s absolutely beautiful. I wish you all could see it.
Am I the only one who finds this video disturbing in a Jungian/Campellesque archetypical sort of way? Just wonderin’
Now what am I supposed to do with this boner?
Maybe eat it… I hear there’s a party in your tummy!
Was anyone else aware of this Yo Gabba Gabba thing? I want to hate it as it seems evil and must, I think, somehow be ripping off the Ramones, but I found myself really enjoying this clip. It’s so beautiful.
Since the inheritance tax seems lost, yes, I’m aware of yo gabba gabba. Tonight, I played this clip to my daughter to convince her to eat her peas. She, in turn, suggested that the pea party should be in my tummy. (Her tummy party, turns out, was a rather exclusive affair … non buttered noodles met a pursed lipped bouncer.)
Which brings me to a parental conflict. I find myself somewhat frequently referring to values she’s been given from TV (e.g., “Yo! Eat your veggies” or “Clifford learned it’s good to share toys with his friends”) as reason to follow said values. But, at some soon to come point, I’ll be doing the opposite (e.g., “No, don’t act like those folks of flavor-of-love” or “Don’t talk like those quests on the o’reilley factor”).
Am I being duped into duping my daughter that her values should come from TV?
The estate tax or ‘death tax’ has also contributed to suburban sprawl. It has a disproportional impact on small, family-owned businesses and family farms. For those that didn’t spend the great deal of time and money needed to minimize exposure and ease the transition from one generation to the next, the death of the owner can require the sale of the company or land to pay the estate tax. Despite changes in past years to reduce the impact on farmers, the onerous nature of estate taxes and related costs puts pressure on heirs to sell divide or sell farmland for development when it might have otherwise successfully remained in agricultural production.
After watching the video, I am reminded of why I’m glad my kids are now all in double digits age-wise.
Republicans for years have been suggesting that the estate tax is responsible for ruining family farms. The last I heard, there was still no evidecne of a single family farm being taken due to the estate tax. In fact, very few family farms are hit by the estate tax, and, of those that are, two out of five paid an average rate of only 1.6 percent. I’m afraid ti’s just another great example of the Republican mastry over the framing of debates. The tax, by far, effects the super rich, the top %1 of Americans. The family farm thing is a red herring.
So, yesterday at lunch my three-year-old girl noticed a recently purchased box of toothpaste on the table. She looked at it, then asked:
“Is that the toothpaste that fights germs for twelve hours, guaranteed?”
“I’m not sure, it might be,” I replied.
She paused then followed up with, “Dad, is your mouth protection all day and all night?”
So, she’s just really smart, right? It’s not that she’s watching too much TV?
That video is just ONE more reason NOT to have children, if that is an example of children’s television. Thank God for the iPod and Skinny Puppy to get that out of my brain.